Reanadampaun Commons - Stone Row

The stone row at Reanadampaun Commons is a line of six conglomerates which are heavily incorporated into a field boundary where tall pine tress have been planted.

The stones vary in height from 1.2 – 1.5 meters  and are aligned in a NE – SW direction which is common enough for stone rows and also for monoliths. The length of the row is just over 7 meters.

The conjecture is, was this an original row ? or could it have possibly have been a stone circle which was dismantled from nearby and erected as part of the ditch. Some have also speculated that the stones were the components of a Portal Tomb. However this seems unlikely as they appear a bit small for such a monument.

Now well secured into the field boundary, this grouping of  stones is also very well rooted in local folklore with a somewhat ‘tall’ tale that has been passed down through the centuries which goes as follows;

One day, three wayfaring brothers, with their mother whom they carried on their shoulders, called at the house of Cian "na Mionn Oip" (of the golden diadems), who was a Druid who possessed a famous "plat Opaoroeacta" or "Rod of Enchantment”.

Cian happened to be away from home at the time, but a maid, who was kneading bread for dinner, requested them to await his return.

The visitors, who not liking the untidy appearance of the girl and the un hygienic manner in which she manipulated the dough, refused to stay.

When Cian returned in the evening and heard of their hasty departure he flew into a rage that his hospitality should be spurned in this manner. He quickly seized his magic mountain plain, and with a touch of his druidic slat, he changed his despised visitors into stone pillars which now supposedly make up the stone row-  consisting of the two travelers, their mother and the two smaller stones which are thought to represent their accompanying wolves.

Reanadampaun or Réid na dTeampán means “Mountain Plain of the Round Boulders"

Directions: From Dungarvan take the R672 traveling NW for 3 km till you reach the junction with the N72.  Just up the road a short distance is the Master McGrath monument. Continue on this road ( R672) for about 7km till you pass a shop at a crossroads. At the next crossroads which is about 2km further on, turn right. Take the first left and then second right which is another 2km on. The turn left again. About 1km up here is a farm entrance on the left with a pass leading up to a farmhouse. Ask here for access.

Click for Aardvark Map

Other sites in this area - Tooraneena standing stone