Drombeg Stone Circle

Drombeg is a recumbent stone circle on a terrace above the sea in West Cork, seventeen stones set with the tallest pair facing a flat stone laid on its side across the ring. The axis points towards the part of the horizon where the sun sets around midwinter, which is why the site draws a crowd on that date. Excavation found a burial at the centre. A few steps away are the stone foundations of two round huts and a fulacht fiadh, a trough lined with stone where water was heated with fire-cracked rocks. The sea shows over the fields below, and the whole site is small and open to the wind.

What you actually see

• The recumbent stone - the flat axial stone the circle is aligned across.
• The portal stones - the tall pair opposite, framing the way into the circle.
• The fulacht fiadh - the stone-lined trough and hearth used for heating water.
• The hut foundations - two round stone footings beside the cooking site.

When to go

Any daylight hour, free and unstaffed. Late afternoon light along this coast suits the stones, and the midwinter sunset draws a gathering that fills the lane. Summer weekends back up the tiny car park, and the short walk in from the road turns muddy after rain. The wind here is more or less constant.

Honest expectations

It is a small circle in a field, and the visit runs to fifteen minutes unless you sit with it. The car park holds a handful of cars and the approach lane is single track with poor passing places. There are no facilities and no shelter, and the stones are lower than photographs suggest.

Nearby

Glandore harbour, Rosscarbery and the West Cork coast road are all within minutes.