When the Ordnance Survey created their detailed 6-inch maps in the mid-19th century, their surveyors found no trace of this ancient monument, despite its inclusion in later archaeological records. The stone’s location, described as rough, wet, low-lying land, suggests it may have been situated in bogland or marshy ground; conditions that could have contributed to its disappearance through subsidence, removal for agricultural improvement, or simple neglect over time.

The absence of this standing stone from the earliest Ordnance Survey maps raises intriguing questions about its fate. These maps, created between 1829 and 1842 for Donegal, were remarkably thorough in documenting archaeological features, making the stone’s omission particularly noteworthy. It’s possible the monument had already been destroyed or removed before the survey teams arrived, perhaps during land clearance in the late 18th or early 19th century when many such prehistoric monuments were lost to agricultural expansion.

This phantom monument was documented in the comprehensive Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, compiled by Brian Lacey and his team in 1983. Their work, which catalogued field antiquities from the Mesolithic period through to the 17th century, serves as a crucial record of Donegal’s archaeological heritage, including sites that exist now only in historical memory. The standing stone of Drumboy joins countless other prehistoric monuments across Ireland that have been lost to time, leaving only archival references to hint at the sacred and ceremonial landscapes our ancestors once knew.