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Cookstown Stone Circle and Alignment is a Bronze Age ceremonial monument located in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The circle comprises standing stones arranged in a ritual configuration typical of bronze age communities across the British Isles, likely constructed between 3000 and 1000 BCE. The monument's precise astronomical or calendrical function remains unknown, though such circles often served as gathering places for seasonal gatherings and ritual observance.
The site sits upon Ordovician bedrock composed of mafic extrusive rocks and tuff, geological formations created from ancient volcanic activity over 440 million years ago. This solid volcanic foundation would have provided a stable base for the monument's construction and explains the availability of stone materials in the immediate landscape. The underlying geology has protected the stones from significant weathering and erosion over millennia.
The circle is protected as a scheduled monument under reference 14448 by the Historic Environment Division, ensuring its preservation for future generations. Such Bronze Age stone circles represent some of the most enduring expressions of prehistoric engineering and social organisation in Northern Ireland, offering insight into the spiritual and communal life of ancient societies in this region.
Stone circle & alignment is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 14448. View the official record →
Cookstown Stone Circle and Alignment is a Bronze Age ceremonial monument located in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 14448.
Stone circle & alignment dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a stone circle. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Stone circle & alignment 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 14448.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Standing stone, three cairns & two stone circles (2.8 km), Cairn (3.7 km), Cairn & alignment (3.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Stone circle & alignment'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.
Stone circle & alignment stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Ordovician, bedrock that formed in the Ordovician. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.