Mass-rock in Creemully AND Aghagad Beg

Located at the crest of a gentle NE-facing slope. A red sandstone block (dims 0.54m x 0.33m; H 0.2m) with traces of lime-wash on one of the long vertical sides was found in earth-moving activity c. 2010 close to a farm complex that has been extant since at least 1837 (OS 6-inch map). The upper surface has a small, equal-armed cross (H 8cm; span 6.5cm) of pecked lines (Wth 1cm) towards one edge of the stone. There is a small hole (diam. 1cm) at the end of one arm and a small incised triangle (Wth 1.6cm; H 2.5cm), interpreted locally as a chalice, at one of the angles. A fainter, oval (dims c. 5cm x c. 2.5cm) at the centre of the stone is interpreted as a lamb. There is contemporary testimony that Fr. Edmund Keely or Kelly, a friar who had not taken the Oath of Abjuration and was therefore not properly registered, said Mass at Kinmully (Creemullly) in 1711-12. He was arrested but released soon afterwards and had died by 1715 (Burke 1914, 448-50). Another friar in the Fuerty area at that time was Fr. Francis Hurley and there was said to be a third (ibid.). No connection between Fr. Kelly or any of the friars and the mass-rock can be established, but the traces of lime-wash on one of its sides suggests that it had been incorporated in a wall at one time, perhaps in an effort to secure it. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 12 May 2015

A mass-rock was used historically by Catholics in Ireland for secret worship during periods of religious persecution, particularly under anti-Catholic laws in the 17th and 18th centuries. This site likely reflects such clandestine Catholic practice, linked to the celebration of Mass in hidden locations.