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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) - Early Christian Sculptured Stone in Ireland (Republic of) in Co. Cork

Submitted by Sunny100 on Saturday, 22 June 2013  Page Views: 11445

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) Alternative Name: The Kilnaruane Stone,
Country: Ireland (Republic of) County: Co. Cork Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone
Nearest Town: Bantry  Nearest Village: Cappanalea
Latitude: 51.671344N  Longitude: 9.468038W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by MAIGO : April 2013 St Brendan's Stone (Vote or comment on this photo)
Early Christian Sculptured Stone in Co. Cork. Kilnaruane monastic site is situated in a field off the N71 road a few miles S of Bantry, near the West Lodge Hotel. There is an early Christian carved pillar-stone, two ballaun stones and a circular earthwork bank.

A monastery was probably founded here by St Brendan The Navigator in the 6th century CE, although nothing much of that survives today.

St Brendan's Stone is actually an 8th-9th century pillar stone (gallaun) standing over 2 metres high. As the name suggests it is a slender stone that has rare carvings. The best of these is a depiction of a boat with figures inside - possibly early Christian missionaries like St Brendan (486-580) who is called the Navigator. He also founded the famous monastery at Clonfert, Co Galway, in c563 CE. On the two flat faces of the stone there are carved panels, ribbon-interlacing and a figure praying. On the SW face St Anthony and St Paul in the desert.

There are two ballaun stones with circular holes in them and some other stones scattered around within a circular earthwork bank - all that now remains of the Celtic monastery. Apparently it was raised to the ground by Viking invaders in the 9th century CE.
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St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by GaelicLaird : The view to the north east overlooking Bantry Bay. Photo taken April 2023. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by GaelicLaird : A close up photo of the boat scene from the southwest face of the high cross. The outline of the boat and the four oarsmen and their oars clearly visible. Photo taken April 2023. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by GaelicLaird : The northwest face of the high cross with it's four panels of carvings. Photo taken April 2023. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by GaelicLaird : The south western face of the high cross contains the Bantry Boat scene. Photo taken April 2023. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by GaelicLaird : A diagram provided by the Office of Public Works showing the carvings on the two sides of the high cross. Photo taken April 2023. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by GaelicLaird : The view to the east. One of the two bullaun stones in the foreground. The north west face of the high cross is visible here showing the four engraved panels. Photo taken April 2023.

St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by MAIGO : April 2013

St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by GaelicLaird : One of the four grooved stones on the site that may have functioned as a hinge / corner stone for the main structure. Photo taken April 2023.

St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)
St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) submitted by GaelicLaird : The second of the two bullaun stones. Photo taken April 2023.

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"St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Re: St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) by Anonymous on Monday, 24 July 2023
Why do we think the pillar and the surrounds are connected? Could the pillar have been erected by a person returned from the Ottoman Empire in 16th century given the Greek features?
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) by GaelicLaird on Wednesday, 26 July 2023
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    Thanks for your comment Anonymous.

    High crosses in Ireland generally date from 800AD – 1150AD and were erected in the precincts of early medieval churches.

    The pillar at Kilnaruane, which may have been a cross, is sited in an Ecclesiastical enclosure, which are generally known to date to the early medieval period (5th-12th centuries AD).

    Additionally, there are notches carved in the top of the pillar that suggest it was may have been attached to something at some stage.

    Some general info on high crosses in Ireland here:

    https://heritageireland.ie/articles/high-crosses/

    The boat that is depicted on the pillar has been interpreted in different ways but may be very significant to help with the dating. Other sites displaying "sky boats" have been dated to similar periods as the Kilnaruane engraving.

    There's an interesting article here which looks at "sky boats". You might find it an interesting read:
    https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/view/17808/22180

    "Could" the pillar have been erected at a later date? Who knows, it's possible I guess. But you have to ask is that likely considering the other aspects of the site.
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) by GaelicLaird on Saturday, 15 July 2023
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This early medieval ecclesiastical site is in the townland of Kilnaruane. The name probably means Cill na Rómhán, 'Church of the Romans'. This may refer to the seventh-century dispute within the Irish Church about the calculation of Easter. Some favoured the method that had been used in Ireland for generations, while others - the Romani or Rómhán (ach) - had adopted the more up-to-date method employed in Rome. The Romhánach won out, for the Roman method was adopted in the southern half of Ireland during the 630s. Possibly Kilnaruane was founded by a group of Romhánach a short time before this, when the calculation of Easter was still a disputed issue in the Bantry Bay area.

A high cross shaft stands near the centre of a raised, roughly square area about 23m across which is defined by a low bank about 0.6m high. This in turn is at the centre of a roughly circular enclosure about 70m in diameter. Most of this has been levelled, but faint traces of the bank can be seen especially at the east and southwest. These enclosures signalled to anyone visiting the site that they were entering sacred ground. The community probably lived and worked in buildings of wood and wattle in the area between the inner and outer enclosures. The church does not survive, but it was probably of wood and stood within the inner enclosure surrounded by a cemetery.

Near the high cross shaft are four short stone posts with grooves cut into them at one side. These are the corner-posts of a shrine, which probably marked the grave of the founder or some other individual who was revered as a saint. The grooves were designed to accommodate the wood or stone side panels of the shrine.

Nearby are two bullaun stones with hollows cut into their upper surfaces. Their function is uncertain, but they may have been used as mortars for pounding or grinding certain materials.

The site was probably abandoned by the twelfth century except as a place of burial. According to local tradition, some of the stones within the inner enclosure mark the graves of unbaptised children and victims of the Great Famine in the 1840s.

The shaft of the high cross probably dates to the eighth or ninth century. A pair of horizontal grooves on its upper surface would have accommodated the horizontal arms of the cross, which in turn would have supported its upper arm. No trace of these is now evident and they may have been of wood.

The lowest panel on the northwest face is a depiction of St Paul's visit to St Anthony in the Egyptian desert. The hermits sit on high-backed chairs between a table supported on a single post. They reach out to take hold of a round loaf which is being deposited by a bird sent to them by God. This is an idealised depiction of the monastic life and a Eucharistic image which brings to mind the breaking of bread during the Mass. In the panel above is a cross with squares at its crossing and terminals. Next there is a figure wearing a long robe with his hands raised in prayer (the orans position). The uppermost panel is decorated with ribbon interlace.

The southwest face is dominated by the famous 'Bantry Boat'. Within the boat, from stern (bottom) to prow (top), are an individual manning the steering oar, four oarsmen and probably two other individuals near the prow. A cross rises from the boat at the stern and three others surround it. The boat itself depict Christ stilling the tempest on the Sea of Gallilee. Alternatively it could represent the Ship of the Church, that is the Christian community navigating through the storm of this world on its way to God. In the panel above are two pairs of four-legged animals whose heads seem to touch. They may represent the four beasts surrounding the throne of God in Revelations (4:6-8), which were closely associated with the four Gospel writers. It is likely that the two scenes were meant to be read together to convey the idea that the Christian community will find salvation by following the message of the Gospels.

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Re: St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) by Sunny100 on Monday, 24 June 2013
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Possibly, not sure. Could be an earlier monastic enclosure or chapel site.
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Re: St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane) by frogcottage42 on Sunday, 23 June 2013
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I was there a couple of weeks ago and the other stones scattered around the pillar stone appear to be the remains of an enclosure which would have held a railing , so they are comparatively recent.
The fence around the site is heavily abraded by cattle and there is a stand for some notice boards which are now absent.
The previous occasions I tried to visit there were too many cows.
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