The Giant's Headstone near Clonmel

Its funny how a random news report can get you thinking of monuments you visited many moons ago. I happened upon this report in "The Nationalist" newspaper primarily based in Clonmel about a reservoir to be constructed in the townland of Giantsgrave. Obviously with a name like that there must have been a monument here once. Hopefully the stone will not be affected by the works and has been noted.

I last visited approximately 11 years ago and I understand that these days this block enclosure with the pillar stone is lost behind a pine plantation.
When I last visited there was no entry on archaeology.ie for the site. So when I thought of it after reading the article I found the SMR has a lot to say about the monument.

It is likely that this stone was recorded on the Civil Survey of (1654-6) and this shows its importance as a landscape feature.
As mentioned below one of the crosses is in raised relief and the other in base relief and you can see that in the photos. The OS letters mention that the hill was called "An Cnoc Air a bhFuair Fionn Fios" or "The Hill on which Finn received his knowledge". So perhaps it wasn't the Salmon of Knowledge from which he got it from after all.
Other folklore suggests that it was thrown from the top of Slievenamon (again linked with Fionn MacCoill) and that it marks the grave of some Ulstermen who died during the siege of Clonmel by Cromwell (I assume).

On the old OS maps it is referred to as The Giant's Headstone.

Copyright NMS

The Irish Schools Manuscripts have this to say about the hill

"The people of Ireland tell a lot of stories about Giants. About two miles from Clonmel is a big hill with a lot of bushes on it. It is a grave of a giant, he is supposed to have been buried there. It is called Giants Grave."

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922257/4864829/5021467

From archaeology.ie

"On the summit of a hill, at the highest point in the vicinity. S of cross-pillar is under pasture, area N of stone is planted with young conifers. In the Civil Survey (1654-6) there is a reference to 'the stones standing, upon the sd hill to the lands of Rathduffe' (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 297). This refers to at least one standing stone in Rathduff townland, part of which appears to have become Giantsgrave townland. In Lewis' topographical dictionary (1837, 508) he refers to an upright stone at Giant's Grave which is 'about eight feet [2.4m] high above the ground, on which two crosses are sculptured; that on one side of the stone is in raised relief, that on the other in bas relief'. Again the stone and two crosses are described in the OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 51-2) at which time there was 'a small piece of land left untilled about this stone measuring eighteen feet [5.5m] from east to west and seven feet [2m] from north to south'. According to the OS Letters the hill was called 'An Cnoc Air a bhFuair Fionn Fios i.e., the hill on which Finn (Mac Cumhaill) received his (prophetic) knowledge, and the Townland is called An Chloch Fhada i.e., the Long Stone, in Irish, and Giant's Grave in English' (ibid.). Another local legend claimed that the stone was cast from the top of Slievenamon by a giant to its present position (White 1892, 28), while another tradition asserted that the stone was erected to mark the grave of some Ulstermen who fell in a sortie during the siege of Clonmel (Power 1908, 5). Cross-inscribed pillar stone (H 2.74m), aligned NW-SE, composed of sandstone and inscribed with a cross on both broad faces. That on the SW face is in relief, with circles hollowed out in the angles and a circular knob surmounting the triangular apex of the head. There is a blank panel above this. The other cross, on the NE face, approximately half way up the stone, is sunken with a central bosse. This face has split on the W side. A concrete wall (H 1.04m) now encloses the pillar stone, and is a maximum distance of 1.05m from the stone."

Ive included the references that Jean Farrelly uses for the above.

References:

• 1. O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Tipperary collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840. Bray.
• 2. Power, P. 1908 Placenames of the Decies. Journal of the Waterford and Southeast of Ireland Archaeological Society 11, 1-34, 45-78, 135-43 and 179-210.
• 3. Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1931 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol I: county of Tipperary: eastern and southern baronies. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.