The Giant's Ring is a henge monument at Ballynahatty, near Shaw's Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland. A wall to protect the site was constructed under the supervision of local land owner Arthur Hill-Trevor, 3rd Viscount Dungannon in 1837. The inscribed stone tablet on the wall surrounding the site which details Viscount Dungannon's interest was carved by Belfast stonecarver Charles A Thompson about c.1919.[citation needed]
The site is a State Care Historic Monument[1] and also a Site of Special Scientific Interest] .[2]
The site consists of a circular enclosure, 180 m (590 ft) in diameter and 2.8 hectares (6.9 acres) in area, surrounded by a circular earthwork bank 3.5 m (11 ft) high. At least three of the five irregularly spaced gaps in the bank are intentional and possibly original. East of the centre of the enclosure is a small passage tomb with a vestigial passage facing west. There were reports of other tombs outside the enclosure, but there is no trace of these.[3]
- ^ "State Care Historic Monuments" (PDF). ehsni.gov.uk. Environment and Heritage Service. 31 March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Part 4, District Proposals: Lisburn Countryside Urban Environment". Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015 (draft). Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland). November 2004. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ Weir, A (1980). Early Ireland. A Field Guide. Belfast: Blackstaff Press. p. 133.