Turoe Stone facts for kids
The Turoe Stone is a special ancient stone found in County Galway, Ireland. It's made of granite and is covered in beautiful, swirling designs. These designs are a type of Celtic style called La Tène. Experts believe the stone was carved a very long time ago, sometime between 100 BC and 100 AD. Today, you can find the Turoe Stone in the village of Bullaun, protected inside a special cover on the lawn of Turoe House. It's an important piece of Irish history!
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What Makes the Turoe Stone Special?
The top part of the Turoe Stone is covered with amazing, flowing patterns. These designs are a famous style of ancient Celtic art known as the La Tène style. It's similar to the patterns you can see on another famous stone, the Castlestrange stone, which is in County Roscommon. These patterns are not just random; they show the incredible artistic skills of the people who lived in Ireland thousands of years ago.
The Stone's Journey Through Time
For many centuries, the Turoe Stone was a mysterious object at a place called a lios. A lios is an old Irish word for a ringfort or a "fairy fort." These were circular areas often surrounded by banks and ditches, used by people long ago. The stone was moved from this ancient site in the late 1800s to where it is now, at Turoe Farm. Because it was moved, we don't know exactly what it was used for. Was it part of a religious ceremony? Or did it have another special purpose? That part of its story is lost in time.
Moving the Turoe Stone
A historian named George Coffey wrote about the Turoe Stone in 1904. He mentioned that the stone was moved in the 1850s from its original spot at a ringfort called Feerwore. In 2007, there was a plan to move the stone again. Some people were worried that the weather was damaging it. However, many local people did not want it to be moved from its current home.
A Recent Cleaning
On July 17, 2014, the Turoe Stone was temporarily moved for cleaning. It had started to grow some fungus, and experts wanted to make sure it stayed in good condition for future generations to enjoy.
Digging Up the Past: Excavations
The Turoe Stone was originally found outside the rath (another word for a ringfort) of Feerwore. This was at the top of Turoe hill. When archaeologists dug around the original site, they found many interesting things. These discoveries suggest that the area was an open settlement in the last few centuries BC. Later, it was enclosed, possibly becoming the ringfort where the stone was found. These excavations help us understand more about the people who lived there and used the Turoe Stone so long ago.
See also
In Spanish: Piedra de Turoe para niños
