Boheh Stone
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Boheh Stone
| native_name = Cathaoir Phádraig
| native_language = ga
| image =
|other_name = St. Patrick's Chair
| elevation = {{Convert|102|m|abbr=on}}
| locmapin = Ireland
| coordinates = {{coord|53.747672|N|9.553979|W|display=inline,title}}
| location = Boheh, Aughagower,
County Mayo, Ireland
| area = {{Convert|4|m2|abbr=on}}
| built = 3800–2000 BC
| architect =
| architecture =
| governing_body =
| owner = Mayo County Council
| type = Rock art
| height = {{Convert|2|m|abbr=on}}
| designation1 = National Monument of Ireland
| designation1_offname = Boheh Rock Art
| designation1_date =
| designation1_number = 296
}}
The Boheh Stone, also called St. Patrick's Chair, is a piece of rock art a and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland.{{cite web |url=https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/monuments-in-state-care-mayo.pdf |title=National Monuments in State Care: Ownership & Guardianship. Mayo |date=4 March 2009 |website=National Monuments Service |access-date=1 November 2016 |archive-date=10 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510144448/https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/monuments-in-state-care-mayo.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=6333373|title=Boheh|first=The Megalithic Portal and Megalith|last=Map|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=4 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104000327/http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=6333373|url-status=live}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtr4AwAAQBAJ&q=boheh+stone&pg=PT21|title=Buen Camino! Walk the Camino de Santiago with a Father and Daughter: A Physical Journey that Became a Spiritual Transformation|first1=Peter|last1=Murtagh|first2=Natasha|last2=Murtagh|date=18 March 2011|publisher=Gill & Macmillan Ltd|isbn=9780717151738|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a6_cAwAAQBAJ&q=boheh&pg=PA81|title=Open-Air Rock-Art Conservation and Management: State of the Art and Future Perspectives|first1=Timothy|last1=Darvill|first2=Antonio Pedro Batarda|last2=Fernandes|date=20 June 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135014735|via=Google Books|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=29 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229072154/https://books.google.com/books?id=a6_cAwAAQBAJ&q=boheh&pg=PA81|url-status=live}}
Location
The Boheh Stone lies 6.4 km (4 mi) SSW of Westport.{{cite news | url=https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/publications/nms-farmers-journal-04.pdf | title=Ireland's first golden age | work=Country Heritage | via=archaeology.ie | date=4 February 2012 | page=14 | accessdate=15 November 2021 | archive-date=2 December 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202084504/https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/publications/nms-farmers-journal-04.pdf | url-status=live }}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FdzMAQAAQBAJ&q=boheh+stone&pg=PA2|title=Fadó: Tales of Lesser Known Irish History|first=Rónán Gearóid Ó|last=Domhnaill|date=1 November 2013|publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd|isbn=9781783061976|via=Google Books|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=29 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229072016/https://books.google.com/books?id=FdzMAQAAQBAJ&q=boheh+stone&pg=PA2|url-status=live}}
History
The stone is believed to have been carved as early as 3800 BC.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVVYDQAAQBAJ&q=boheh+stone&pg=PT100|title=Land of the Gods: How a Scottish Landscape was Sanctified to Become Arthur's Camelot|first=Philip|last=Coppens|date=15 September 2007|publisher=BookBaby|isbn=9781623092344|via=Google Books}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
This stone was later Christianised and called St Patrick's Chair. It was made a waypoint on Tóchar Phádraig, a pilgrimage route; formerly this path led from Rathcroghan to Croagh Patrick.{{cite web|url=http://www.croagh-patrick.com/content/boheh-stone|title=The Boheh Stone in County Mayo - Information and History - Teach na Miasa|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103215847/http://www.croagh-patrick.com/content/boheh-stone|url-status=live}}
The "rolling sun" phenomenon was rediscovered in 1989–92 by Gerry Bracken. A new panel of carving was found in 2014 by Michael Gibbons.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/5800-year-old-rock-scribing-found-near-irelands-croagh-patrick|title=5,800-year-old rock scribing found near Ireland's Croagh Patrick|date=26 August 2016|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103220429/http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/5800-year-old-rock-scribing-found-near-irelands-croagh-patrick|url-status=live}}
In the 2023 book and exhibition Three Stones: The Cross and the Circle, Rónán Lynch wrote that the carvings on the top stone appear to represent the constellations of Crux and Centaurus, last visible from Ireland around 4,100 BC. https://returnofancient.substack.com/p/three-stones-the-cross-and-the-circle
Description
The Boheh Stone is one of the finest examples of Neolithic rock art in Ireland, covered in many cup and ring marks and keyhole motifs; about 250 petroglyphs in total. It is a natural outcrop flecked with quartz.{{cite web|url=http://directionireland.com/index.php?obj=The%20Boheh%20Stone&id=119|title=The Boheh Stone - St Patrick's Chair - Clew Bay Archaeological Trail - County Mayo|last=Cockroach|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=4 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104050721/http://directionireland.com/index.php?obj=The%20Boheh%20Stone&id=119|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.excavations.ie/report/1993/Mayo/0001550/|title=1550 « Excavations|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103220252/http://www.excavations.ie/report/1993/Mayo/0001550/|url-status=live}}
=Rolling sun=
Twice a year (18 April and 24 August by the Gregorian calendar), from the vantage point at the Boheh Stone, the sun can be seen to set at the summit of Croagh Patrick (7.1 km / 4.4 mi to the WNW) and appears to roll down its northern shoulder.* {{cite web|url=http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/87171/croagh-patrick-then-and-now|title=Croagh Patrick, then and now|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=4 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104000316/http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/87171/croagh-patrick-then-and-now|url-status=live}}
- {{cite web|url=https://voxhiberionacum.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/pre-christian-rock-and-roll/|title=Pre-Christian Rock and Roll: St. Patrick's Chair, Boheh, Co. Mayo|first=Vox|last=Hiberionacum|date=18 April 2013|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=4 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104043947/https://voxhiberionacum.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/pre-christian-rock-and-roll/|url-status=live}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.clogherheritage.com/cpht_dev/events1.html|title=BOHEH STONE|last=graymac|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103235039/http://www.clogherheritage.com/cpht_dev/events1.html|url-status=live}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/en/towns-villages/westport/history/st-patricks-chair.html|title=St Patrick's Chair, Westport Co. Mayo West of Ireland - mayo-ireland.ie|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103234944/http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/en/towns-villages/westport/history/st-patricks-chair.html|url-status=live}}
- {{cite web|url=http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000242958/|title=Record vtls000242958|publisher=National Library of Ireland|access-date=7 September 2023|archive-date=7 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907182946/https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000242958/|url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/megalithic-rock-scribing-found-near-croagh-patrick-1.2119328|title=Megalithic rock-scribing found near Croagh Patrick|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103235641/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/megalithic-rock-scribing-found-near-croagh-patrick-1.2119328|url-status=live}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21532:hugely-important-prehistoric-rock-art-found-near-croagh-patrick&catid=23:news&Itemid=46|title='Hugely important' prehistoric rock art found near Croagh Patrick|first=Anton|last=McNulty|publisher=|access-date=1 November 2016|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103220214/http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21532:hugely-important-prehistoric-rock-art-found-near-croagh-patrick&catid=23:news&Itemid=46|url-status=live}}