What is recorded here

Bullaun stone in Gurteenroe was a round basin cut into rock at a holy well, where locals walked rounds on Good Friday. The trough measured thirty centimetres across and fifteen deep, small enough for one person to touch with both hands. It is no longer at the well, but the shape remains in memory: a circular dish waiting for water, prayer or the passage of a body around it.

In the 1840s a stone trough 'of great antiquity' was recorded in the holy well (KE048-117----) (OSNB, Molahiffe, no. 1, 36). It was cut in the form of a round basin (diam. c. 0.3m; D 0.15m) and 'rounds' were performed there by local inhabitants on Good Friday (ibid.). The bullaun stone is no longer at the holy well (O'Hare 2000, 67-8). Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork. Date of upload: 31 January 2011

Likely dating to the early Christian period, the bullaun stone was probably used for ritual washing, associated with the holy well. Such stones often had spiritual significance and were linked to local pilgrimage or healing traditions.

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