Lanmore Longstones

Lanmore Longstone
Oliver Dixon (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Lanmore, Nr Aughagower, County Mayo

Lanmore Longstone known also as ‘Clogh Phadraig’ or ‘St. Patrick’s Stone’  is a standing stone within Co. Mayo.

It is a slanted stone approximately two metres in height.  In Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 the author referenced Aughagower as Lanmore within the parish, ‘St. Patrick founded here the monastery of Achadfobhair, and placed St. Senach over it: it afterwards became the parish church.’ [i]

Penal Times

 Folklore recounted a tale related to the standing stone during the penal times when the celebration of Catholic mass was outlawed.  Priest hunter Seán na Sagart checked in areas for a reward for the capture of priests.  Approximately five hundred yards away from Lanmore Longstone was a small hollow thirty to forty feet in diameter called ‘Lag na h-Altóra’ where penal mass was often celebrated.  Within the hollow the congregation were out of sight whilst a guard kept watch at the approach route.  John Keville penned in an article on Aughagower in Cathair na Mart Journal of Westport Historical Society (volume 4 issue 1) that ‘The priest was reading Mass in the lag when the man on guard gave the warning that Seán and his men were coming across the side of the hill from the direction of the Longstone.’  The congregation prepared their escape as they warned the priest but he assured them that the party would not arrive until after the Mass.  GPS: 53.75 38, -9.5 16 91.  This site references the inaccessibility of the site itself.  [ii]

Second Site

An earthwork (MA098–019) in Lanmore among other sites were impacted by the Cushlough Group Water Scheme.  The second site was found at circa one hundred & fifty-eight metres OD in Lanmore townland (198768 277385) on the slope of a hill east of Liscarney village.  The site was located under 0.16 metres of sod & topsoil.  The visible deposit of burnt sandstone with charcoal matrix measured 6.03 metres in length with a maximum depth of 0.81metres. (Bernard Guinan)  [iii]

Druidic Pillars

North-west of Tavanagh in Aughagower are several druidic pillars or Lanmore Longstones along possibly the pilgrim route of Tóchar Phádraig.  The largest of two stones east of Lanmore Knox referred to as Cloch Patrick.  It is nine feet in height with as much stone underground as above.  Approximately sixteen inches in width near the base, it narrows from one foot in width to approximately six inches at the top.  Near the top is a ‘split’ of a few inches that locals believed was caused by lightening. [iv]

Conry’s Stone

The second Lanmore Longstone is three-quarters of a mile west, it is known as Conry’s stone & is just six & a half feet in height also one foot wide all the way except at the extreme top.  Lying in a field three hundred yards west of second Lanmore Longstone is a similar slab of rock that is five foot in length & six inches in thickness.  Also there is a four foot slab in a dry wall. (Kevill John Aughagower vol 2 No 1 pages 13 /14)  [v]

Further Information

Corlett Christiaan The Prehistoric Ritual Landscape of Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo 1998 vol 9 (pages 9-26) in the The Journal of Irish Archaeology (Wordwell Ltd) refers to Lanmore standing stone at this link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/30001690

Lanmore Longstone or ‘Clogh Phadraig’ or St Patrick’s Stone: is one of several standing-stones within the area: http://www.irishmegaliths.org.uk/mayo.htm

Lankill School (roll number 16904) referred to Mass said in Talamh Galair by Thomas King: The Schools’ Collection, volume 0621, page 413.  The Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. : https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5215809/5231469/5265084?ChapterID=5215809

Coordinates of Lanmore standing stone are 53 44.7 80 N, 9 31.88 27 W.  Image 5th June 2011 by Henry Dixon may be viewed at this site: https://www.geograph.ie/photo/2443061

‘Clogh Phadraig’ or St Patrick’s Stone is located at Lanmore may be viewed among several standing stones within the area: https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=6333373

Lanmore Standing Stone is recorded in The Record of Monuments and Places as established under section 12 of the National Monument (Amendment) Act 1994 at this PDF: https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Archaeology-RMP-Mayo-manual-(1996)-0035.pdf

This PDF may be of interest: https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Archaeology-RMP-Mayo-manual-(1996)-0035.pdf

Lanmore Standing Stone is referenced within Smyth Daragh’s Earthing the Myths: The Myths, Legends and Early History of Ireland 2020  (Merrion Press): https://irishacademicpress.ie/product/earthing-the-myths/

A slender pillar stone at six feet in height is located close to a road that connects Lankhill with Liscarney at Lanmore: https://www.mayo.ie/getattachment/afb74a09-756c-41af-92f7-64b7e6d46786/attachment.aspx

Lanmore Longstone or ‘Clogh Phadraig’ a pre-historic monument was possibly erected to mark paths, burials or a boundary.  Coordinates are WGS84: 53:45.2746N, 9:31.0529W (image by Oliver Dixon 18th July 2009): https://www.geograph.ie/photo/1404780

Footnotes

[i] Lanmore Longstone (https://visionsofthepastblog.com/2017/01/26/lanmore-longstone-mayo-ireland/) [Assessed 30th June 2021]

[ii] Ibid

[iii] Excavations (https://excavations.ie/report/2006/Mayo/0016196/) [Assessed 30th June 2021]

[iv] Cathair na Mart Historical Journal 1982  [Assessed 30th June 2021]

[v] Ibid

 

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