What is recorded here

Bullaun stones mark places where saints knelt until prayer wore rock into a cup. In Kilmaculla, one such stone sits beside a burial bank, its smooth hollow proof that the body can carve what chisels cannot. The saint may have bled, wept or simply endured, but the rock still holds the shape of that endurance.

On W half of linear E-W bank of burial ground (14129) within early ecclesiastical enclosure (13884). Stone (0.55m x 0.6m) is roughly rectangular in shape with circular hollow (diam. at top 0.35m, at bottom 0.1m; D 0.11m) in centre. One of two bullaun stones (13918) found here. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

Likely dating to the early Christian period, the bullaun stone may have been used for ritual purposes, such as the preparation of holy water or as part of a ceremonial site linked to the nearby ecclesiastical enclosure. Such stones often feature in local folklore as having curative or protective properties.

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