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In a steeply sloping field that leads to the top of Trooperstown Hill, the stone slopes with the field and the basin is placed near the top. The basin is relatively small, dry today, but when it fills with water, it can be seen that it overflows and has caused a channel to erode away on the lower spine of the rock.

Earthfast bullaun in the so-called ‘Church-field’ in Trooperstown, one deep basin and one shallow. This is another of the prayer-type stones, probably with folklore attached that the basins are the impressions of a saint’s knees, made while he prayed. Maybe he had one leg shorter than the other, but that’s only speculation.

When we arrived at this there were three local kids sitting on the bench beside it. I got out of the car and started to take pictures. One of the kids asked me why I was taking pictures of the ‘bird-bath’. I explained that it was an ancient stone, probably carved well over two thousand years ago only to be met with a vacant stare and an “Oh”, followed quickly by all three heading off. It’s ok, I said to myself, maybe you planted a seed in one of their minds and they’ll develop an interest in their ancestry and culture. Yeah, right.

One of four bullauns in Lickeen townland, this is semi-submerged with only one of it;’s two basins partially visible. There was a thorn tree here until recently, but no more. The farmer leaves this patch of his pristine field alone. It would be nice to see the stone dug up some day.

The first signed bullaun stone that I’ve seen – I’m guessing that this was dragged here to its current location before they drowned the valley for the reservoir. I’ve seen shots of this semi-submerged, but we were here after a fairly decent summer and the lake was about 5 metres away.

I was searching for a bullaun stone south of Roundwood recently and the woman of the house told me of this stone – seems it’s well known in the locality and has ‘offerings’ in the basin. the stone itself is quite large, a metre-and-a-half long, by a metre high and three-quarters of a metre wide. The basin is, fairly typically, set off centre towards the west end of the stone.

We crossed the field to this stone, not knowing that there is a path along the reservoir to the other stone down by the lakeside. This is the better of the two at Knocktemple, the basin cut into the slope of the stone giving it one deep arc and one shallow. It’s bang in the middle of the field, just west of the old church site.

Slowly getting eaten up by the surrounding vegetation, the 24 cups on this earthfast boulder are the most distinct of the 4 cup-marked stones in the vicinity of Drummin, beside Keocha’s Brook.