The Longstone Rath

This stone is traditionally known as “The Longstone Rath”, due to its location in the centre of a large circular enclosure defined by an earthen bank (not portrayed in the model). It is located northeast of Naas at Forenaghts Great.

The complex consists of the following national monuments:

Enclosure (KD019-022001-): an earthen back with an external fosse that has a diameter of 63 meters that has a largely flat interior that tapers slightly towards the centre.

Standing stone (KD019-022002-): at the centre of the enclosure stands this a tapering standing stone of granite that reaches a height of 5.3 meters.

Burial Cist (KD019-022003-): An excavation in 1912 revealed a large rectangular cist with a cobbled floor that contained the remains of two cremated adults – a male and smaller bones that were described as possibly a female.

The 1912 excavation also revealed that the standing stone was set in a socket cut in the natural bedrock. There was evidence of a large fire within the enclosure that was interpreted as a deliberate ritual burning of the site shortly after it was constructed.

Forenaghts Great, Naas, Co. Kildare
The Furness standing stone known as the “Longstone Rath” glimpsed from the embankment surrounding it
Forenaghts Great, Naas, Co. Kildare
The Furness Longstone – Bronze Age
Craddockstown Standing Stone, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2011
Craddockstown Standing Stone – One of a number of tall standing stones from the Bronze Age close to Naas
Two of the four tall bronze age standing stones close to Naas town. The most famous of these four, the Punchestown Sanding Stone – a signposted National Monument – is not pictured above as it has been made totally inaccessible and is no longer even visible from the road; despite appearing on the county’s official tourist promotional videos.

This stone is one of four tall standing stones in the countryside just outside the town of Naas. Two of these standing stones are better known and are located southeast of the town close to Punchestown Racecourse. Of these two, one is directly opposite the main gate from which it is visible. The other, the once famous Punchestown Standing stone, known nationally as the tallest in Ireland, is located close to the second gate. It is, or was, a signposted national monument. Like all signposted national monuments it is suppose to be accessible to the public. For decades the site was well visited, however, in recent years the land it stands on was incorporated into a new stud farm and access was blocked. Despite the megalith being the first thing that greets you in a video on the website of Kildare Tourst Board, any tourist or local who looks for the brown national monument signpost will quickly discover that it now points to an impenetrable double hedgerow, instead of the stile that was once there, and that the stone is no longer accessible. It doesn’t reflect well on those charged with the protection of national monuments within the county. Access is an essential aspect in the appreciation of such monuments and the value in their protection.

Another standing stone, between Punchestown and Rathmore, had its upper section carved into the form of a cross in the nineteenth century. In more recent years, a new house and an associated building (mini stud) were constructed between this standing stone and the public road, thereby, also making this stone inaccessible. It is very regrettable that access to these national monuments, dating from the Bronze Age, has been lost only within the last twenty years.

Since these stones are no longer accessible to the public, and the particular stone modelled here – the Longstone Rath – has never been accessible to the public due to being part of the Furness Estate, the photogrammetry model above is intended to allow its appearance and its relationship to the burial cist to be appreciated virtually. However, the all important context of the elevated site and the large impressive embanked enclosure are obviously absent from the model.

The embankment surrounding the Furness standing stone with a diameter of circa 63 meters.