Bullaun stone in Ballyknockan Beg

Presently in the farmyard (WI025-080----), but originally it was found in one of the fields of the farm. A granite boulder (dims. 60 x 44cm, 35cm high) with an oval bowl-shaped basin (dims. 29cm x 26cm, 19cm deep). Near the base is a hole (3.5cm diameter, 14cm long) drilled through the stone at a 45° angle. Where it exits the underside of the stone the face of the boulder has shattered away, most likely as a result of the drilling of the hole, which is likely to be quite recent and not original. Date of upload: 30 October 2012

Dated to the early medieval period, bullaun stones were often used for ritual or practical purposes, such as grinding herbs or as Christian holy water fonts. Local folklore sometimes associates them with saintly figures or healing traditions.