Friday 25 August 2023

Laois Bullaun Stones

Unfortunately like many antiquities from times past Bullaun Stones are scarce in the Laois landscape.

Laois is a County in which a great many examples of prehistoric architecture ranging from Portal Dolmens, Passage tombs, Standing stones, Wedge tombs and a host of other field monuments are all too conspicuous by their absence.

Presumably this state of affairs has been caused by centuries of neglect and a general lack of interest combined with old pre legislative farming clearances, an almost non existent tourism sector and a continuity of political representation which has no particular interest for investing in history, culture nor heritage for its own sake or intrinsic value.

Leaving aside for the moment the paucity of ancient relics in the County there are a limited number of known and recorded Bullaun Stones in Laois and I've previously covered the Bullauns of Ireland in detail on another post.

Not far from "Chicken Byrne" hill in Laois at a place known as Killone on Kilmurray Hill is a large roadside Bullaun Stone pictured below.

I searched for it a couple of times and eventually found it buried along a ditch under brambles and weeds, neglected and forgotten. On each subsequent visit I had to remove the weeds and regrown overgrowth to photograph the stone.

Whilst I uncovered it from the vegetation on my visits it's most likely that today it is once again buried in vegetative growth but feel free to have a look for it yourself.

It is a reasonably large stone with a single Bullaun but while I didn't get a full look at the back of it there may be another depression there, I'm not sure however it's listed as a single Bullaun.

It's possible this stone had significance in religious ceremony or was once part of an ecclesiastical site. There is an old ruined Church nearby.

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Going from the large to the small brings me to an extremely small Bullaun Stone beside Saint Fintan's Well at Cromogue in Laois which is not too far from Shanahoe.

This little stone may once have been used as a Font at the nearby Church ruins. That's just a wild guess on my part as I don't really know.

The site is well worth visiting and very well looked after.

It's a nice spot to visit and very tranquil besides. It's reputed that there was once a Togher

(an old roadway/causeway)

which ran from here to the monastic site at Clonenagh outside Mountrath.

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Not far from Ballybuggy outside Rathdowney in Laois is a very interesting Bullaun Stone. It is known as Saint Brigid's Stone.

This Bullaun Stone is set standing vertically and is unusual in that aspect. Usually Bullaun Stones are "sat" naturally in such a position as that the Bullaun or "bowl" can be used as a natural container.

There are Church ruins here (subsurface chiefly) which seem quite old, a small Grotto, a Graveyard and "mound" like features dotted about which are suggestive of a once substantial ecclesiastical site.

Only archaeological investigation would reveal more about this bucolic and secluded site.

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At a place called "Old Kyle" or Clonfertmulloe is a large Bullaun Stone containing multiple depressions and dedicated to Saint Molua.

(Molua's Trough is located not far away in church grounds at Ballaghmore)

The depressions on the stone are said to be from the knee's and hand's of the Saint as he kneeled in Prayer.

My photographs were taken in very bad light.

At some time in the distant past there was a Romanesque Church located here but it has long since fallen down. Saint Molua is reputedly buried here somewhere but I couldn't find the location of his grave on any of my visits. It must be unmarked which is a great shame.

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At Morette in Laois is another Bullaun Stone dedicated to Saint Brigid.

It is located beside a devotional Statue and is now on private land.

There is a Church ruin nearby. While the Grotto was very well maintained and cared for it was dreadful to see access to the site which was once a place of pilgrimage, penance, and devotion blocked off.

I don't know how things like this are rectified and access made easy. Perhaps it requires more cooperation between landowners and Local authorities.

In an ideal world no ancient site, especially not one which was once a place of worship would have access blocked to the ordinary citizens.

This Bullaun Stone has a single depression and also an unusual channel running along it lengthwise.

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There is at least one more Bullaun Stone listed in Laois while perhaps many others lie buried deep under earth, mud and detritus, long forgotten about.

They are a wonderful enigmatic relic whose original functions remain shrouded in mystery.

Keep the wheels turning.

Monday 21 August 2023

Beltany Stone Circle, Donegal

Beltany Stone Circle

About 3 kilometres south of Raphoe in County Donegal lies Beltany Stone Circle.

This Stone Circle is located on a hilltop with expansive views across the surrounding countryside in a panoramic rural setting.

It's believed that Beltany is not a Stone Circle in a traditional sense and that the interior of the circle once held a substantial megalithic monument which has long since been denuded from the site.

It's suggested from several sources based on previous testimonies that an expansive stone Cairn mound was contained within the circle and that it may have been a neolithic Passage Tomb. No trace of this structure now remains on the site.

There is a lone upright Standing Stone close to the Circle acting like an outlier and which is suggested as having been used as a source of astronomical alignment.

There is also a stone in the circle which is covered in Cup marks.

This stone can be easily recognised in the circle and is distinguished from the others by its triangular shape.

The Stone Circle has been damaged over time and may have originally contained 80 or more stones.

Nonetheless it is an enchanting location and well worth visiting if you are ever in the area. If you're driving there is parking close to the site and it's easily accessible on foot along a wide track.

Keep the wheels turning.

Coordinates here:

54°51'02.8"N 7°36'16.4"W

54.850772, -7.604562

Donegal Day Out - Beltany

Donegal Diaspora - Beltany Stone Circle

Friday 18 August 2023

The Bishop's Stone. Fermanagh

At a place called Killadeas at Fermanangh and in the province of Ulster is to be found The Priory Church, a Church of Ireland Church.

Located within the grounds are several very interesting and unusual antiquities and among them is the Bishop Stone.

It is an upright carved stone depicting two human figures, one each on the front and back.

The front is clearly a human head with a Celtic style interlace pattern running down from it.

The rear is slightly more difficult to make out and my photo's were taken in particularly bad light.

It depicts a figure carrying a Crook or Crozier and a Bell.

I am assuming that this is the figure from which the stone derives its name, the Bishop Stone.

Also situated in the grounds is a single upright Standing Stone, the Pillar Stone.

A further large upright Stone is described as a Cross Slab stone and depicts a a large circular cross on a forked stem containing four "triquetas" as described by Macalister.

On the rear of the slab are many holes which have been variously described as ; possible Bullauns, Cup marks, or lastly unknown.

None of these explanations other than unknown seem accurate.

The holes while certainly enigmatic seem too large to be any type on ancient cup marks and slightly too small to be Bullauns however of the two Bullauns would be more probable especially considering the stones ecclesiastical location.

They are certainly very unusual whatever purpose or origin they may have had and only serve to lend a little mystery to the delightful antiquity.

Corpus Inscriptionum - Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister

A short history of the Manor

Continuing the "unusual stones" theme there is also a large earthfast "holed" stone partially sunk into the ground.

Often these "holed stones" served specific ritualistic purposes and some are stones which have been "repurposed" and reused at religious sites for centuries.

It's not possible to determine the origin of this stone. It may be a repurposed former Mill stone or it may have its origins in a distant prehistory. We will never know for sure.

Finally I came across a small and as far as I know unrecorded stone which appeared to have a multitude of Cup marks carved onto it.

I have no idea whether or not these markings are indeed Bronze age Cup marks but to my untrained eye that's exactly what they looked like and my first thought was that perhaps this small stone was once part of a larger stone.

Killadeas is well worth taking the time to visit and isn't too far from the large town of Enniskillen in County Fermanagh.

Keep the wheels turning.

Coordinates here:

54°26'03.1"N 7°40'58.0"W

54.434189, -7.682763

Wednesday 16 August 2023

Carlow County Museum

Unfortunately Laois has no County Museum. There is the wonderful Irish Fly Fishing and Game Shooting Museum in Attanagh, however there is no County Museum to speak of.

Luckily in neighboring Carlow and situated in the heart of the town on College Street is the Carlow County Museum.

The small museum in Carlow plays hosts to a wealth of interesting and eclectic artifacts and antiquities ranging from Stone axe heads to Bronze age pottery vessels, manuscripts, and even the young medical student Kevin Barry's death mask and the last cigarette he smoked before his untimely execution by hanging.

I found both an ornately carved Quern stone and a carved stone head of unknown origin very interesting indeed.

I can't recall seeing a decorated Quern stone before.

You'll need to look up as well as you travel through the museum or you will miss several artifacts hanging above head height.

Other interesting items included a 360 million year old Squid fossil, a Knight's Effigy saved from vandalism at Portarlington, a Sinn Féin rebellion Handbook and a plate from the Carlow Lunatic Asylum.