Chair, Parknabinnia, Co. Clare

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Holy Sites & Wells

Chair, Parknabinnia, Co. Clare

On a south-facing limestone slope in the Burren, north of the road between Killinaboy and Leamaneh, there is a natural rock formation that was once considered an infallible cure for backache.

Not a holy well, not a carved stone, not a church ruin, but a chair. Or at least, something that functions as one, if you can find it among the surrounding outcrops, which look more or less identical to it.

The feature is associated with Inghean Baoith, the patron saint of Kilnaboy parish, whose name in the Burren landscape survives in several forms: 'Seehaun Inneenboy' on the 1916 Ordnance Survey edition, 'Chair' on the earlier 1840 six-inch map. Writing in 1900, the antiquarian T.J. Westropp described it as 'the seat of Inghean Baoith', and noted that it was a sure cure for lumbago and rheumatism, though the cure required three pilgrimages rather than one. His contemporary G.U. MacNamara was equally interested, calling it a 'rude chair' and recording the local tradition that Inghean Baoith, known familiarly as Inniwee, used the stone as a seat for prayer. MacNamara was candid about a practical difficulty: the chair is so similar to the limestone around it that it is almost impossible to distinguish. To remedy this, he carved a small cross into the stone, placing it at what he calculated to be the sitter's right hand. MacNamara also noted that the stone appeared to have been disturbed at some point, possibly by quarry-men or road-builders. A nearby feature called 'Clogh-an-Airgid', which may have functioned as a penitential station, a place where pilgrims performed acts of prayer or penance as part of a devotional circuit, is marked on the OS maps in the vicinity, though its precise location is not known.

A field inspection in 1998 found outcropping rock roughly ten metres inside the stile north of the wall, at the foot of the crag, with a number of small pools cut into its surface. This may be the stone MacNamara described, though no cross was found. Whether his mark has weathered away, or whether this is simply a different piece of limestone entirely, is an open question.

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