ROCK OF AGES
The Haunting Stone Circles of Beaghmore & Ballynoe Photo: Dad on Ballynoe
By Charlie Hall, The Musical Medium
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tone circles have always fascinated me and as a child I envisaged them being magical places of conjuring, rituals, chanting and dancing. I found them exciting and a little unnerving and wished I could be a part of something in one of them someday, (just not as the sacrifice!!). The exact purpose that they were constructed for is unknown, but historical research, artefacts and evidence suggests the main use was for worship, communal and ceremonial events and for the burial of important people. In ancient times of Ireland some thought stone circles to be delivery portals for mythical beings and said the stones awaken at night, so I decided to visit two of Northern Ireland’s greatest circle locations, Beaghmore and Ballynoe. Hidden away in a remote area outside of Cookstown, Beaghmore is one of the country’s most haunting mystical sites. On the edge of the Sperrin Mountains, this early bronze age setting of impressive megalithic formations, consists of 7 stone circles with 12 burial cairns, (mounds for the inhumed or cremated) and 10 stone alignments, all but one circle are paired and each with a cairn in between. Being the cornerstone of much folklore, the number 7 represents a connection to the universe, spiritually and philosophically as well as relating to lunar
phases and astrology. It is a widely used number, 7 notes in a scale, 7 deadly sins, 7 days of the week, that most religions and cultures believe to be divine. Beaghmore began in a woodland environment of oak, birch, and hazel trees, reflected in the name which translates to ‘Place of birch trees’. The trees were cleared by Neolithic clans, who utilised it for cultivation and grazing livestock. Discovered in the late 1930’s by peat farmers who noticed the arrangements after revealing around 1300 stones and consulted experts.
“The investigations suggested that the circles and cairns were constructed approximately 2000 – 1200 BC and are one of the largest and most significant stone complexes of its kind, with much still hidden in the peat waiting to be unearthed.” The construction of it represents substantial organisation and endeavour, indicating that it was a place of great importance to the folk that created it by providing a way of connecting death and burial to the land and sky and was quite possibly the meeting point for religious and social gatherings. Cremated bones, fragments of human skull HAUNTED MAGAZINE
and partially preserved pieces of spine and limbs proved that the cairns were used for burial purpose. Further excavations between 1945 and 1965 showed signs of ceremonial and ritual activity and saw items such as tools, pottery, and weapons being recovered. Having gotten lost on route, it was definitely worth the wait, and I found myself in awe of the beauty that surrounded us. The panoramic landscape was spectacular, with no one around for miles and a silence so eerie that you could have heard a pin drop, I immediately felt a strong energy resonating from this truly sacred place. It is no surprise that Beaghmore attracts many curious mystics and ghost hunters due to its mysterious layouts and alignments. The stone alignments radiate from the circles in a Northeast direction running to the cairns, three of the rows point to the solstice sunrise and the rest to the moonrise. Probably put up for ritual processions as well as calendrical indicators that could warn onlookers that winter solstice was close. Four of the cairns contained cremated human remains, three of which were placed in pits lined with stone known as cists. The biggest cairn held within an enclosed oak tree branch, whilst a porcellanite axe was located in a smaller one and a hearth with charcoal, flints, and Neolithic bowls in another.
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