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Answering Stone facts for kids

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The Cloch Labhrais, also called the Answering Stone and the Speaking Stone, is a large boulder beside a road leading from Waterford to Dungarvan, two miles (3 km) from Stradbally, County Waterford in Ireland. The stone is the subject of a legend, much like the Blarney Stone. The most prominent and unique feature of the stone is a large, 5-foot-wide split (1.5 m) almost completely cleaving the stone in two. The large glacial boulder likely obtained the split when the glacial ice melted due to a rapid temperature change between the ice and the water of the stream.

Size and placement

The boulder rests on the west bank of the River Deehan near Stradbally. It is split from North to South almost perfectly in the center of the rock. The split itself, 5 feet (1.5 m) in width, cuts the stone into two parts: the eastern and western divisions.

Eastern half

The easternmost half of the boulder measures 33 feet (10 m) from the north to the south end. It is 11 feet (3.4 m) in height at the southern side of this section, 18 feet (5.5 m) high at the east side, 17 feet (5.2 m) high at the north side, and 12 feet (3.7 m) high at the split. From the eastern side to the split itself is 19.5 feet (5.9 m).

Western half

The other half of the boulder is 27 feet (8.2 m) from north to south. It is 15 feet (4.6 m) high at the southern end, 11 feet (3.4 m) at the west, 13 feet (4.0 m) high on the northern side, and it too is 12 feet (3.7 m) high at the split. From the western edge to the split measures 14 feet (4.3 m). A large piece of the western part broke off and fell to the northern end of the split, almost completely closing the split at that end. This segment alone weighs around four tons.

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