Derrykeighan stone
The Derrykeighan Stone in County Antrim is the only Latène Age figurative stone in Northern Ireland and one of only five on the Irish island. It is carved in bas-relief with a unique, continuous, abstract design that is an early example from the Celtic Iron Age in County Antrim in northeastern Northern Ireland. He was discovered in 1977 during renovation work in the ruins of the old church of Derrykeighan ( Irish Doire Caocháin ), east of Coleraine .
The rectangular flat stone is 0.90 m high, 0.45 m wide and 0.22 m thick and was probably of ritual significance for the pagan people and was nevertheless built into the wall of a church. It was removed from the Ulster Museum and replaced with a replica. The stone's Latène period design is used as an emblem by the Ballymoney Museum.
The stone is not part of the original structure, nor could it have belonged to an earlier church on the site. It is decorated in a style that can be dated around the 1st century. It shows that the art was local and the items were not imported. The stone was carved at a time when the influence of the Celts stretched from continental Europe to Ireland and Scotland.
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Coordinates: 55 ° 8 ′ 30.1 ″ N , 6 ° 29 ′ 26.2 ″ W.