| Achill-henge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Joe McNamara (builder) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Medium | Concrete |
| Location | Ireland |
Achill-henge is a 2011 concrete structure on Achill Island off the northwest coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The term henge is used colloquially only and does not indicate any structural or cultural similarity to prehistoric monuments found in Ireland.
Achill-henge is over 4 metres (13 ft) high and 100 metres (330 ft) in circumference. It consists of a circle of 30 concrete columns topped by a ring of concrete. No care was taken to replicate or reference genuine stone circles in the region or the country. The term Achill-henge can be interpreted as a reference to the cultural inaccuracy of the structure in local context as typically henges are simply referred to as stone circles in Ireland.
Achill-henge was constructed over a weekend in November 2011 by Joe McNamara, a property developer. A team of workers hauled the large concrete slabs up the hill and sank them in the bog. [1]
Mayo County Council requested a court order to force McNamara to remove the edifice as it had been built without planning permission. McNamara claimed that the structure was exempt from planning rules as an "ornamental garden".
Theresa McDonald, Director of the Achill Archaeological Field School, also raised objections on the grounds that the structure may be less than 500 m (1,600 ft) from a Bronze-Age archaeological site. [2]
The High Court required McNamara to cease further work on the site, and as he was found to be in breach of this, upheld the Council's decision. [3]
Some local people have expressed admiration for the work as a feat of engineering, and a newspaper poll found a majority of locals in support of keeping the structure. [1]
On 8 January 2012, it was featured as part of the Prime Time programme on RTÉ 1 in Ireland. [4]
Achill Henge is still standing as of July 2024.
Joe McNamara is noted in Ireland for a series of protests against Anglo-Irish Bank and the government's handling of the Irish financial crisis. In particular, he drove a concrete mixer truck into the gates of the Irish parliament building Leinster House, causing minor damage to the paintwork of the gateway. [1] [5] [6] He was found not guilty of criminal damage or dangerous driving. [5]
McNamara described Achill-henge as "a place of reflection". [3]
In modern times a number of henge type monuments have been built, examples include:
Achill Island is an island off the west coast of Ireland in the historical barony of Burrishoole, County Mayo. It is the largest of the Irish isles and has an area of approximately 148 km2 (57 sq mi). Achill had a population of 2,345 in the 2022 census. The island, which has been connected to the mainland by a bridge since 1887, is served by Michael Davitt Bridge, between the villages of Achill Sound and Polranny. Other centres of population include the villages of Keel, Dooagh, Dooega, Dooniver, and Dugort. There are a number of peat bogs on the island.
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority. The population was 137,231 at the 2022 census. The boundaries of the county, which was formed in 1585, reflect the Mac William Íochtar lordship at that time.
The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle about 6 miles north-east of Stromness on Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney.
Woodhenge is a Neolithic Class II henge and timber circle monument within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, England. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Stonehenge, in Durrington parish, just north of the town of Amesbury.
A henge loosely describes one of three related types of Neolithic 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 would have served defensive purposes poorly, henges are not considered to have been defensive constructions. The three henge types are as follows, with the figure in brackets being the approximate diameter of the central flat area:
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in south-west England. One of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans.
Durrington Walls is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in England. It lies 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury in Wiltshire. The henge is the second-largest Late Neolithic palisaded enclosure known in the United Kingdom, after Hindwell in Wales.
Long Meg and Her Daughters is a Neolithic stone circle situated north-east of Penrith near Little Salkeld in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that emerged during Neolithic, and continued into the Early Bronze Age.
The Michael Davitt Bridge is a swing bridge on the R319 road in County Mayo, Ireland that crosses from Achill Island to the Mainland.
Balfarg is a prehistoric monument complex in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. It is protected as a scheduled monument. With the development of Glenrothes new town in the latter half of the 20th Century an adjacent residential area was developed around the complex carrying the same name.
This is a list of Stonehenge replicas and derivatives that seeks to collect all the non-ephemeral examples together. The fame of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge in England has led to many efforts to recreate it, using a variety of different materials, around the world. Some have been carefully built as astronomically aligned models whilst others have been examples of artistic expression or tourist attractions.
Doll Tor is a stone circle just west of Stanton Moor, near the village of Birchover, Derbyshire in the English East Midlands. Doll Tor is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circles' builders.
The Bull Ring is a Class II henge that was built in the late Neolithic period near Dove Holes in Derbyshire, England.
Croaghaun is a mountain on Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland. At 688 metres (2,257 ft), it has the highest sea cliffs in Ireland as well as the third highest sea cliffs in Europe.
The Great Western Greenway is a greenway rail trail in County Mayo, Ireland. It is 42 kilometres long and begins in Westport and ends in Achill, passing through the towns of Newport and Mulranny as it runs along the coast of Clew Bay. It is an off-road trail intended for use by cyclists and walkers. It follows the route of the former Achill extension of the Westport railway line, which was constructed in the 1890s and closed in 1937. An estimated 300 people cycle and walk the trail each day, which was constructed at a cost of €5.7 million. The first section, from Newport to Mulranny, was opened in April 2010. It was named as the 2011 Irish winner of the European Destinations of Excellence award. The full route was opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, T. D. and Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, T. D., on 29 July 2011.
The stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany are a megalithic tradition of monuments consisting of standing stones arranged in rings. These were constructed from 3200 to 2000 BCE in Great Britain, Ireland and Brittany. It has been estimated that around 4,000 of these monuments were originally constructed in this part of north-western Europe during this period. Around 1,300 of them are recorded, the others having been destroyed.
Nine Stones Close, also known as the Grey Ladies, is a stone circle on Harthill Moor in Derbyshire in the English East Midlands. It is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of the monument is unknown.
Joe McQuillan is a Gaelic football referee. He is a member of the Kill Shamrocks club in County Cavan.
The Offaly county hurling team represents Offaly in hurling and is governed by Offaly GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team plays in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, part of the top tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. At senior level, the county have won four All-Ireland championships, nine Leinster championships and one National Hurling League title.
Maelmin Henge is modern interpretation/reconstruction of a henge monument near the village of Milfield, Northumberland in the Till Valley.
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