What is recorded here

In the west end of the Innisfallen abbey church on Innisfallen Island, a limestone slab holds a central bowl worn sixteen centimetres deep. Its smooth curve suggests repeated prayer, prayer so persistent it changed the shape of stone. The abbey has stood beside Lough Leane since medieval times, but the bowl may be older than the church itself.

In the W end of the nave of the church of Innisfallen abbey (KE066-072001-) on Innisfallen Island, in Lough Leane. A limestone bullaun stone (L 0.8m; max. Wth 0.76m; T 0.28m) with a roughly central bowl-shaped hollow (0.42m x 0.35m; max. D 0.16m). (Weaver 1995) M. Weaver 1995 'An architectural survey of Inisfallen Island, Lough Leane, Co. Kerry.' MA Thesis, Dept. of Archaeology, UCC. Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork. Date of upload: 31 January 2011

Probably dating to the early medieval period, the bullaun stone may have been used for ritual or Christian purposes, such as the preparation of holy water or as a font. It may also have had pre-Christian associations, reflecting continuity of sacred sites in the landscape.

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