What is recorded here

Bullaun stones are associated with Saint Colmcille and prayer or penance, though no local saint is named in the supplied facts. In Kilnaruane the flat stone lies beside a burial ground within an early ecclesiastical enclosure, its central hollow waiting for hands, water or breath. It is not grand, but that smallness makes it harder to dismiss; a person may have knelt there repeatedly until devotion entered the rock itself.

Adjacent to burial ground (CO118-031002-) in early ecclesiastical enclosure (CO118-031001-). Small sub-rectangular stone (0.75m x 0.60m; H 0.15m). Circular hollow (diam. 0.3m; D 0.1m) on upper surface is centrally placed. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

Probably dating to the early Christian period, the bullaun stone may have been used for ritual purposes, such as the preparation of holy water or as a baptismal font. Such stones are often associated with ecclesiastical sites and local Christian traditions.

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