North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

Ground down

A herd of cattle has been put grazing around the Poulnabrone dolmen. The idea is that they will keep the grass and undergrowth under control. I can't say I'm too enthusiastic about this. The ability of cattle to happily stomp on, puck, lick, rub against, chew and kick anything they come across has reduced a number of monuments in this country to piles of rubble (or standing stones to lying stones). Given enough time, a determined herd of cattle could reduce the Great Pyramids to gravel. I cannot understand why farmers can't put a couple of strands of barbed wire around a stone circle or castle ruins on their land - for the want of a bit of simple maintenance, a lot of ancient monuments are being slowly walked back into the earth.