What is recorded here

Moss locks the smooth stone beneath a spreading whitethorn, while rain fills its shallow bowl without ever boiling or freezing clean. Children once ran clockwise from this verge toward Tobermurry at the edge of darkness, binding the buried church and crying field into one living body. The stone still catches water from the bank above, waiting for hands that remember the route before logic asks why the route exists.

On the N verge of a farm road. A moss-covered irregularly shaped boulder (1.06m x 0.67m; H 0.45m) with a roughly central circular bowl-shaped hollow (diam. c. 0.25m; D 0.075m) in its upper surface. Cooke (1906, 10) noted that the water in the hollow is 'received from the droppings off the bank and bushes above' and that it had 'due superstition attached to it'. He also noted that it had rags hung around it and that prayers were said there (ibid.). A mature whitethorn tree spreads its branches over the stone. Traditionally this bullaun stone formed part of the 'rounds' ritual which could commence either here or at 'Tobermurry' (KE058-085----), c. 200m to the E, and involved proceeding clockwise around the remains of a possible church (KE058-084001-) in a children's burial ground (KE058-084----) which is situated between the bullaun stone and the well (Minutes of the Co. Kerry Field Club). The 'rounds' were paid after dark or before daylight on 1st May and 1st August (Minutes of the Co. Kerry Field Club). A possible holy well (KE057-098----) may also be in the vicinity. See attached photographs of bullaun stone courtesy of Amanda Clarke. 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 or later prehistoric period, the bullaun stone may have been used for ritual purposes, such as the preparation of holy water or as a site for symbolic offerings. Such stones often feature in local folklore as places of spiritual or healing significance.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.