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Cup-and-ring-marked stone is a Bronze Age ritual monument located in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The stone bears a series of shallow cup-shaped depressions surrounded by concentric rings, pecked into its surface using stone tools. Such motifs are among the most enigmatic expressions of Bronze Age religious or symbolic practice in Britain and Ireland, typically dating between 2000 and 1200 BCE. The precise meaning of these markings remains unknown, though their careful execution and placement suggest significant ceremonial importance.
The monument sits upon bedrock of the Tyrone Group, a Visean-age geological formation comprising limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone interspersed with chert, coal and conglomerate. This varied geology would have provided the Bronze Age communities of Fermanagh with diverse stone resources for tool-making and construction. The local landscape, shaped by these underlying rocks, offered both practical materials and spiritual significance to its prehistoric inhabitants.
The cup-and-ring-marked stone is protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, recorded under reference number 10851. It represents a rare surviving example of Bronze Age artistic expression in this region, offering insight into the symbolic world of prehistoric Fermanagh.
Cup-&-ring-marked stone is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 10851. View the official record →
Cup-and-ring-marked stone is a Bronze Age ritual monument located in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 10851.
Cup-&-ring-marked stone dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a cup-&-ring-marked stone. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cup-&-ring-marked stone is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 10851.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Sub-rectangular enclosure (0 km), Cashel (0.2 km), Cashel (0.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cup-&-ring-marked stone's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cup-&-ring-marked stone stands on Tyrone Group, bedrock that formed in the Visean. The rock here is limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone, with subordinate chert, coal and conglomerate.