Set in Stone: an exploration of saintly imprints

In the middle of a small road leading to the Swiss Cottage in Cahir, County Tipperary , is a lozenge shape, inlaid with stones – but look carefully and two large scoops can be seen in the centre. These are described as imprints left by St Patrick’s knees when he knelt down to pray whilst on his way to visit St Declan in Waterford. So holy were they, they left their marks forever in the very stone. It is an extraordinary, enigmatic and rather wonderful sight – the fact that the monument is so carefully marked and left unmolested speaks volumes.

As if this wasn’t strange enough, I can reveal that it is not remotely unique and that there are numerous imprints – knees, feet, heads, elbows, backs – left in stone by wandering saints as they sat down to rest and and pray. Out of curiosity I have been examining the ones I have come across – mainly in Cork and Kerry, but also further afield.

A quick note about what you are encountering. Many of these stones, but not all, are bullauns, usually described as manmade scoops in rocks. There is much discussion as to how old these might be, and what their original purpose was. I think that they have always been used as some sort of sacred font. Some bullauns are considered to be holy wells in their own right, others are associated with wells yet considered significant enough to be included in the round, prayers and offerings being placed in or around them. Many are valued for their cures – obtained either by dipping your fingers in the water collecting in the stones or by physically placing your own limbs in the saintly imprints, immediately resulting in a direct connection to the saint and to the place. Let’s have a look at some interesting examples. I have found it easier to differentiate by saint rather than body parts!

St Patrick

Our patron saint has left imprints throughout the country. Celeste Ray notes that the only county not to have a Patrician imprint is Kerry ( Sacred Stones by Healing Wells; Holy Wells of Ireland, 2023). However, at Knockpatrick, County Limerick, there is a site called Suíochán Pádraig, St Patrick’s Seat or Stone, upon which he stood, and, worried that he did not have time to visit Kerry, bestowed a general blessing upon the whole county. (I have heard the same story being told with County Clare as the recipient of his blessing). When he stood up, he of course left his knee prints embedded in the rock, sadly no longer clearly discernible as the stone was apparently broken up by the Black and Tans:

Twenty years ago at the time of the Anglo Irish war, a party of Black and Tans were carrying out a round up in this district. In the course of their search, a party of them went up to Knockpatrick. They noticed the isolated flat stone, and growing suspicious that it might be hiding an arms dump, took it up out of its place. In doing this they broke the stone, and a portion of it was never seen since. (SFC: 168/169: 0483)

Today the site is marked by a stone wall and regaled with a cross. The views remain spectacular.

St Patrick has 19 holy wells dedicated to him in County Limerick, though I was very firmly told that he never actually visited the county. This is disappointing as quite a few sites claim to have bodily evidence of his visit. At Cloncagh, on seeing a serpent rushing towards him, he knelt down to pray and then threw his prayer book at the offending beast, his knees burning deep into the stone. Onwards to Cooliska, where he knelt and caused a well to spring up, and on rising left more knee prints in the ground. At Ballyelan he left a footprint:

A well – near Lee’s Cross, in the Parish of Ballingarry, about 3 miles from Granagh was a centre of Pagan superstition. St Patrick visited it, blessed it, and left the print of his foot on a flag-stone beside it. It is much honoured on every St Patrick’s day, which is a regular Pattern day a the Well. Rounds are paid, and the water is brought home to sick people or invalids who cannot visit the well themselves. (SFC: 228:0499)

Search as I did, I could find no evidence of the saintly imprints.

Enroute to Donoughmore, the saint rested for three days at Patrickswell. Leaning against an old tree, he left an imprint of his back. The current tree is a rather spindly specimen but is still included in the round.

He also took a quick rest in Singland and lay down to sleep on a flat stone, the leaba Phadraig, which retained the outline of his knee prints – no sign of these either.

There is one bodily trace of St Patrick in County Cork. Deep in the woods near Kinneagh there is an enigmatic holy well, a natural scoop in a rock on the side of a fast flowing river. Just above the scoop is a deep horizontal gash said to have been caused when the saint rested his arm in prayer and this is still evident. It was the practice to slip your own arm into the indent in the hope of receiving the saint’s blessing (John Frazer, 1905).

The Blessed Virgin Mary, BVM

There have been many sightings of the BVM and not surprisingly she has left a smattering of imprints – mostly very hard to identify. At Lady’s Well, Ballycurrany in East Cork a large stone in front of the holy well is known as the Foot Stone. The landowners explained that the BVM was said to have appeared here, leaving the marks of her knees and hands on the rock, not easily spotted.

In West Cork, just outside Bantry is another Lady’s Well. The story goes that she appeared here whilst a priest was illegally saying Mass and spread her blue cloak around him to protect him from pursuers. She left behind a footprint which can be seen as you climb the steep slope to the east of the well which is part of the round. Obviously she wore her wellies when she was in West Cork, size 5. At Lady’s Well in Dunowen the BVW was first spotted by fishermen out at sea, in the guise of a swan. She later appeared near the well and left her fingerprints on the slab.

Over in County Limerick, another Lady’s Well in the town park at Croom was was surrounded by some large rocks that reputedly bore the prints of her hands:

A legend said that the well was originally sited between two large rocks, known as Our Lord’s rock and the Devil’s rock, but because of the abusive act of a soldier the well moved to where it is now. These rocks are said to bear the marks of Our Lady’s hands, although another local legend claims they are the handprints of a giant. These rocks are used as mass rocks on pattern day. (MM:0328: 0466)

The well has since moved to another spot in the park and although the rocks remain, I couldn’t identify any handprints.

St Brigid

St Brigid has also appeared at several places including Mountbridget near Charleville, where she was seen swinging on the Biddy Tree and on Rabbit island in West Cork where she picked up a holy well in her apron and transferred it to the mainland to make life a bit easier for pilgrims (some had drowned making the original crossing to the island). She has left a few imprints. On her way to visit St Fachtna in Rosscarbery she stopped just outside Clonakilty to visit St Brioneach:

In the townland of Ahaguilla there is a large stone called St Bridget’s Knee. It covers a holy well. St Bridget was supposed to have a school at Kilbree and when going from there to St Fachtna’s temple at Rosscarbery she used to kneel on the stone and the marks of her knees are still there. The well is never without water. Some time ago the stone split in two halves and half the stone is above the well and the other half is below the well at present. About sixty years ago a Protestant gentleman who owned the land put the stone in a ditch he was building and the following morning it was back in its original place again and it was never interfered with since. In olden times people used to come here and say their prayers at the well … (134:0307)

Although I couldn’t really identify the stone, I did speak to a local man local who told me that he and his sister would play here as children and that they believed the stone marked where the Blessed Virgin Mary had left her knee prints after she knelt down to pray. He said the water in the well was good for warts.

St Brigid also left some quite hefty knee prints overlooking Lough Hyne – a double bullaun stone, still containing a few rusty coins left in offering.

St Olan

Over in Aughabulloge, North Cork, is St Olan’s Stone – look carefully and on top of the boulder can clearly be seen the footprints of the saint himself. Traditionally he was said to have preached whilst standing on top of this stone. It is also said to mark his burial place but in fact this is not its original position as it was moved from a field to the north of the graveyard during field clearances. Near to the stone is a spindly ogham stone topped with a large stone, now firmly cemented down. This is St Olan’s Cap or Capáin, once considered helpful for headaches – the sufferer going rounding the graveyard three times with the stone on their head! The main well site is a short distance away and consists of a, now dry, holy well, a blessed tree, stations of the Cross and another large standing stone bearing ogham.

St Mochuda

At Cuddy’s Well in the National Park in Killarney there is a delightful story associated with the Cloc mo Cuda, St Mocuda’s Stone:

… There was once a monk and he lived in the Abbey in Innisfallen. One day he saw a little robin which he followed. The robin perched on the tree that is now over the well. The monk fell asleep on the rock under the tree and he slept there for a hundred years. When he awoke he went back to the Abbey. He did not know how long he had slept. Everything seemed changed. He did not know the monk who opened the door nor the monk did not know him. The monk asked him his name and he told him.  Then the monk remembered the story he had heard about the other monk who was lost a hundred years before. He believed this monk was the long lost monk. He lived with the young monks and after a while he died. The prints of his two knees and forehead are on the rock. They are always filled with water. They never dry even on the hottest day in summer. (251-217:0455)

You can just make out the double bullaun of his knees and the mark of his head can be seen in the stone in the foreground of the photo below.

And should you hear a robin when visiting, good luck is ensured, pilgrims once taking bread with them in the hope of attracting the little bird.

St Peacaun

In the Glen of Aherlow, Tipperary, there is a fascinating and extensive site connected with St Peacaun comprising an old church, a holy well, and a small walled enclosure known as his cell, in the middle of which are two neat and circular bullauns. There is of course a story attached:

… (here) is a round circle of stones with two large holes in the centre of the floor. Here it was supposed the saint lived and he knelt in the two holes when he was praying. This is an account of one of the miracles worked by St. Pecaun. One day he asked a woman for a bit of butter and she refused saying that she had none. She had a big lump of butter and when she saw the saint coming she hid it in a room and when the saint was gone she went to look for it but it was changed into stone. It is said that he is buried under whitethorn tree. (SFC:022-024:0576)

The petrified butter stone is said to once graced one of the bullauns – turning it clockwise for good fortune. Petrification might have to be a forthcoming subject for examination.

St Laitiarain

St Laitiarian was one of three saintly sisters living in North Cork. Every day she went to collect embers from the blacksmith to light her fire. She always went barefoot. One day, as she gathered the embers in her apron, the blacksmith remarked on the comeliness of her white feet. She looked down and felt the sin of pride. Horrified she cursed the blacksmith:

… This incident happened about five miles from Millstreet at a place Cullen. A certain woman lived there and every morning she used to go to the forge nearby for a few coals of fire to start her own fire. This morning she went as usual for the coals.The blacksmith admired her feet. She on hearing the praise looked down at her feet and felt quite vain of them. Suddenly her apron which contained the coals took fire and she cursed the blacksmith. Never has there been a forge in Cullen since nor I suppose never shall. This woman was supposed to be St Laterian. Neither can a forge be within a mile of Cullen except its door is turned away from that village or else the fire won’t light in it.SFC:155:0323

As she sank to her knees to pray she disappeared into the ground and reappeared in the nearby field, now marked by a holy well. The spot where she disappeared is marked by the Dallan – a large heart-shaped boulder, also called the Cloch na gCursa – the Stone of the Rounds. It is also known as the Heart Stone or the Saint’s Stone and women would genuflect in front of it before the  harvest. It was once near the village pump but has since been moved and sits rather oddly in front of a large, modern handball alley. The rounds start from here.

St Crohane

Near Caherdaniel on the Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry, are three holy wells dedicated to St Crohane: one at the base of Coad mountain and two in rugged sites as you ascend the mountain. The second well, now more or less forgotten but marked by a deeply etched cross, is accompanied by what is known as a hermitage and is said to be where St Crohane came to remove himself from the world. In fact it is the remains of a Bronze Age copper mine, first dug out some time around 1700-1500BC, the walls still enriched with blue minerals. One of the indentations at the back of the cave is said to be an imprint of the saint’s back where he rested, a particularly venerated spot.

St Manchán’s Cow

Sometimes it was the animals associated with saints that left their imprints in stone. Near St Manchán’s holy well and sacred tree in Lemanaghan, County Offaly the prints left in stone do not belong to the saint but to his magical cow:

There are a lot of old stories about St Manchans cow. The cow was a very good cow for giving milk and supplied the people of Lemonaghan with milk. One night as St Manchan was in bed some person came and stole the cow. When St. Manchan went to look at the cow she was gone. When St Manchan saw that his cow was gone he went off to look for her. He was able to find her because she left the tracks of her hoofs on the stones. St Manchan soon came to a gate and the foot-steps went through the gate. St Manchan went into the house and he saw a big pot on the fire. He told the cow to get up and she came together again. After that St Manchan never gave milk to the people of Lemonaghan. The people of Lemonaghan never sold milk after that. The people of Lemonaghan say that it was not they but the people of Killmoghan who stole the cow. (SFC:140:0810)

How satisfying to see that the hoofprints are still there and even contain offerings – small coins left in the indents, and in one of the windows of the ruined church, a plastic figure of a cow.

St Ita

Over in County Limerick, St Ita had a little black donkey:

As Saint Ita built her convent in Killeedy and lived there she is called the patron Saint of the parish. She had a dairy farm in a little townland called Sesonglas between Mountcollins and Rockchapel. She used go to this farm every day riding her ass. As she was coming towards Tournafulla after visiting her farm, she stopped at a house on some purpose. While she was inside, the Tournafulla boys set the dogs after her ass. He ran through the fields towards the Shule river which is a tributary of the Allaughan. On crossing the river he jumped to a rock in the middle of it, where he remained bogged until Ita came to his aid. The print of his hoofs are plain to be seen this present day. Saint Ita cursed the people of Tournafulla and said the village would never be without a widow, a widower, a smoky house or a blaggard. (SFC:193-96:0505)

The holy well dedicated to this popular saint remains in Killeedy cemetery and the hoofprints are meant to be somewhere down by the River Iskule. They have healing powers of their own. Should you clean your teeth with the water that collected in them you would never suffer from toothache. Placing your own feet in the marks was also said to cure many ailments.

Another stone near Abby’s Well, Kilshannig, Mallow has also vanished, broken up when a new road was made from Kanturk to Cork according to Colonel Grove White. He collected the story associated with it: it was known as the Thief’s Flag and was said to bear the imprint of a man’s bare foot and the hoof prints of a cow and a her calf. The man was stealing the animals when along came St Gobnait (or St Abby as she’s called in this story) and tied the thief to the stone until the owner was alerted! (Grove White, Vol 3, p331). I need to find these too.

Finally some charming if bizarre prints left by St Finbarr, patron saint of Cork, although they are found just across the border in Kerry in Glenflesk.

St Finbarr

There is a well at Loo Bridge called Tobar na Naomh. The people around the place go doing rounds to the place every year. The well is holy. There were a band of Saints going over the hill to Guagan Barra. The first saint took a drink at the well. He forgot his spectacles near the well. He thought of his spectacles when he was in Guagan Barra. He told the Saint next to him that he forgot his spectacles and he told the Saint that was next to him and they passed the word along to each other and the last saint got the spectacles near the well and carried them to Guagan Barra. (SFC:767:0457)

The short-sighted and forgetful saint had been visiting fellow saints across the border in County Kerry. Having had an enjoyable visit, he walked all the way back to Gougane Barra whereupon he found he had forgotten his spectacles. How easily that happens! Fortunately his fellow saints were numerous and helpful and a human convoy was formed to pass the spectacles from hand to hand all the way back to Gougane. So holy were the specs that they left their marks on the rock on which they had languished. The teeny scoops are the most potent part of the well, the water collecting in them regarded as being particularly good for healing sore eyes, unsurprisingly.

I’ve only just dipped my toe into this fascinating subject and many imprint stones remain as yet unfound and undiscovered.