Monumental structure, Eskeromullacaun, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Ritual/Ceremonial

Monumental structure, Eskeromullacaun, Co. Galway

A flat limestone boulder lying in the grass of County Galway carries a name that describes a function far darker than its modest dimensions suggest.

Known locally as Cloch an Bhreithínas, the Judgement Stone, it is a large recumbent slab measuring roughly two metres by two metres and sitting only about sixty centimetres proud of the ground. Nothing about its appearance announces what it once represented to the people of this part of North Galway.

The tradition attached to it belongs to the Cromwellian period of the mid-seventeenth century, when the practice of Catholicism was suppressed under the Penal Laws and Mass was frequently celebrated outdoors in remote locations, often in hollows or valleys where the congregation could not easily be seen. According to local memory, people caught attending such a gathering in a nearby valley were brought to this stone to be tried. Those found guilty were hanged from a tree to the south-west. The boulder became, in that context, a tribunal, and the name Cloch an Bhreithínas carried the full weight of that association down through generations. The Irish word breithiúnas means judgement or sentence, and the name preserves the memory of proceedings that left no formal documentary trace, only an oral one.

The stone sits in undulating grassland at Eskeromullacaun, and its survival as a named landmark in the local landscape speaks to how persistently communities hold onto the memory of places where something significant, or something terrible, once happened.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Monumental structure, Eskeromullacaun, Co. Galway. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement