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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Bullaun stone

Inishcaltra Or Holy Island, County Clare, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Bullaun stone, Inishcaltra Or Holy Island, County Clare, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
Inishcaltra Or Holy Island
County
Clare
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Not indicated
Latest-edition OS map
Not indicated
Coordinates
52.91509, -8.44880
SMR number
CL029-009028-

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1811 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

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This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

One of two bullaun stones located c. 35m SSW of the round tower (CL029-009010-) on Inis Cealtra. The other bullaun stone (CL029-009029-) is 0.9m to the N. A fairly flat rectangular stone (L 1.9m NNW-SSE; Wth 0.9m) is exposed at ground level and contains a circular water-filled depression (diam. 0.61m; D 0.21m) at the NNW end. Portion of the side of the depression at NW is broken away. A 4m square cutting around the adjacent bullaun was excavated in 1977 (de Paor 2013, 42-3). Numerous finds from the upper layers included whetstones, knife-blades, nails, clay pipe fragments, burnt bone, mortar, slag and chert chippings. An extension to this cutting in 1979 revealed this second bullaun. The soil near the two bullauns was heavily mottled with charcoal flecks and burnt material. A part of a stone pestle was also found which may have been used in the hollows of the bullauns. McNamara (1984, 31-2) described the two adjacent boulders as very similar in shape with depressions in similar locations on both.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 29 September 2015

References

McNamara, Rev. T.V. 1984 The bullaun stones of Holy Island. The Other Clare 8, 31-2.

de Paor †, L. 2013 Inis Cealtra: Archaeological investigations of the monuments on the island. North Munster Antiquarian Journal 53, 27-78.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
All Bullaun stone in Clare All County Clare records All Ireland Heritage registers Historical markers (US)National Register of Historic Places (US)
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