The Boheh Stone is a fantastic piece of Rock Art situated south-east of the summit of Croagh Patrick and its story is intrinsically linked to that legendary mountain. The stones, as there are several making up the unusual rock outcrop, are covered in carvings ranging from concentric rings and cupmarks to keyhole motifs, it is estimated to have about 250 petroglyphs in total, these are believed to have been carved around 3800BC. Its connection to Croagh Patrick predates the advent of Christianity in Ireland with the stone being on the path from Rathcroghan (the ancient Royal site) to the mountain itself which would have originally been known as Cruachan Aigle, meaning ‘High Mound of the Eagle’. There are other schools of thought that say the name derives from Aigle, a figure who was killed on the mountain and that the mountain had another earlier title Cruachan Garbrois but was subsequently named after Aigle. The mountain has also been linked to the pagan harvest or fertility god Crom Cruach. After the advent of Christianity the stone became known as St Patrick’s Chair and became a waypoint on a pilgrimage route called Tóchar Phádraig that runs from Balintubber Abbey all the way to Croagh Patrick.
The stones have a number of features that mark them out as unique and special and none more so than the ‘Rolling Sun’ phenomenon that was first discovered by the Mayo Historian Gerry Bracken. Bracken noticed that at sunset on the 18th of April and the 24th of August, when viewed from the Boheh Stone, that the setting sun sits at the peak of Croagh Patrick, and instead of passing behind as it sets it appears to slide down the side of the northern side of the mountain, hence the term ‘Rolling Sun’. There are a multitude of markings on the stones and new interpretations continue to be observed the latest in 2023 by a Rónán Lynch who in a book named Three Stones: The Cross and the Circle he stated he believed that some of the carvings on the top stone represented the constellations of Crux and Centaurus, last visible from Ireland around 4,100BC.
Whatever the meaning behind this truly unusual stone it is well worth a visit if passing by Croagh Patrick as its only 9kms away from the famous mountain. Its setting is somewhat poor as it is situated adjacent to a farmyard and even more dismaying within a few metres of a now dilapidated and vacant bungalow however it is worth a stop nonetheless.
GPS: 53.74765, -9.55413