Down here in West Cork, about an hour’s drive from Kinsale, lies Drombeg Stone Circle. It’s one of the most popular Megalithic sites in the British Isles, albeit quite a bit behind Newgrange in Meath and Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
Much like its two famous cousins, it was an ancient method of timekeeping, with the archways lining up with the rising sun at the winter solstice. However it was also clearly an ancient burial ground with the remains of a teenager from around 1,000 BC found in a pot in the centre. There are marks on the standing stones which were probably made by a stone axe.
Although the sunrise only lines up here in winter, the sweeping green fields with the Atlantic Ocean in the background with the (normally) sunny weather made us prefer to come here during the summer. There’s usually a few other people there when we visit, wrapped up warm, but with everyone in Ireland taking a holiday in their own country and looking for outdoor activities, we might see a few more folks this time celebrating the longest day.
If you’re planning a holiday down to Kinsale, stay a few days longer, we definitely recommend a trip down to Glandore to visit. When you come back to Kinsale, you can tell us about it on your Kinsale Meadery tour.