What is recorded here

Clonaddadoran in County Laois may hold a hidden May bush, waiting for people to remember the shape of the local ritual rather than the name of the plant. If families gathered eggshells through winter and dressed green boughs before summer, the yard became a small calendar made visible. One household measured its effort in 105 shells, not in the size of the garden or the wealth of the house. The lost bush may still belong to that townland, recorded only in the conduct of the people who tended it.

Unlocated holy bush within townland described by Helen Roe her unpublished report entitled Rude Stone Monuments in County laoighis, as 'In Clonaddadoran on May Day bushes are decorated with flowers, coloured papers or strings of eggshells and stuck up outside the house in the middle of the yard. Families collected eggshells for months before hand - one family had 105 eggshells this May Day (1932)' Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 17 December 2007

This site is associated with May Day traditions, where the holy bush is decorated with flowers and coloured papers, reflecting ancient Celtic customs linked to the arrival of spring and fertility rites. Such practices often predate Christianization but were later incorporated into or merged with local saintly or pastoral observances.

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