The townland of Derrynafinchin – Doire na Fuinseann which seems to mean rather confusingly oak wood of the ash trees – lies in the incredibly scenic and remote Borlin Valley in West Cork. Everywhere was looking Autumnal and lush in the soft drizzle as we ventured forth. First stop a wayside grotto, tucked neatly into the rock.
It seemed to commemorate a much loved parish priest, Father Con, and the altar was strewn with plastic flowers, medals and small statues. A bullaun stone was placed at its base, unrecorded in the Archaeological Inventory for County Cork. This was one of two bullauns visited today – for more information about these enigmatic monuments see: Some Thoughts on Bullauns.
Further on in the same townland was the object of the visit – today almost completely obscured by briars and gorse. Fortunately I had come equipped with secateurs and sturdy gloves, for under the jumble of prickly undergrowth was reported to be a stone circle, Mass rock and bullaun stone.
The main site consists of a now dilapidated and damaged multiple stone circle. It may originally have had 11 stones, of which seven are now standing but all are pretty hard to access and identify. To make matters even more difficult a field fence runs insensitively through the centre of the circle.
Skirting around the back and into the field, a large white quartz stone in the centre of the monument was just visible through the briars and beyond it another huge stone, possibly a boulder burial. Another large stone, outside the thicket, also had a white quartz stone in front of it. Stone circles date from the Bronze Age, 2500 BC to 500BC.
Intriguing as this was, what I wanted to find was the Mass rock and bullaun stone. The Mass rock was almost swamped by brambles but with some careful clearing was slowly revealed. Although it is hard to see today due to the gorse, it has been constructed from materials found on the site and is built up directly onto the axial stone. Most stone circles in Cork and Kerry are identified as axial or recumbent stone circles as they have an approximate axis generally aligned NE to SW. The stone at the SW is usually placed with its long axis lying horizontal, or recumbent, rather than upright as the other stones. In the photo below you can just see the stone behind the Mass rock.
The Mass rock looked like a mini dolmen with two sturdy stones supporting a flat horizontal slab. The wonderful site Find a Mass Rock has this to say about the structure:
The Mass Rock altar does not appear to be contemporary with the stone circle. This can be deduced from the fact that one of the upright stones has collapsed at some point. It has subsequently been used to support the altar slab together with other stones. Additionally, the altar slab appears to have been specifically contoured to fit the upright axial stone on the south side.
Findamassrock.com
Mass rocks are a classified by the Sites and Monuments Department as: a rock or earthfast boulder used as an altar or a stone built altar used when Mass was being celebrated during Penal Times (1690s-1750s). They are fairly common monuments in the Irish countryside; Dr Hilary Bishop of Find a Mass Rock has estimated that there may as many as 400 in County Cork. They date from the Penal Times when harsh laws penalised the practice of the Catholicism and imposed restrictive civil liberties on practitioners. (Specific dates for the Penal Times can vary but are generally given as the late 1690s until Catholic Emancipation in 1829, though restrictions were imposed on the Catholic population from the 16th century). In 1697 the Banishment Act required clergy and bishops to leave Ireland. Many priests went into hiding but Mass continued to be celebrated – illegally and with great personal danger to the priest. Mass was held in the open, in remote and secretive places. Mass rocks are frequently found in townlands already rich in archaeological heritage and many sites were chosen that were already considered sacred in some way – they may have been close to water, near a significant rock, tree or ancient monument.
In all cases :
( … the) chosen rock would only have been transformed into a Holy Altar once the required flat stone tablet had been out upon it and been duly consecrated by the priest, translating an otherwise ‘sacred’ but ‘unholy’ space into a Holy Altar for the celebration of the Catholic Mass.
Bishop, Dr Hilary: Classifications of Sacred Space: a New Understanding of Mass Rock Sites in Ireland
Derrynafinchin fits neatly into all these categories. The site is remote and beautiful with two small streams flowing near it.
It lies within an archaeological monument that was no doubt already considered sacred, one of many in the area. The axial stone has been accommodated to hold the altar, the flat slab described in the quote above clearly in place and modelled to fit into the stone.
And then there is the bullaun stone. There are 99 bullaun stones listed in the Archaeological Inventory for County Cork and 29 of them are described as holy wells in their own right. This one was also covered with vegetation and as I started to clear where I thought it might be, the first thing I saw was a glimmer of water. Further clearing revealed the large circular basin.
On closer examination, it looked as though a fallen stone had been repurposed and the basin scooped from it. Although it is hard to see in the photo below, there is also a cupmark on the stone. Cupmarks are sometimes referred to as rock art and are frequently found on standing stones and are contemporary with, or possibly earlier than, stone circles. Was this stone used because it seemed extra significant or was it just convenient?
Its proximity to the Mass rock suggests that it was used as a holy water font or even a holy well. Incorporating a bullaun into an archaeological monument is not unique in County Cork. At Castlemehigan near Crookhaven, for example, a huge earthfast rock is covered in many cupmarks with a particularly large basin interpreted as a bullaun or holy well. The rock was also used during Penal Times for Mass and crosses left by worshippers can still be seen upon it. The hill behind it is known as Cnocan an Aifreann, the hill of the Mass.
The Mass rock and holy well combination is not unusual either with at least 12 examples in the county. At Lady’s Well near Bantry the Mass rock is set into the cliff, the well lying in front of it. Incidentally, there is also a bullaun on this site.
At Tobairín a’Bhothair, Little Well of the Roadside near Crosshaven, the Mass rock and the holy well are a few metres away from each other on the side of the road.
It’s interesting to note that the Mass Rock here has more offerings placed near it than the holy well.
Derrynafinchin proved to be an example of a site rich in monuments, including a bullaun used as a possible holy well/holy water font, but was sadly neglected.
For more information on Mass rocks, Dr Bishop’s paper: Classifications of Sacred Space: A New Understanding of Mass Rocks Sites in Ireland is comprehensive and definitive.
Such an interesting site. When we visited it I wasn’t aware it was so complex. Great post!
That was some jungle you had to cut through.
I wonder how long it took people to carve out a bullaun! Especially as it was by hand . I love the earthfast rock.
Quite a while I should think! The gorse and briars were dense!