This irregularly shaped stone, measuring about 35 centimetres at its widest point and standing 32 centimetres above ground, bears three distinctive cup marks on its southwest face; circular depressions carefully carved into the rock face centuries or possibly millennia ago. The markings are arranged in a triangular pattern, with the largest cupmark, measuring 7 centimetres across and 4 centimetres deep, positioned centrally near the top of the stone. Below it, two smaller cup marks of roughly equal size sit side by side at the base of the exposed stone face, though one is partially hidden beneath the current ground level.

Cup marks like these are amongst Ireland’s most enigmatic prehistoric features, found on stones throughout the country but particularly common in the northwest. While their exact purpose remains a mystery, these deliberate circular hollows were likely created during the Bronze Age, between 2500 and 500 BCE, and may have held ritual or territorial significance for the communities that carved them. The placement of this marked stone within a later Christian graveyard suggests a continuity of sacred use at this site, a common pattern in Ireland where ancient ritual spaces were often incorporated into Christian landscapes.

Interestingly, this isn’t the only cup marked stone in the graveyard; in the northwest section, another grave marker shaped roughly like a cross also bears these ancient markings, indicating that whoever established this burial ground either deliberately incorporated these prehistoric stones or perhaps chose this location specifically because of their presence. The combination of prehistoric rock art and later Christian burial practices at Gortleck offers a tangible connection to thousands of years of human activity in this corner of Donegal, where ancient symbols and more recent memorials share the same sacred ground.