This decorated boulder, measuring three metres long and just over a metre wide, was discovered by a local landowner during land reclamation works in an area of poorly drained upland terrain. Originally part of the natural rock outcrop that forms the 500 foot contour line marked on Victorian era Ordnance Survey maps, the stone now rests about 130 metres northeast of where it was first uncovered.

The boulder is one of three decorated rocks found in the Balleeghan Upper area, though it’s the only one that remains in its discovered location; the other two have since been moved elsewhere. What makes this particular stone fascinating is the intricate pattern carved into its surface. The top features three cup marks, roughly four centimetres in diameter, with two of them clearly surrounded by C-shaped rings. These motifs sit within a distinctive D-shaped border that’s been roughly incised or pock marked into the stone, measuring about 63 by 67 centimetres. A diagonal line of pocked marks divides this framed panel, whilst additional smaller cup marks are scattered both inside the border and on the stone’s surface beyond it.

These cup and ring marks represent one of Ireland’s most enigmatic forms of prehistoric art, typically dating from the Neolithic to Bronze Age periods. While their exact meaning remains a mystery, similar carvings found across Ireland, Scotland, and northern England suggest they held significant cultural or ritual importance for the communities who created them. The Balleeghan Upper stone, documented by archaeologist Caimin O’Brien in 2011, adds another piece to the puzzle of understanding how our ancestors marked and interpreted their landscape thousands of years ago.