What is recorded here

Seventy metres north of Clara church, a limestone block with a shallow circular basin sits buried in the lower courses of a field boundary. The stone may have marked a gateway or served as a bullaun, but human hands have repeated its shape until the purpose blurred. Another basin stone from the graveyard now lies in the farmhouse grounds, pulling the old precinct into domestic memory.

Located c. 70m N of Clara church (KK020-017001-) and graveyard (KK020-017002-). Incorporated into the lower courses of a field boundary with external stone facing, on the E side of road. An irregularly shaped limestone block (max. dims. 0.4m x 0.35m; max. H 0.25m) with shallow, circular basin (diam. 0.16m). Another bullaun (KK020-017007-) from the graveyard is currently located in the grounds of the farmhouse to the SW. In 1893 it was noted that, 'In the ditch of the roadway may been seen the heel-stones of the gateway of the former entrance to the church precincts, one of them still in situ' (Anon. 1893, 233). This may refer to a spudstone and could be the stone with the depression in the field boundary which was more recently interpreted as a bullaun. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 18 November 2020

Likely dating to the early medieval period, the Bullaun stone in Churchclara may have been used for ritual purposes, possibly as a holy water font or a site for anointing. Such stones are often associated with Christian or pre-Christian traditions, and local folklore may link them to saintly figures or protective rituals.

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