What is recorded here

Bullaun stone in Moorepark is a smooth boulder with a shallow hollow on its upper surface, lying just south of the southwest corner of Cloghleagh Castle. The hollow measures about forty centimetres by twenty centimetres, large enough for a hand to disappear into but not so deep that the stone becomes a trap. In local tradition such marks are called bullaun stones because they record repeated prayer, meditation or hardship rather than a single dramatic event. The stone does not demand belief; it invites patience, and patience is the rarest currency in Cork.

Just S of SW corner of Cloghleagh Castle (14369). Smooth boulder with hollow (c. 0.4m x c. 0.2m) on upper surface. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

Likely dating to the early medieval period, bullaun stones were often used for ritual purposes, such as the preparation of holy water or as pilgrimage sites associated with Christian saints. They may also have had earlier pre-Christian significance, linked to healing or land boundaries.

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