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Newry and Mourne Standing Stones is a prehistoric megalithic monument comprising the surviving stones of what may once have been a communal burial structure. Located in the Newry and Mourne district of County Down, the site lies upon bedrock of the Gala Group, a wacke formation dating to the Telychian period of the early Palaeozoic era. The underlying geology of compacted sedimentary rock would have presented substantial challenges to the prehistoric builders who erected these monuments around 4,000 to 3,000 years ago.
The standing stones represent a tradition of monumental stone construction that flourished across Ireland during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Such structures typically served communal purposes, functioning as burial chambers, territorial markers, or ceremonial centres within their local landscape. The fragmentary condition of this monument suggests considerable antiquity, with stones displaced or fallen over millennia of exposure to the elements and agricultural use of the surrounding land.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument under reference 6097 by the Historic Environment Division, recognising its significance as evidence of prehistoric settlement and ritual activity in the Newry and Mourne region. Despite its ruinous state, the monument remains an important record of early Irish megalithic culture and the enduring relationship between these ancient communities and their landscape.
Standing stones (remains of megalithic tomb?) is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 6097. View the official record →
Newry and Mourne Standing Stones is a prehistoric megalithic monument comprising the surviving stones of what may once have been a communal burial structure. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 6097.
Standing stones (remains of megalithic tomb?) dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a megalithic tombpossible. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Standing stones (remains of megalithic tomb?) 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 6097.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Corliss fort, donaghy's fort, corliss, the beech fort. bivallate rath and souterrain (1.9 km), Tullyard fort. counterscarp rath (2.3 km), Lisamry fort. counterscarp rath & souterrain (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Standing stones (remains of megalithic tomb?)'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.
Standing stones (remains of megalithic tomb?) stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.