Mass Rock Sites of:
County GALWAY
Poulnegan (Carrownamaddra) Mass Rock
Situated on Private Land.
Situated near to the village of Kinvara, in the townland of Carrownamaddra, this Mass Rock is located near a cave and the ruins of an old church.
It is believed that two monks were killed nearby and their heads thrown into a large hollow known as Poulnegan (also spelt Pollnaceann and Pollnageanh and meaning the hollow of the heads).
Cosmona Mass Rock
Situated on Private Land.
The Mass Rock is situated along a present day boundary wall to the Carmelite Abbey in Loughrea. The rock would have originally been situated within a field known locally as The Rockies but the modern day boundary was moved when some of the land was sold for houses and to ensure that the Nuns had a private garden.
The Mass Rock is recorded within the archaeological record but is located in a private garden.
Ballynahallia Mass Rock
Situated on Private Land.
Situated in a stone boundary wall on farmland, this font-like Mass Rock has a large depression that was filled with water at the time of the visit. The landowner used to play at the site as a child and, even in the hottest summers, the water in the hollow never dried and if they couldn’t get water to drink from the pump they used to go to the Mass Rock.
My sincere thanks to Billy Connolly for the information provided and for allowing access to the site.
Bearna na gCorp
Bearna na gCorp can be found on the left hand side of the road travelling towards Moycullen to Oughterard about half a mile from the village. Until recent times local people blessed themselves when passing the spot and hearses stopped for a few seconds.
Mass was celebrated here in the 1990s using a chalice that had been handed down through the generations. My sincere thanks to Rose O’Connor for the information provided and allowing access to this site.
Bearna na gCorp is where funerals from the south-west of the parish stopped on their way to the old graveyard in Moycullen during Penal times in order to allow the priest to come out of his hiding place to bless the corpse on its final journey.
Co-ordinates: 53°20'37.6"N 9°11'19.6"W
The Mass site is mentioned in the following book accessed at the Hardiman Library Archives at NUI Galway:
Moycullen Histroical Society (2008) Maigh Cuilinn A Muintir. Moycullen and its People. Galway: Moycullen Histroical Society.