Bullaun stone in Timoney

In the field surrounding the S portion of Garrabaun church (TN018-010001-) and graveyard (TN018-010003-), c. 40m from the W wall of the graveyard and within the SW sector of the possible ecclesiastical enclosure (TN018-010002-), which is 115m in diameter N-S. This is an ecclesiastical site founded by Augustinian canons in the twelfth/thirteenth century (Gleeson 1915, 347). The bullaun, identified and reported by Derek Ryan, consists of a roughly triangular-shaped earthfast boulder with four deep circular depressions in a row along the length of the boulder’s surface. See attached photograph by Derek Ryan: TN018-010004-_01 Bullaun with graveyard (TN018-010003-) in background Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 6 March 2023

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 a baptismal font. Such stones are often associated with monastic or ecclesiastical sites and may have had both religious and symbolic significance in local Christian tradition.