What is recorded here

County Clare, Ireland, near Ballykeel House, holds a carved hand on a rock outcrop. Local tradition claims Penal Times carvers used the thumb as a sun pointer to reveal hidden Mass vessels. The marble-like stone still invites touching, though the exact carving resists easy finding in marshy pasture.

On low-lying marshy coarse pasture with rock outcrops. Marked and named ‘carved hand’ on Robinson’s (1977) map. O’Connell (1991, 144, fig. 8.3) includes a drawing of an engraved hand which he describes as from near Ballykeel House. He also recounts a local tradition ‘that it was carved during Penal Times and when the Sun shone on the thumb it indicated where the Mass vessels were hidden.’ (ibid.). Coffey (1995, 15) visited the stone and described it as a human arm, elbow and hand with splayed fingers, having a small cross etched on the hand. Field inspection in 1999 did not locate the carving. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 1 February 2022

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