The Devil's Tooth, Ballinlough

I came across a great resource this week on the Tipperary Libraries website. They have begun to digitise a number of historical documents including surveys done by the Irish Tourism Association in the 1940s. This body was the first state body set up to promote tourism in Ireland. They went around the country checking facilities and antiquities that they could promote to a local and international audience.

http://tipperarystudies.ie/digitisation-project/

I was running through the Toomevara survey and found this interesting folklore relating to a standing stone I had visited in the past. I have often heard the legend of the Devil taking a bite out of the mountain range it was set in and spitting it out or dropping it where the Rock of Cashel was located. However I have never heard this variant to the story and hopefully people will find it interesting.

From the Toomevara Survey

"The "long stone" is a nine feet high standing stone at a cross-roads in the townland of Ballinlough about 2mls south of Nenagh. It is a noted landmark in the district. It is connected with the legend of the Devils Bit. The local people say the Devil broke a tooth in biting the mountain and it fell here and changed into stone. There is nothing to indicate whether it marks a burial or is merely an ancient landmark."

I'm afraid in reality I don't think it is actually one of the Devils teeth but I have always thought that the story of "The Devil's Bit" may have its origins in an earlier legend. Often in Irish folklore an earlier god or mythological figure is replaced by a later one. One example is Croagh Patrick in Co. Mayo which is now dedicated to St. Patrick but probably was originally a Pagan pilgrimage to Lugh.

Unusually considering how it is linked to the legend of "The Devil's Bit", I don't think you can actually see the Devil's Bit (earlier Bearane Eile) from the standing stone.

The standing stone is described on archaeology.ie

"Situated on a NE-facing slope of rising ground in a mountainous region with nearby ring-barrow (TN028-0004001) to the SE. A tall irregular-shaped orthostat (H 2.3m; dims. 1m x 0.72m), orientated on a NE-SW axis, incorporated into a modern field boundary. Known locally as the 'Long Stone' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol.1, 197)."

Knockanora with its cairn on top (it is uncertain whether it is ancient or not) seems to be the most prominent landmark that can be seen from the stone.

Comments

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