Ireland’s tallest standing stone

The Punchestown Long Stone is located near the entrance to the Punchestown Racecourse. It stands 22 feet high making it the tallest in the country. It is always difficult to establish the age of standing stones as they have been erected for thousands of years. Some are grave markers, locational markers, field boundaries and even scratching posts for cattle and sheep. This one, however, collapsed in 1930 and revealed a stone cist that contained cremated bones. This identifies it as a Bronze Age burial site dating from between 1000-1500 BC. It was also recorded by the chronicler Gerald of Wales in 1183. Long Stones have strong roots in Irish mythology and it was said that Fionn Mac Cumhall threw this one to Punchestown from the Hill of Allen!