The Holestone

Close to my mother's house in County Antrim, N. Ireland is an odd Bronze Age standing stone. It's been there for thousands of years. Standing stones aren't that unusual in Ireland, but this one is really special in that it has a man made hole piercing it that's just big enough for a small human hand to pass through. No one knows what purpose the Holestone served, but it was obvious of some significance to the people who created it. It sits on top of a natural rocky promontory with sheer vertical walls about 3 metres high all round and seems to have a causeway leading up to it The stone itself is 1.5 metres high (roughly shoulder height), with a 10cm diameter hole cut into it.

'Recent' tradition in the last few hundred years holds that it is a betrothing stone where lovers would hold hands through the hole and pledge their love to each other. The magical power of the stone was then supposed to bond that love pledge until death.
The hole aligns with Donegore Hill another site with significant Bronze Age connections and the moon is said to follow the curved surface down the horizon at certain times of year. Also 4000 years ago, Orion would have set over Donegore Hill as viewed through the hole in the stone, could that have been significant to the builders of the sit?. Alternatively, could it have been a site where local kings met to sign peace treaties, or as a commemoration of a long forgotten battle, or an alignment pointing to buried treasure?

The rock that the Holestone sits on is fascinating too. It is the highest point for several kms in each direction and looks like a natural outcrop, but at the same time there seems to be an access ramp up to the flat top.

The stone is hidden amongst the gorse on the top of its platform. Given the Bronze Age tools that were available, cutting the perfectly circular hole in the stone would have required significant effort.

In plan view the platform is roughly oval in shape, not circular

The stone causeway onto the top (on the right of this picture) is probably natural, but interesting none the less.