Above the County Down village of Rostrevor sits Cloughmore Stone - “the big stone” in Irish - a huge granite boulder on the mountainside of Slieve Martin, weighing an estimated 50 tonnes. Rostrevor itself is worth a look too, with real connections to C.S. Lewis and former Irish President Mary McAleese.
The Legend and the Real Story
Local legend holds that the Irish giant Finn McCool threw the stone across Carlingford Lough from the Cooley Peninsula. The real explanation is glacial: geologists attribute the boulder’s position to ice-age displacement, transported here from Scotland as part of the wider pattern of glacial erratic movement across the region.
Visiting
The picnic tables near the site are well spaced out, which makes for a pleasant, unhurried spot to eat before or after the walk up - genuinely good for privacy and space, not just a leftover of any particular era’s guidance.
Prices: the walk itself is free - no entry fee, no parking fee.
