60Jones, Carleton. Temples of Stone: Exploring the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Cork: Collins, 2007. 157.
On the subject of the three-spiral design, Jones writes, "If it was envisaged as a connecting vortex by the Neolithic people, it is possible that it only 'opened up' for these few days each year. Who might have traveled along this vortex when it did open? Two likely possibilities are shamans and the dead."
Celtic Christians have sometimes used the design to represent the Christian Holy Trinity. Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism and Wicca use it to represent a number of three-fold concepts in their belief systems, such as the "three realms" of Land, Sea and Sky.("Triple Spiral." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_spiral>.)

O'Kelly (1982) explained why he preferred the term "three-spiral" instead of "triple-spiral:"
"The three-spiral stone (often wrongly called a triple spiral: since a double spiral, like tbose on the entrance stone, consists of two parallel coils, by analogy a triple spiral should consist of three; in fact, the design consists of three double spirals, the two on tbe right being S-or returning spirals as well). In order to integrate tbe left-hand spiral into the design the two free ends of its outermost domble coil were separated so as to sweep concentrically around tbe two otber spirals and to meet again having encircled tbe S-spirals. The whole pattern is only 30 x 28 cm."