Dublin Core
Title
Gloonan Stone
Creator
CRay
Description of Well Item Type Metadata
1 Name of well and saint
Gloonan Stone St. Patrick's
2 Townland, County, GPS
Cushenden, Co. Antrim
3 Physical description of well and its surroundings
A bullaun stone on the opposite side of Glendun Rroad from the Roman Catholic church of St. Patrick. the stone is neatly fenced with wooden railings. The stone has two indentations that retain water, the largest in a perfectly circular bowl shape.
4 Cure
skin diseases and warts
5 Pattern day
17 March
8 Stories
Rosemary Garrett (1956) noted that the name of the stone Gloonan derives from "gluin" for knee. As near many holy wells, this knee stone's depressions were once explained as having been worn into the rock by St. Patrick kneeling to pray there. Another story relates that the traveling saint stopped to drink water from the larger indentation and, in kneeling to do so, created the second. Formerly people used to align their knees on such stones before praying beside their local well and this seems to have been such a site.
9 Publications
https://thejournalofantiquities.com/2013/06/08/the-gloonan-stone-cushendun-co-antrim-northern-ireland/
Garrett, Rosemary. 1956. Cushendun, and the Glens of Antrim. Ballycastle, Northern Ireland:, J.S. Scarlett & Sons.
Garrett, Rosemary. 1956. Cushendun, and the Glens of Antrim. Ballycastle, Northern Ireland:, J.S. Scarlett & Sons.