What is recorded here

Cross-cut stone stands beside the well where Brendan supposedly anointed, set into a low wall on Valencia Island. Its larger marks and smaller circle suggest layered devotion rather than a single event. People may have cut it during storms, fevers or ordinary mornings when they needed the sea made sacred. The stone still holds that repeated human gesture, even if the dates remain unclear.

The Well of St Brendan's Anointing (KE078-005001-) is located on a small rock-knoll towards the centre of Emlagh Bog, Valencia Island, and overlooks the Atlantic just 400m to N. It comprises a holy well, a cross-slab, three stone crosses and a number of miscellaneous features, including a possible leacht. Cross-Slab (KE078-005007-): This slab stands against one end of the low wall which protects the well. It is a roughly rectangular slab which measures 0.5m x 0.4m x 0.06m thick. A number of plain crosses and random lines have been scored onto its exposed face. Two crosses are larger and more deeply incised than the others. In the upper right quadrant of the largest cross is a small, encircled Latin cross. All of these crosses may be of relatively recent date. See attached drawing taken from O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, Fig. 171, 271. The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 939. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 30 March 2022

Probably dating to the early Christian period (5th–9th century), the cross-inscribed stone likely served a religious or commemorative function, possibly associated with St Brendan or local Christian practice. Such stones often marked sacred sites or were used in rituals connected to nearby holy wells.

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