Bullaun stone, Radrinagh, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Holy Sites & Wells
On a south-facing slope in the Kerry townland of Radrinagh, a flat slab of stone sits half-swallowed by pasture, unremarkable at first glance.
Look closer, and the surface reveals two oval hollows worn or worked into the rock, sitting side by side and separated by nothing more than a thin ridge of stone two centimetres wide. This is a bullaun stone, a type of ancient carved rock found across Ireland, characterised by one or more cup-shaped depressions ground into its upper face. Their precise origins remain debated, but they are associated with early medieval religious sites, and the bowls were likely used for grinding, ritual water-holding, or both, accumulating folklore and devotional significance over centuries.
The stone itself is modest in size, measuring roughly one and a half metres in length and less than half a metre in height, embedded in the ground so that only its upper surface is fully exposed. What makes it quietly unusual is the paired nature of the hollows. Twin bullauns are less common than single ones, and here the two depressions share almost identical depths, the north-western bowl at eight centimetres and the south-eastern at seven, their combined footprint barely larger than a spread hand. The narrow rib of stone dividing them gives the impression of something deliberate and precise, a division that was clearly intended rather than accidental.