Set three metres apart, these megalithic sentinels stand as a testament to Ireland’s prehistoric past, with the southern stone reaching 2.2 metres high and spanning 2.4 metres wide. Both monoliths bear intricate petroglyphs on multiple faces, creating an outdoor gallery of Neolithic or Bronze Age art that has endured millennia of Irish weather.

The southern stone’s eastern face serves as the star attraction, decorated with at least 48 cup marks; small, circular depressions hammered into the rock face by our ancestors. Amongst these simple cups lie more elaborate designs, including cup marks surrounded by concentric circles, some connected by carved lines radiating outward like primitive solar symbols. One particularly notable motif near the lower portion features a central cup mark encircled by a shallow recessed band and two concentric rings, accompanied by satellite cup marks that orbit the main design like a stone age constellation. Time hasn’t been entirely kind to these carvings; spalling and erosion have claimed portions of the artwork, though enough remains to appreciate the skill and patience required to create them.

The northern stone, whilst less elaborately decorated, contributes its own artistic elements to this ancient site. Its western face bears a carved cross alongside eight cup marks, whilst the eastern face displays seven additional cups. These stones have witnessed the slow accumulation of peat around their bases; when antiquarian George Henry Kinahan documented them in 1887, he noted that two and a half feet of bog had already built up around them. Today, they continue their silent vigil in the damp pasture land, offering visitors a tangible connection to the beliefs, rituals, and artistic expressions of Ireland’s distant past.