I am delighted to present to Mythical Ireland patrons the latest podcast, episode #23, featuring special guest Terence Meaden. Terence is an English academic scholar who has been studying the recumbent stone circles of Cork and Kerry in Ireland for years. He has published many books, including a recent substantial tome about the Irish stone circles.

In this podcast conversation (running to 1 hour, 35 minutes), Terence and I discuss his work in Ireland and how it is so important – crucial in fact – to understanding the astronomical alignment of the famous Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire, England, in the vicinity of which he and his ancestors have lived for generations.

I was fortunate to spend time with Terence back in 2017 on two visits to County Cork, and accompanied him to several standing stones while he carried out research, in the company of his good friend, Professor John Atkins.

Terence is now 90 years young, and as you will hear in the podcast, he has suffered quite serious health issues in the past five years. Nevertheless, he is lucid, fascinating and entertaining and retains high spirits. He is such a gentleman, and it was an honour to have this lovely conversation with him.

He contends that the 60 stone circles of southern Ireland that he has studied are all aligned on significant solar events, and his observation of shadows cast by certain "male/phallic" stones upon "female" stones at sunrise is a key element of understanding the function of these Bronze Age megalithic monuments. The most famous example is Drombeg Stone Circle near Roscarberry in Cork.

To listen to this and previous podcasts, please consider becoming a Mythical Ireland Patron at the Bronze Age level ($10/month) or higher. 

If you do not wish to become a patron, you can purchase one-off access to the podcast for just $10 (or the equivalent in your currency).