Bullaun

Situated in a very overgrown area at the N end of Inis Cealtra c. 50m from the N shore. A bullaun stone, not fully accessible (c. 0.7m NE-SW x 1.2m NW-SE; H at front 0.22m) with a circular basin (diam. 0.5m; D 0.16m), broken at the SE end. Described (Macalister 1916-17, 143-4), citing a letter from a Mr. Hibbert, as ‘sandstone, with occasional small, rounded, quartz pebbles in it; undoubtedly it has been shaped [to a hexagonal form]. The flat faces and angles are too clean and sharp not to have been worked. There is a lump on one of the angles which is the only portion not cut away. The bottom is shouldered off all round, so far as I could feel.’ Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 19 October 2015

A bullaun stone from the early medieval period, likely used for ritual or Christian purposes such as the preparation of holy water. Associated with the nearby sacred site of Inis Cealtra (Holy Island), it may have had both pagan and Christian significance over time.