Penitential station

The National Monuments Service's description

In the E end of ‘St. Mac Duagh’s Church’ (CL006-023001-) amongst hazel forest. Indicated and named ‘Penitential Stations’ on the 1842 and 1915 eds. of the OS 6-inch maps. The OS parish namebooks for Keelhilla in 1839 (Placenames database of Ireland) record stations being performed here ‘by the peasantry and a patron [being] held here on the last sunday of the summer’ and locally recorded tradition records an unmarked pilgrimage route from Kilmacduagh to Keelhilla known as ‘St Colman’s Way’ (Kirby 2016).
A well-built rectangular drystone structure (L 2.6m; Wth 1.9m; H 0.7m) with some loose stones on its surface, likely constructed from rubble collapse from the church. In 1836, Westropp (Comber 2003, 36) drew some of the stones on the surface of this, or the second station (CL006-023009-); included among them was a flat stone with narrow fluting which looks like a medieval ingot mould. A second station (CL006-023009-) is located c. 5m N, a holy well (CL006-023005) c. 12m to the NNE and a hermitage/cave known as St Mac Duagh’s bed (CL006-023004-) c. 20m WSW. The remains may all be contained within an enclosure (CL006-023010-) and a disused graveyard (CL006-023002-) is recorded c. 30m to the SE.

The following image has been uploaded:
CL006-023003-_01.jpg View of penitential station from SW.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Ros Ó Maoldúin

Date of upload: 13 May 2021

References

Kirby, T. 2016 Votive offerings deposition at St Colman Mac Duagh’s Hermitage, Eagle’s Rock, Keelhilla. Report prepared for Burren/Cliffs GeoparkLIFE project. Available at https://www.burrengeopark.ie/geopark-life/tourism-studies/ [accessed 12 May 2021]

Comber, M. (ed.) 2003 Folklore of Clare by T.J. Westropp (1910-13). Ennis. Clasp Press.

Placenames database of Ireland. Available at https://www.logainm.ie/en/5737?s=Balliny+north (accessed 22 September 2020).