Beaghmore Stone Circles (Bheitheach Mhór)

A remarkable Bronze Age complex of stone circles, rows and cairns on the Sperrin moorland.

Uncovered from the peat in the 1940s, Beaghmore has seven low stone circles, ten stone rows and a dozen burial cairns, several thought to align with the sun and moon. Its Irish name recalls the birch woodland that covered the land before Neolithic farmers cleared it.

At a glance

• Seven stone circles, ten rows, twelve cairns
• Bronze Age, revealed from blanket bog
• Bheitheach Mhór: 'big place of birch'

In County Tyrone

Beaghmore Stone Circles is in County Tyrone, Tír Eoghain in Irish, which means “land of Eoghan (son of Niall)”.

More in Tyrone

• The Sperrin Mountains (Sléibhte Speirín): A sweeping range of rounded hills across counties Tyrone and Derry, and one of the largest upland areas in Ireland.

Other places of this kind

• The Cliffs of Moher (Aillte an Mhothair): Sea cliffs located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region.
• Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú): A prehistoric monument in County Meath, older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids.
• The Giant's Causeway (Clochán an Aifir): Around 40,000 interlocking basalt columns on the Antrim coast, a UNESCO site wrapped in the legend of Finn McCool.
• Glendalough (Gleann Dá Loch): A beautiful glacial valley of two lakes, home to one of Ireland's most important early monastic settlements.
• The Rock of Cashel (Carraig Phádraig): A dramatic outcrop crowned with medieval buildings, once the seat of the kings of Munster.
• Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis): A great early monastery on the banks of the Shannon, once a renowned centre of learning.

The Irish name

The Irish form of Beaghmore Stone Circles is Bheitheach Mhór. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.