Wakeman's handbook of Irish antiquities

by W. F. Wakeman

Holed-stone at the ‘Church of the Men,’ Inismurray.

The following particulars of holed-stones, to which popular superstitions are attached, are derived from A Survey of Antiquarian Remains in Inismurray[10] by Mr. Wakeman. This island, off the coast of Sligo, presents three fine specimens of the pillar-stone, two of which must be considered valuable, and probably unique examples of the ‘holed’ class. These are sometimes called ‘Praying stones’ by the natives of the island. The more important stands on the southern side of Teampull-na-bfear, or the ‘Church of the men,’ at a little distance from that structure. It measures 4 feet in height, 11½ inches in breadth at top, 1 foot 1 inch at base, and about 7 inches in thickness. The monument faces east and west; its edges and eastern side are plain. The western face, on which a graceful cross has been incised, exhibits two holes of a size just large enough to admit the insertion of a thumb. It may be observed that the arms and head of the symbol terminate in spirals like those found upon the celebrated ‘Alphabet Stone’ at Kilmalkedar, the work upon which has been held, by acknowledged authorities on such matters, to belong to the sixth, or at latest to the seventh century of the Christian era. The orifices extend through the adjoining angles of the stone, and open out at its sides in apertures sufficiently spacious to receive the fingers of a full-sized hand. In connection with this pillar-stone, as also with a similar monument situated close to Teampull-na-mban, or ‘Church of the women,’ a custom which is worthy of record, very generally prevails. Women who expect shortly to become mothers are wont to resort to these stones, for the purpose of praying for a happy issue from the perils of their impending travail. The natives assert that death in childbirth is an unknown calamity upon the island. The postulants kneel, passing their thumbs into the front, and their fingers into the side openings, by which means a firm grasp of the angles of the pillar is obtained. They are thus enabled to rise from their act of obeisance with a minimum of strain or difficulty. A pillar-stone, unperforated and uninscribed, of about the same dimensions as that just noticed, is seen immediately beside it. The two stand in line at right angles with the northern wall of the very ancient church almost immediately adjoining.

The second holed-stone, to which we have already referred, bears upon its eastern face a plain Latin cross. It is 5 feet high, 10½ inches broad at base, 11½ inches at top, and 4½ inches in thickness. Like its fellow at the ‘Church of the men’ it is held in profound veneration, especially by the women of the island. The pillar may indeed be prehistoric, and the cross an addition. The type of cross which it exhibits is characteristic of the earliest Christian times in Ireland; this being so, the monument in its present style may be assigned to a period not later than the close of the sixth century.

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Rock Scribings, Cup-and-Circle Markings.​—​This subject has proved of considerable interest to archæologists everywhere. Rock scribings or markings, whether noticed upon European, Asiatic, or American rocks or monuments, often in their general features bear so strong a family likeness that it is at first sight difficult to believe that they have not been executed by one and the same race of people. But we know that the minds of savages or semi-savages, situated widely apart, and placed under somewhat similar environment, will instinctively run in parallel grooves of thought; and thus, in the form, material, and ornamentation of their objects of veneration, arms, and implements of everyday life, as well as in their personal decorations, present a like development. It need be no wonder then that, far and near, over the surface of the Old and of the New World, rock and stone scribings are to be found, and that they should frequently have many common characteristics. Until recently these antiquarian puzzles have received but little attention from Irish archæologists. Petrie does not seem to have noticed their existence; O’Donovan and O’Curry make no mention of them; nor do the older writers, except in one or two instances, where a single stone or so is referred to as bearing work of a mystic and barbarous character. The forms of these markings to be met with in Ireland are these: cups; cups and rings; the same with radial channel; concentric rings; penannular rings; spirals; stars; triangles and wheels; zigzag and other lines. Considerable attention has been given in recent years to the elaborate scorings on the rocks forming the great chambers at Newgrange, Dowth, and Loughcrew, Co. Meath, to which we shall refer in a subsequent chapter. In these ‘Ireland,’ as Colonel Wood-Martin says, ‘possesses a collection of this species of prehistoric ornamentation which, in singularity, number, and quaintness of design, is approached in point of interest only by some of the great stone chambers of the district of Morbihan.’

The late Dr. Graves, Bishop of Limerick, in the publications of the Royal Irish Academy, appears to have been the first to draw attention to sculpturings of this class found in Ireland. Subsequently the subject was taken up by inquirers, in various parts of the world, who found in their own countries kindred rock carvings. In Ireland the groups of designs found upon the surface of our undisturbed rocks exhibit in many instances characteristics almost, if not entirely, peculiar to themselves. For instance, the incomplete concentric circles with a central cup, from which extends a straight or slightly curved stroke, called ‘the channel,’ through and sometimes beyond the outermost gap in the curved lines, are absent from the varied figurings found in the great sepulchral chambers. Again, the spirals of the stone sepulchres are, as far as we are aware, invariably absent in the array of designs found upon the undisturbed or natural rock. This circumstance was not left unobserved by Dr. Graves when describing his discoveries in Kerry. But upon one small stone in the neighbourhood of Tullakeel, near Sneem, he found a rude carving of a short portion of a spiral. This stone lay set in a fence; it may have belonged to some tomb of which no other relic is known to remain, so that little argument can be based on the character of its scribing. Although antiquaries are not yet in a position to pronounce authoritatively on the precise significance of our rock markings, a glance at some early speculations as to their nature may not here be out of place. It has been suggested that the circular markings were intended to represent shields. ‘This notion,’ says Dr. Graves, ‘seems inconsistent with the fact that the same stone presents so many circular symbols of different sizes, varying from the small shallow cup of an inch or two in diameter to the group of concentric circles two feet across. It also seems probable that, as shields in general used to bear distinctive devices, these would appear in the inscriptions; but the inscribed circles exhibit no such variety as might have been expected on this hypothesis. Again, if the circles represented shields, what could be meant by the openings in the circumference of so many of them? Lastly, what connection could there be between the idea of shields and the long lines appearing in the Staigue monument, or the short ones on that of Ballynasare? Another idea was that these figures were designed to represent astronomical phenomena.’ For several reasons he rejected that theory, particularly as it failed to account for the openings in the circles, the absence of figures indicating the sun and moon, and not even the rudest attempt at the phases of the lunar body. It was also suggested that the circles were intended for moulds to cast metal rings. The fact of the circles so often occurring on a sloping face of a rock renders this untenable. That the circles were used for some game was rejected from the varying sizes of the circles on different stones. ‘The idea which occurred to my own mind,’ he continues, ‘was, that the incised circles were intended to represent the circular buildings of earth or stone, of which the traces still exist in every part of Ireland. This conjecture is supported by the following considerations:​—​1. The circles are of different sizes, and some are disposed in concentric groups. The ancient dwellings and fortified seats of the ancient Irish were circular; they were of various sizes, from the small cloghan, or stone house, of ten feet in diameter, to the great camp including an area of some acres; and the principal forts had several concentric valla. 2. The openings in the inscribed circles may have been intended to denote the entrances. 3. The other inscribed lines may have represented roads passing by or leading up to the forts.’

Discouraged by the reception with which his theory was received, he laid his drawings aside for many years. Returning again to the subject, he gave it further examination, which confirmed his original opinion. He says: ‘The centres of the circles and the neighbouring cups and dots arrange themselves generally three by three in straight lines. This disposition of the symbols could not be said to be perfectly accurate; but I thought I could observe close and designed approximation to it. If, then, the circles represent forts, and are disposed three by three in straight lines on the inscribed stones, I saw that we might expect to find the forts disposed in like manner over the surface of the country; and I think that I have succeeded in verifying this inference. The ancient raths have fortunately been laid down on the six-inch Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland; and unless I am deceived by fortuitous collineations, I find that the forts are actually arranged three by three in straight lines. The discovery of this fact, if it be a fact would be of much more consequence than the explanation of the meaning of the inscriptions of which I have just given an account. But this further inquiry must be conducted with care. Large portions of the country must be examined, and those difficulties must be confronted which the disappearance of ancient remains must inevitably give rise to.’[11]

It has been objected to the map theory that in the parts of Scotland and England where circle-and-channel scorings occur most numerously, no raths or forts, or, if any, very few, are to be found. But it may be urged that the early British strongholds, corresponding to our raths, duns, and stone forts, were very frequently composed of perishable materials, such as timber stockades, or the interwoven branches of trees, of which, in the course of a few centuries at most, no trace would remain.