Turoe Stone

A rounded granite pillar carved with flowing curvilinear ornament in the La Tène style of the Celtic Iron Age, among the finest examples of such decoration in northern Europe. The swirling relief pattern that wraps the upper part of the stone may have served a ritual or boundary function. It once stood beside a nearby ring fort before being moved to its present site. Displayed on a low plinth, the smooth grey stone allows close inspection of the confident, abstract designs cut into it more than two thousand years ago.