Breeny More Stone Circle
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Breeny More Stone Circle
| native_name = Liagchiorcal na mBruíne Móra
| native_language = ga
| image =
|other_name =
| elevation = {{Convert|134|m|abbr=on}}
| locmapin = Ireland
| coordinates = {{coord|51.742145|N|9.375097|W|display=inline,title}}
| location = Breeny More, Kealkill,
County Cork, Ireland
| area =
| built = 1500–1000 BC
| architect =
| architecture =
| governing_body =
| owner = Office of Public Works
| type = axial stone circle
| height = 2.42 m (8 feet){{cite web|url=http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/1334|title=megalithomania: Breeny More (Cork) :: Stone Circle :: Visit notes|website=www.megalithomania.com}}
| designation1 = National Monument of Ireland
| designation1_offname = Breeny More{{cite web | url=https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/monuments-in-state-care-cork.pdf | title=National Monuments in State Care: Ownership & Guardianship - Cork | publisher=National Monuments Service | location=Ireland | date=4 March 2009 | accessdate=31 July 2021}}
| designation1_date =
| designation1_number = 450
}}
Breeny More Stone Circle is an axial stone circle and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland.{{cite web|url=http://sheepsheadplaces.net/breeny-mor-stone-circle|title=Breeny Mor, stone circle - Sheep's Head Places|website=sheepsheadplaces.net}}{{cite web|url=http://ancientstones.blogspot.ie/2012/03/breeny-more-and-mealagh-valley.html|title=Breeny More and The Mealagh Valley|website=ancientstones.blogspot.ie}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yhWFB1JAjWsC&q=%22breeny+more%22&pg=PA223|title=A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany|first=Aubrey|last=Burl|date=12 July 2017|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300114065|via=Google Books}}
Location
Breeny More Stone Circle is situated {{Convert|1|km|abbr=on}} southeast of Kealkill, overlooking Bantry Bay to the west. Another stone circle lies {{Convert|175|m|abbr=on}} to the northeast.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstones.org/place.aspx?p=668|title=Breeny More|website=www.irishstones.org}}{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nkwOAQAAMAAJ&q=%22breeny+more%22|title=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Celtic studies, history, linguistics and literature|date=12 July 1984|publisher=Royal Irish Academy.|via=Google Books}}{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fi0OAQAAMAAJ&q=%22breeny+more%22|title=The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland|first=Royal Society of Antiquaries of|last=Ireland|date=12 July 1975|publisher=The Society|via=Google Books}}
History
Boulder burials of this type are believed to date from the middle Bronze Age, i.e. 1500–1000 BC.{{cite web|url=https://roaringwaterjournal.com/tag/boulder-burials/|title=Boulder Burials - Roaringwater Journal|website=roaringwaterjournal.com}} The toponym is from the Irish brúine móra, "great dwellings of the fairies."{{cite web|url=http://www.teanglann.ie/ga/fgb/bru%C3%ADon|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): bruíon|website=www.teanglann.ie}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VplnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22breeny+more%22|title=Discovering Cork|first=Daphne D. C. Pochin|last=Mould|date=12 July 1991|publisher=Brandon|isbn=9780863221293|via=Google Books}}
Description
This is a stone circle with four boulder burials. The circle has two entrance stones and an axial stone, with a main axis measuring {{Convert|14|m|abbr=on}}. It has a southeast–northwest axis, facing the rising sun.{{cite web|url=http://www.mega-what.com/SiteCat/BreenyMore/index.html|title=Breeny More Stone Circle & Boulder-Burials ~ mega-what.com Ancient Sacred Places|first=Mike|last=Wilson|website=www.mega-what.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.megalithicmonumentsofireland.com/COUNTIES/CORK/BreenyMore_StoneCircle.html|title=BREENY MORE STONE CIRCLE/MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS OF IRELAND.COM|last=Pip|website=www.megalithicmonumentsofireland.com}}
A "boulder burial" is a single large boulder sitting on three or four support stones; the term was coined by Seán Ó Nualláin in the 1970s. They are generally found in the southwest, and associated with standing stones and stone circles; some dispute that there were ever burial sites, as no human remains have ever been recovered.