What is recorded here

Kilbrin Parish preserves a large glacial boulder where penal times allegedly forced worshippers to gather beneath open sky. The stone shares a field with two ancient ringforts, linking Christian prayer to much older human settlement. That unusual company suggests the landscape itself became a chamber when buildings were denied.

Bowman (1934, 402-3) recorded a large glacial boulder known locally as a mass rock, where it is said that mass was celebrated during penal times, standing in the same field as two ringforts (CO023-056----, CO023-057----). Site not inspected. 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

A mass-rock used clandestinely for Catholic worship during the Penal Times; associated with local resistance and perseverance in faith under religious persecution.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.