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Ballincurra Standing Stone



I came across this reference in an Irish Tourism Association survey of Templederry in Co. Tipperary. In the 1940s the Irish government sent surveyors around examining the tourist potential of (I presume) the whole country. They often looked at the local antiquities and I've been finding the reports really interesting. They occasionally talk about some features that aren't in the local inventory.

The below picture shows "markings" on a tall standing stone and when I saw them I thought they had the potential to be some kind of rock art. 


The stone in question is described in archaeology.ie as follows
"A triangular-shaped stone (H 2m; dims. 1.35m x 0.33m) of limestone composition, aligned on an E-W axis and tapering up to a point from E to W. There is some modern graffiti incised on stone, including initials RC and RM. No packing-stones evident though grassy tufts are growing at the base of the N side."
I didn't spot the initials on the stone but did make out some of the markings on the sketch above such as the star. 
Star and other markings on the stone




I posted some pictures of the stones on an archaeology group and they provided some interesting information regarding cut marks like these. Thanks for all their comments.
One was that as the stone is likely to be of slate that they could be much older than previously thought as markings on slate stays "sharper" for longer than on other types of stone.
Also they pointed me towards similar cut marks on other stones around the country and a possible link with kingship rights. One example is at Mullaghmast in Co. Kildare. 
I was curious about the "pock" like marks on the edge of the stone as although they look natural they also look quite weathered.


I'm not suggesting any of these for this particular stone and I would anticipate that chatting to people locally might be able to put a date on the marks.
One of the initials mentioned on archaeology.ie is RC and from the ITA survey the stone is located on the lands of Richie Coughlan so that may have something to do with it.

 The stones location is very interesting, there are two bronze age hillforts above it in the hills to the north. The valley of the Nenagh river, just about 20m to the north of it, was probably an old roadway / pathway through the hills in this area. There is a coll known as the "Ormond Stile" to the west of the stone. Ormond was the old name for what was broadly the North Tipp area. It comes from Urumhain which means North Munster. Essentially I think the placement of these hill-forts shows this was an important pathway linking North & South Tipp from the bronze age and the stone was possibly a territorial marker. Interestingly enough I think it is these hills that form the natural barrier that meant the county was divided for administrative purposes in more recent times.
Looking west towards the Ormond Style

Rear of the stone

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