What is recorded here

Kilkieran is an early medieval monastery where a triangular sandstone bullaun stone still marks the holy well beside the graveyard. People may have gathered there to draw water for headaches, trusting the worn depression and the endurance of the place. The hill, river valley and buried stones make the claim feel less like fantasy and more like memory.

On the lower S-facing slope of Kilmacoliver Hill, overlooking the valley of the River Suir. The free-standing sandstone bullaun stone lies beside a holy well (KK034-032007-) c. 25m E of the S side of Kilkieran graveyard (KK034-032002-). Roughly triangular in shape (L 0.88m; Wth 0.53m; H 0.44m), it lies on top, at the W end of the stone revetment which partially encloses the holy well. It has a single roughly circular depression (dims. 0.32m x 0.3m; D 0.15m). It is associated with the early medieval monastery of Kilkieran and Kilkieran church (KK034-032001-) and is described by Carrigan (1905, vol. 4, 243) as a, ‘holy water font’. A modern slab at the base of the bullaun has an inscription in capitals: Holy water font cure for headaches. Within the graveyard there are two other bullaun stones (KK034-032013-; KK034-032014-) which were uncovered during a clean-up of the graveyard in 1985 (Hurley 1988, 124, 126). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 15 August 2018

Probably dating to the early Christian period, the bullaun stone may have been used for ritual purposes, such as the preparation of holy water at the associated holy well. Such stones often feature in local folklore as sites of spiritual or healing significance.

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