Mystery stone pillars on Ballyfinnane trial route puzzle local motor club
Last weekend’s Killarney Endurance Trial left competitors and organisers with an unanswered question.
Endurance trials are a cheap, cheerful, and ideal entry-level form of motorsport for beginners. Instead of closed special stages, these events use farm tracks and narrow green lanes.
This format brings people to remote rural locations they would otherwise never visit, which was the case on Saturday afternoon on farmland near Ballyfinnane.
During the test, competitors spotted three stone pillars, similar to the one pictured beside a competing car.
Some suggest these structures may be triangulation pillars, commonly known as trig pillars or trig points. Historically used by the Ordnance Survey for mapping, a typical trig pillar is a hand-cast concrete structure standing four feet high with a two-foot square base that tapers to a flat top. They usually feature a metal “spider” or top plate to secure a theodolite, alongside an identifying number on a side bracket.
However, the exact origin of these Ballyfinnane pillars remains unconfirmed. If any readers can shed light on their history, please email news@kerrymotorsportnews.com
Local brothers Brian and Kieran Glover speed past one of the mystery pillars. Photo: Eoin Stapleton/Eye-to-Eye Photogrpahy
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