Ritual site — holy tree/bush in Ballybuggy

Reference to 'St. Bridget's Bush, (Carrigan 1905, 341, 342). No visible surface remains. Described by Carrigan as 'St. Bridget's Bush still blooms beside the graveyard (LA034-004002-) and bears the usual ex votos. At the foot of the bush is "St. Bridgets Stone", which is evidently a holy water stone (LA034-004004-), but one of the rudest imaginable, being nothing more than a rough, uneven boulder, 3 ft. by 2 and a half feet and 2 ft. thick, with an artifical hollow 11 in. in diameter and 5 in. deep (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 342). Described by Feehan as 'an old hawthorn tree beside St. Brigid's stone at Ballybuggy; note the coins hammered into the bark by devotees' (Feehan 1983, 110). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007