Ireland’s most elegant standing stone

The Craddockstown standing stone stands hidden in plain view facing the entrance to Punchestown Racecourse in County Kildare. This elegant long stone stands 15 feet high and would not look out of place in a modern landscaped designer’s garden. Kildare has a number of what are described as ‘long stones’ which were previously believed to be boundary markers or scratching posts for animals erected by farmers. The nearby Punchestown Longstone, however, toppled over in 1933 exposing a small cyst grave that contained cremated bones and grave goods. This would suggest that this was therefore an ancient burial marker for an important member of the society that lived sometime in the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age.