Friday, 2 April 2021

Brian Boru's Fingerstone


Anyone in the Ballina area of Tipperary ever hear of "Brian Boru's Fingerstone"?

It is mentioned by historian Maurice Lenihan in his notes from the 1860s.

"A large stone opposite Craggs Mountain at the Tipperary side of the river, is shown as "Brian Boru's fingerstone", which the legend attests he threw from one side of the shannon to the other".

Copyright Limerick City Council


The hand writing is hard to read, I'm not sure what the last two words in it say?

Craggs Mountain is clearly shown on the map (I've highlighted it blue) so I wonder would the fingerstone be somewhere in the area I highlighted on the Tipp side of the Shannon.

Copyright OSI 

I've included a sketch of St. Patricks Fingers from approximately 12km away at Patrickswell. It may have been a stone with some kind of markings on it.

St Patricks Fingers - Copyright Duchas.ie

Edit 
Local info suggests that there is a large rock near the shore in and around this area.