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Cookstown Stone Circle is a Bronze Age stone circle located near Cookstown in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The monument stands upon bedrock composed of a mafic igneous intrusion of Silurian age, part of the ancient volcanic geology that underlies much of this region. The circle is protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division under reference 14710.
Stone circles of this type were typically erected between approximately 3000 and 1000 BC and served ceremonial, ritual or astronomical functions within Bronze Age communities. Their construction required substantial communal effort and organisation, suggesting they held considerable cultural significance. The precise arrangement and number of remaining stones at Cookstown reflects both the original design and the effects of weathering, land use and geological processes over more than three millennia.
The Silurian igneous bedrock upon which the circle was built would have been a stable foundation for the monument's construction. The surrounding landscape of County Tyrone would have been familiar to its Bronze Age builders, who selected this location for reasons now largely unknowable—though the elevated terrain and visibility across the surrounding countryside were likely considerations in its placement.
Stone circle is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 14710. View the official record →
Cookstown Stone Circle is a Bronze Age stone circle located near Cookstown in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 14710.
Stone circle 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 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 14710.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Round cairn (7.3 km), Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn (7.4 km), Barrow (8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Stone circle'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 stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Ordovician To Silurian, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is mafic igneous-rock.