What is recorded here

Two smooth stones with oval bowls emerged from Gurteenroe soil during different works, one beside a new house and one farther west. They match in shape and purpose though separation and time changed their settings. A person may have knelt at either bowl to mark hunger, loss or hope before the fields were reworked. The stones still hold that quiet human rhythm.

In the garden of a new house. Stone 1 was found during building of an adjacent cattle shed and stone 2 was found a few fields to the west, during land reclamation. Although found in different places they are both similar in shape and profile; especially their elongated, oval bowls. Stone 1: this is the eastern stone (CO140-084----), measuring c0.6m N-S; c.0.33m E-W and c. 0.15m thick. The oval bowl measures c.0.44m N-S; c.0.26m E-W and c.0.06m deep. Stone 2: This bullaun is sub-rectangular in shape and measures c.0.53m N-S; c.0.4m E-W and c. 0.15m thick. The oval shaped bowl measures c.0.36m N-S; c.0.2m E-W and c.0.05m deep. Compiled by: Tony Miller Date of upload: 6 October 2015

Both stones are likely to date from the early medieval period and are associated with the Christian tradition of bullaun stones, which were used for the ritual purification of holy water or relics. They may also have had earlier prehistoric significance, possibly linked to pagan ritual practices.

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