Bullaun stone, Raheen, Co. Wicklow
Co. Wicklow |
Holy Sites & Wells
A low granite boulder in County Wicklow holds three carefully hollowed basins, worn into its surface over centuries by hands and weather in roughly equal measure.
This is a bullaun stone, a type of ancient monument found across Ireland in which one or more cup-shaped depressions, known as bullauins, have been ground or pecked into bedrock or large boulders. Their precise origins and purposes remain debated, but they are frequently found in association with early ecclesiastical sites and are sometimes connected with folk healing or ritual practices long after their initial use was forgotten. The Raheen example is a substantial piece of work: the boulder itself measures 2.6 metres along its long axis and sits earthfast, meaning it is fixed in the ground rather than a loose surface find, with a slightly pitched, irregular upper face.
The three basins cluster towards the eastern end of the stone, each differing slightly in shape and depth. The easternmost is oval and the deepest of the three, at 13 centimetres. A circular basin sits 20 centimetres to its northwest, and a third oval basin, shallower and positioned just 5 centimetres to the south of the second, completes the group. The stone was noted in a 1948 publication by Price and Stephens, who placed it approximately 200 metres northwest of Ballinacorbeg church, also known as Derrylossary church, suggesting a long-recognised connection between the monument and the nearby ecclesiastical site. Despite that early record, the stone was only physically located and confirmed on the ground by researcher Chris Corlett in 2005, a gap of more than half a century between documentary reference and actual fieldwork.
