Bullaun stone in Carrowcushlaun West

This record refers to a bullaun stone which was found in 1933 by a man digging in his garden on Church Road, Ardnaree, on the E side of Ballina town. An account of the discovery in the Western People, dated 5th February 1933, noted that the bullaun stone was carved from a granite boulder, and that ‘a number of Celtic designs fringe the outside.’ It was covered by ‘a rough lid’, which when removed revealed ‘a number of bones’, but it was not determined whether the bones were human or animal. The exact location of the find remains unknown. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 6 June 2018

Dated to the early Christian period, bullaun stones like this one were often used for ritual purposes, possibly as baptismal fonts or for anointing with holy water. Local folklore sometimes associates them with saintly figures or healing traditions.