The Giant's Ring is a

henge A henge can be one of three related types of Neolithic Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches ...

monument at Ballynahatty, near

Shaw's Bridge Shaw's Bridge is the name given to two adjacent bridges across the River Lagan in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The older of the bridges is a historic stone arched bridge, which is open to cyclists and pedestrians. The new bridge is a concrete br ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. A wall to protect the site was constructed under the supervision of local land owner Arthur Hill-Trevor in 1837. The inscribed stone tablet on the wall surrounding the site which details Viscount Dungannon's interest was carved by Belfast stonecarver Charles A Thompson about c.1919. The site is a State Care Historic Monument and also a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. The site consists of a circular enclosure, in diameter and in area, surrounded by a circular earthwork bank high. At least three of the five irregularly spaced gaps in the bank are intentional and possibly original. East of the centre of the enclosure is a small passage tomb with a vestigial passage facing west. There were reports of other tombs outside the enclosure, but there is no trace of these.

History

The Giant's Ring dates from the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period and was built around 2700 BC, before the

Egyptian pyramids The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Most were built as tombs for the pharaohs and their consorts during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old and Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom periods. At least 138 identi ...

. The site has had some sort of public use throughout its history. It is near the Shaw's Bridge crossing of the

River Lagan The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The ...

, a point which has been used as a crossing of the river since at least the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. It is generally assumed that the tomb structure in the centre is earlier than the ring and that the earthwork enclosure was created afterwards, perhaps as a function of activities that took place there. Substantial effort over many years would have been needed to construct this earthworks. The original purpose of the monument is unknown but it has often been hypothesised that it meeting place or as a memorial to the dead. Over time the usage may well have changed so it impossible to ascribe a single defined usage to such a site. Archaeologist Michael J. O'Kelly believed that the Giant's Ring, like hundreds of other passage tombs built in Ireland during the Neolithic period, such as

Newgrange Newgrange () is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, placed on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, west of the town of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3100 BC, makin ...

, showed evidence for a religion which venerated the dead as one of its core principles. He believed that this "cult of the dead" was just one particular form of

European Neolithic The European Neolithic is the period from the arrival of Neolithic (New Stone Age) technology and the associated population of Early European Farmers in Europe, (the approximate time of the first farming societies in Greece) until –1700 BC (th ...

religion, and that other megalithic monuments displayed evidence for different religious beliefs which were solar, rather than death-orientated. In the 18th century, the site was used for horse racing. A ritual site adjacent to the henge was excavated in the early 1990s by Barrie Hartwell of the

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

who has published a comprehensive and thorough account of the site, the many excavations and possible original usages of the wider Ballynahatty townland in which the Giant's Ring is situated.

References

External links

Aerial photograph of the Giant's Ring taken in 1984

Photos of the Giant's Ring with rainbowAerial Drone Footage of the Giant's Ring recorded by David Doyle, 2015
{{European megaliths Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd millennium BC Archaeological sites in County Antrim Geography of Belfast Tourist attractions in County Antrim Dolmens in Northern Ireland Henges

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links