Bullaun stone, Caherabbey, Co. Tipperary
Co. Tipperary |
Holy Sites & Wells
Just inside the entrance to the graveyard at Caherabbey's Augustinian Abbey in County Tipperary, a split stone sits on a purpose-built plinth, quietly holding four bowl-shaped hollows worn into its surface.
It is a bullaun stone, a type of ancient carved or ground stone found across Ireland, typically characterised by these rounded cup-like depressions. Their origins and precise purposes remain debated, though they are often associated with early ecclesiastical sites and are sometimes thought to have served ritual, medicinal, or practical functions. This one has been given a certain dignity by its placement; rather than left where it fell, it has been set deliberately on a raised stone support, as if the decision was made at some point that it warranted preservation and visibility.
The stone itself is a sandstone conglomerate threaded with white quartz, measuring roughly 86 centimetres by 52 centimetres and standing about 41 centimetres high. It has split, as old stones do, but the four depressions remain legible, ranging considerably in size from relatively modest hollows around 10 centimetres wide and deep to more substantial basins approaching 26 centimetres wide and 21 centimetres deep. The variation suggests the hollows may have been made at different times or served different purposes, though the stone gives nothing away on that front. Its location immediately east of the graveyard entrance places it at a threshold, which feels appropriate for an object whose meaning has always been only partially understood.