Rock art, Ballynahone, Co. Donegal
In the rugged uplands of Ballynahone, County Donegal, where blanket bog stretches across the landscape and Mouldy Hill rises as the highest point, lies a remarkable piece of prehistoric rock art.
Rock art, Ballynahone, Co. Donegal
This decorated stone sits at the western end of a narrow, boggy valley, surrounded by rough terrain thick with heather and sedge. The location offers spectacular views; to the south and west, you can see across Lough Swilly and Inch Island, with the fertile lowlands spreading out in the middle distance, whilst the mountains of western Donegal, including the distinctive peaks of Muckish Mountain, Errigal, and the Derryveagh Range, create a dramatic backdrop.
The stone itself presents a flat, fine-grained horizontal surface, though only a portion remains visible above ground, measuring approximately 85 centimetres east to west and 58 centimetres north to south, with encroaching heather obscuring its full extent. The exposed surface reveals fascinating prehistoric artwork in the form of a ringed cupmark at its eastern end. This shallow, weathered cupmark, about five centimetres in diameter, is surrounded by three concentric rings, each carved as a groove roughly two centimetres wide, though the outermost ring can only be traced as an arc on the northeast side.
About 10 to 12 centimetres west of the main ringed cupmark, there’s a shallow circular depression approximately four centimetres across that might be the weathered remains of another cupmark, though centuries of exposure to the elements have made this difficult to confirm. This intriguing example of rock art was brought to the attention of the National Monument Service by local historian Liam McLoughlin and documented by Jane O’Shaughnessy in June 2022, adding another piece to our understanding of prehistoric life in this remote corner of Donegal.





