What is recorded here

Cloghfune hides a shallow well beneath an irregular slab where pilgrims cut a plain Latin cross. They used small stones beside the slab as tools, marking the water and nearby penitential cairn without carving deep or shaping the stone into a altar. The cross is small enough to fit one palm, yet it answers the old belief that even a hidden well must carry a visible sign of surrender.

Covering a holy well (CO127-046----). Pilgrims visiting the holy well and the nearby penitential cairn (CO127-046002-) have incised a plain Latin cross (H 0.25m; Wth 0.2m) on an irregularly shaped stone slab (0.36m x 0.25m; T 0.03m). Small stones beside the slab are used for making the incisions. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009 Images provided by and copyright of Amanda Clarke 2016-2022 https://holywellscorkandkerry.com/

Likely dating to the early medieval period, the cross-inscribed stone in Cloghfune was probably added to the holy well site during a period of Christianization, reflecting the integration of prehistoric sacred sites into Christian practice. Such stones often served as markers of devotion or as aids for penitential rituals associated with the well and nearby cairn.

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