Home › All legends › Standing Stones & Stone Circles (page 1 of 3) Standing Stones & Stone Circles
The prehistoric monuments of Britain and Ireland gathered folklore for thousands of years after they were raised. Circles said to be dancers or maidens turned to stone, megaliths that cannot be counted, stones that walk to drink at midnight — the traditions preserve a folk memory of the monuments as living, watchful and not to be meddled with.
Black Dogs of Britain & Ireland Arthurian Places Haunted Churches & Churchyards Legends of the Sea & Shore Cursed Places & Ill-Fated Stones Standing Stones & Stone Circles Dragons & Serpents Holy Wells & Healing Springs
Sacred Sites Avebury Wiltshire The largest stone circle in the world — so vast a village was built inside it. The Devil is said to have danced here. At night the stones are said to move, drink from the stream, and return before dawn. No one has ever counted them twice and got the same number. Sacred Sites Beenalaght Coachford, County Cork
Beenalaght is an alignment of six standing stones located on a flat pasture in Reanthesure, 0.5km west of the village of Bweeng, County Cork, Ireland. It is 13.6km south-west of Mallow, on a hill to the west of the Mallow-Coachford Road. Sacred Sites Behy court tomb Belderrig, County Mayo The court tomb of Behy is a megalithic monument in the townland of the same name, near Belderrig in the north of County Mayo, Ireland. The monument is located within the Céide Fields complex, 150 meters above sea level on the slope of Maumakeogh hill, and is the most westerly of the thirty or so tombs in the Killala group. The site commands wide views across the sea to the north and to the Stags of Broadhaven. Sacred Sites Breeny More Stone Circle Breeny More, County Cork Breeny More Stone Circle is an axial stone circle and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland. Sacred Sites Bryn Gwyn stones Brynsiencyn, Anglesey, Wales The Bryn Gwyn Stones or Bryn Gwyn Standing Stones are neolithic stones in Brynsiencyn on Anglesey. Sacred Sites Brú na Bóinne Boyne Valley, County Meath The 'Palace of the Boyne', Otherworld home of the god Dagda — won from him forever by his son Aengus Óg through a trick: claiming the house for just 'a day and night'. Sacred Sites Caer Bran Cornwall An Iron Age hillfort whose name evokes Bran, the giant king of Welsh tradition. The site sits in a landscape thick with Cornish legend, standing stones, and tales of buried ancient power. Sacred Sites Callanish Standing Stones Isle of Lewis, Scotland At midsummer on Lewis, the Shining One walks the great stone avenue at dawn — his arrival heralded by the cuckoo's call, visible only to those who are already watching when the sun rises. Sacred Sites Carricknagat Megalithic Tombs Carricknagat, County Sligo Carricknagat Megalithic Tombs are megalithic tombs and a National Monument located in County Sligo, Ireland. Sacred Sites Carrigagulla Carrigagulla, County Cork Carrigagulla is a megalithic complex 2.9 km north-east of Ballinagree, County Cork, Ireland. Sacred Sites Carrigaphooca Stone Circle Carrigaphooca, County Cork Carrigaphooca Stone Circle is a stone circle and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated 4.4 km (2.7 mi) west of Macroom, immediately east of Carrigaphooca Castle, north of the N22, and near the confluence of the River Sullane and River Foherish. The name means "stone of the púca". Sacred Sites Carrowmore Carrowmore, County Sligo One of Europe's oldest tomb clusters — older than Newgrange — said to be stones spilled from the sky by the Cailleach, and the resting place of the eloping lovers Diarmuid and Gráinne. Sacred Sites Cheetham Close Lancashire A Bronze Age megalithic site on the Lancashire–Greater Manchester border — a scheduled ancient monument described in 1829 as a druidical ritual place, damaged by a farmer in the 1870s. The Roman road passes within 200 yards, suggesting the site was already ancient when Rome came through. Sacred Sites Clodagh Standing Stones Clodagh, County Cork Clodagh Standing Stones is a pair of standing stones forming a stone row and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland. Sacred Sites Cloghanmore Glencolmcille, County Donegal Cloghanmore (translated as "the great stone heap" is a megalithic chamber tomb of the court tomb type located about 8 km east from Carrick in Malin More, Glencolmcille, in County Donegal, Ireland. Sacred Sites Coolcoulaghta Standing Stones Coolcoulaghta, County Cork The Coolcoulaghta Standing Stones are a pair of standing stones forming a stone row and a National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland. Sacred Sites Craddock Moor stone circle Cornwall Craddock Moor Stone Circle or Craddock Moor Circle is a stone circle located near Minions on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK. It is situated around half a mile Northwest of The Hurlers. Sacred Sites Craigs Dolmen Craigs, County Antrim Craigs Dolmen is a megalithic tomb in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is 5 mi (8 km) south of Ballymoney, off Finvoy Road, at a height of 200m on the Long Mountain. Craigs Dolmen passage tomb is a State Care Historic Monument in the townland of Craigs, in Borough of Ballymoney. Its grid reference is C9740 1729. Deities Crom Cruach Magh Slécht (Killycluggin), County Cavan, Ireland A gold idol said to demand child sacrifice stood at Cavan's 'Plain of Prostrations', ringed by twelve lesser stones — until, tradition holds, St Patrick smashed it with his crozier. Sacred Sites Devil's Arrows North Yorkshire Three great standing stones near Boroughbridge, said to have been hurled by the Devil at the town of Aldborough. He missed, which is exactly the kind of thing folklore remembers forever. Sacred Sites Dolmen of the Four Maols Ballina, County Mayo The Dolmen of the Four Maols is a cist and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland. Sacred Sites Eightercua Waterville, County Kerry A lonely Bronze Age stone row on the Ring of Kerry marks the grave of Scéine, wife of the poet Amergin, who died at sea moments before the Milesians' first landing in Ireland. Sacred Sites Farranahineeny Stone Row Farranahineeny, County Kerry Farranahineeny Stone Row is a stone row and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland. Sacred Sites Finn McCools Fingers Shantemon Mountain, County Cavan Finn McCools Fingers are a set of five standing stones on Shantemon mountain in County Cavan. The name is derived from the story that giant Celtic warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill lost a hand in battle. The stones are arranged in a south-east/north-west orientation.
← Browse all legends
✦ Folklore Map of Britain & Ireland ✦Myths, Legends & Spectral Encounters