The Giant's Ring Shaw's Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Giant's Ring Shaw's Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The Giant's Ring is a henge monument at Ballynahatty, near Shaw's Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was originally preserved by Viscount Dungannon. 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
The site is a State Care Historic Monument and has ASAI (Area of Significant Archaeological Interest) status.
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. The Giant's Ring dates from the Neolithic period and was built around 2700BC, meaning that it predates the Egyptian pyramids. The site has had some sort of public use throughout its history. It is near the Shaw's Bridge crossing of the River Lagan, a point which has been used as a crossing of the river since at least the Stone Age.The original purpose of the monument was most likely as a meeting place or as a memorial to the dead.