Deciding whether to put this on megalithomania has caused me some deep contemplation, but because it appears in a top-selling guide book I can't see that I can put it under further threat. In fact, placing it on here might add a little protection to it.

When I first saw a picture of this I thought it was a bullaun, but it isn't. What we have here are seven large, river rolled pebbles on a flat slab, now cracked in two. These are 'cure stones', which have a lovely bit of lore attached to them.

“A friend of the sufferer goes to Killery and brings a piece of thread, which should in strictness be unbleached linen, though this condition is not always adhered to. On arrival at the place, the thread is wrapped around the peg-like stone; the round stones are then turned separately while a prayer is said; afterwards a thread left by some former visitor is taken up, brought to the patient, and bound around the affected part: the cure soon follows. This process is called ‘lifting a strain thread’. It is equally effective for the cure of horses or cattle.” - Journals of the Royal Society for the Antiquities of Ireland XLIII (1913) [taken from Early Ireland: A Field Guide by Anthony Weir]

There were fresh pieces of string tied around the 'peg-stone' when I visited, so the practice is obviously still observed today and the survival of such a thing is, to me, truly splendid.