Tag:historic=bullaun_stone

A bullaun stone or short bullaun is a stone of mostly unknown origin with one or more hemispherical or basin-like depressions (the word bullaun being the Anglicised version of the Irish word ballán being a cognate of the word "bowl"), often found in an ecclesiastic context. Some are associated with Irish saints or considered holy wells (even though they merely collect rain water).

Some in Ireland are associated with St. Patrick who is said to have knelt on the stone and left impressions of either one or both knees. It is more likely that they were used as mortars or wore down through some other manual use of an implement on them. Some might have also served as bases for high or market crosses. Some might have also served as baptismal fonts.

How to tag

Mark the location of the stone with a node and add the tag historic=bullaun_stone. Nearly 1,000 bullaun stones are recorded in the Republic of Ireland on the Historic Environment Viewer.

Additional tags such as the following might be useful:

tag	explanation	example
name=*	if the bullaun stone has a specific name other than "Bullaun Stone"
material=*	the type of stone, i.e. granite, limestone etc.	material=granite
wikimedia_commons=*	link to photograph of or category for that specific bullaun stone
image=*	image links other than wikimedia or street imagery
description=*	description of the stone, shape and number of depressions, whether there are any further inscriptions/ symbols carved in the stone
width=*, length=* & depth=*	to describe the dimensions of the stone
bullaun:diameter=* & bullaun:depth=*	for the depression(s) in the stone
heritage=*	if bullaun stone is part of a heritage database add appropriate ref to heritage database	heritage=2
wikidata=* wikipedia=*	Wiki-Links for this specific stone
subject:wikidata=* subject:wikipedia=*	if the stone is associated with a saint or historic event, link to the saint or historic event
url:sketchfab=*	link to a 3D model of the stone using the short URL provided on sketchfab.com
location=*	in case the node gets moved accidentally, add a description using cardinal directions and distance from other significant features	"3m South of entrance into church ruin"

For bullauns considered holy wells

Add place_of_worship=holy_well and appropriate micro-tagging.

Gallery

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  Bullaun stone at Innisfallen Church, Oratory & Abbey, Co. Kerry

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  Killiane Little St. Degumen's Church Nave Bullaun Stone

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  Bullaun stone at Clonmacnoise monastic site

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  Classified by the photographer as a bullaun stone, but looks more like the base of a cross.

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  Stone classified by photographer as bullaun stone, but could well be a saddle quern. County Down.

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  Triple bullaun at Roscam.