What is recorded here

Thirty metres north of St. Caimin's Church on Inis Cealtra, a moss-smothered stone holds a shallow clay basin, yet it may have wandered the island across centuries. Dunraven found it at the west gable in 1877, while McNamara recorded it at the north gable in 1984 alongside a missing blue sandstone disc. The stone refuses a single address, suggesting human hands kept moving it to match changing prayers or memories.

Situated c. 30m N of St. Caimin's Church (CL019-009011-) on Inis Cealtra and obscured by wooden fencing. A small subcircular stone (L 0.6m; Wth 0.56m; H 0.3m), almost totally moss-covered with a circular basin (diam. 0.35m; D 0.18m) filled with clay. This bullaun may have moved to different locations on the island at various stages. Dunraven (1877, 56) placed it at the W gable of St. Caimin's church and in 1984 it was noted at the N gable (McNamara 1984, 32, no. 3). McNamara also noted a 'round blue sandstone' weighing 5kg in the basin which is no longer present. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 31 August 2015

Probably dating to the early Christian period, the bullaun stone may have been used for ritual purification or as part of ecclesiastical practices associated with the nearby church. Such stones are often linked to saintly traditions and local folklore involving healing or penitential rites.

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