Standing Stone, Star of the Sea Church, Clooney Road, Eglinton, Co Londonderry

The Standing Stone is a large, roughly shaped schist stone approximately 1500mm wide, 1200mm deep, and 500mm high. It features a crudely scratched cross on a slightly flattened top surface. The stone currently stands in a grassy area before four recent graves, directly opposite the main entrance to the Star of the Sea Church, which was completed in 1969. Historically, the stone was located at the north side of Killylane Road in the Townland of Tullybrisland, and was originally recorded in the Ordnance Survey Memoir as being situated on “Cross hill.” The memoir noted that a schoolmaster had carved the cross about twelve years prior to the survey, and that the inscription was faint and easily mistaken for an ancient marking. The stone was moved to its present location approximately twenty years ago. It is believed to have served as a mass rock. The stone is now considered a monument and is owned by the Roman Catholic Church.