Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones, held in place with mortise and tenon joints, a feature unique among contemporary monuments. Inside is a ring of smaller bluestones. Inside these are free-standing trilithons, two bulkier vertical sarsens joined by one lintel. The whole monument, now ruinous, is aligned towards the sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred tumuli.
Gerald of Wales was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He was nominated for several bishoprics but turned them down in the hope of becoming Bishop of St Davids, but was unsuccessful despite considerable support. His final post was as Archdeacon of Brecon, from which he retired to academic study for the remainder of his life. Much of his writing survives.
The Pillar of Eliseg – also known as Elise's Pillar or Croes Elisedd in Welsh – stands near Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire, Wales [Grid reference SJ 20267 44527]. It was erected by Cyngen ap Cadell, king of Powys in honour of his great-grandfather Elisedd ap Gwylog. The form Eliseg found on the pillar is assumed to be a mistake by the carver of the inscription.
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 structures or arrangements in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
Athy is a market town at the meeting of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in south-west County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometres southwest of Dublin. A population of 11,035 made it the sixth largest town in Kildare and the 45th largest in the Republic of Ireland, a growth of 82% since the 2002 census.
Naas is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare and the fourteenth-largest urban centre in Ireland.
The Longstones are two standing stones, one of which is the remains of a prehistoric 'cove' of standing stones, at grid reference SU089693, close to Beckhampton in Avebury parish, in the English county of Wiltshire.
Blessington, historically known as Ballycomeen, is a town on the River Liffey in County Wicklow, Ireland, near the border with County Kildare. It is around 25 km south-west of Dublin, and is situated on the N81 road, which connects Dublin to Tullow. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.
Kilmashogue or Kilmashoge is a mountain in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county in Ireland. It is 408 metres high and forms part of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock, Three Rock, Kilmashogue and Tibradden Mountains. The forest plantation on its northern slope, which is composed mainly of Sitka spruce, Scots pine and beech, is a habitat for Sika deer, hares, rabbits and foxes. A number of prehistoric monuments can be found on the slopes of the mountain.
Ederney is a village situated primarily in the townlands of Drumkeen and of Ederny in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
County Kildare in the province of Leinster, Ireland, was first defined as a diocese in 1111, shired in 1297 and assumed its present borders in 1836. Its location in the Liffey basin on the main routes from Dublin to the south and west meant it was a valuable possession and important theatre of events throughout Irish history.
Rathangan is a town in the west of County Kildare, Ireland. As of 2022, the population was 3,263. It is located 65 km (40 mi) from the centre of Dublin, and 14 km (8.7 mi) from Kildare, at the intersection of the R401, R414, and R419 regional roads. The Slate River and the Grand Canal run through the town. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.
Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from c. 2500–2000 BC until c. 800 BC. Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as the Bronze Age, it was marked by the use of copper and then bronze by the prehistoric Britons, who used such metals to fashion tools. Great Britain in the Bronze Age also saw the widespread adoption of agriculture.
Gerald FitzMaurice, jure uxoris 1st Lord of Offaly was a Cambro-Norman nobleman who took part with his father, Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan, in the Norman Invasion of Ireland (1169–71). Together with his five brothers and one sister Nesta they founded the notable FitzGerald/FitzMaurice dynasty which was to play an important role in Irish history.
The High Sheriff of Kildare was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kildare, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kildare County Sheriff. The high sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs. In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the High Sheriff's precedence. However, the sheriff retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in the county. The usual procedure for appointing the sheriff from 1660 onwards was that three persons were nominated at the beginning of each year from the county and the Lord Lieutenant then appointed his choice as High Sheriff for the remainder of the year. Often the other nominees were appointed as under-sheriffs. Sometimes a sheriff did not serve his full term due to death or another event, and another sheriff was then appointed for the remainder of the year. The dates given in this article are the dates of appointment.
The Cat Stane, or Catstane, is an inscribed standing stone near Kirkliston, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, in Scotland. It bears a fragmentary inscription dating to the fifth or sixth centuries and was part of a funerary complex consisting of the stone itself, a cairn and a series of cist burials.
Rathmore, a village, civil parish and District electoral division in County Kildare, Ireland, is located at the western edge of the Wicklow Mountains in the barony of Naas North. The original settlement was at the southwest corner of the English Pale, serving an important function as a border fortress during the medieval period.
Rheban Castle is a castle located in County Kildare, Ireland.
Tisbury Stone Circle and Henge was a stone circle and henge in Tisbury, Wiltshire. Archaeologists believe that it was likely erected during the Bronze Age.
Woodstock Castle is a 13th-century stone castle located in Athy, Ireland.
