What is recorded here

Marianne and I watched the holed stone on the beach, its purple slate darkening where seawater had climbed it. We put a coin through the hole and tossed it back toward the abbey, trying to send a wish somewhere worthy. The stone gave nothing up, not even a shake, but the sea took the coin and kept it.

Crawford (1915, 155-6) recorded a holed stone of purple slate which was lying on the beach near Ballinskelligs Abbey (KE097-036----) and which he thought likely to have come from the graveyard (KE097-036005-) which surrounds the abbey. 'The dimensions [of the stone] are length 4 feet 6 inches [1.37m], breadth 3 feet [0.91m], thickness 8 inches [0.2m]' and the perforation measured '3 inches [0.07m] in diameter at the centre, enlarging to 51/2 inches [0.13m] at the front surface and 4 inches [0.1m] at the back' (ibid.). The perforation was 'placed at a distance of 21 inches [0.53m] from the upper end, and is about 31/2 inches [0.08m] nearer to one end than the other' (ibid.). The present whereabouts of this stone is not known. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 30 May 2011

Dated to the early medieval period, the holed stone may have had a ritual or commemorative function, possibly linked to the Christian monastic settlement at Ballinskelligs. Similar stones are sometimes associated with grave markers or ceremonial use in coastal religious sites.

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