The Nine Stones

Ireland is not known for its high mountains, only a few top the 3,000 foot mark, but often their height provides ideal panoramic views and their closeness brings a familiarity. For instance, Nine Stones on the saddle between Mount Leinster and Slievebawn has a bird’s eye view over counties Carlow, Laois and the Wicklow Mountains and produced its own rural legends.  

The Stones themselves are not impressive, they look more like road markers than megaliths.  They are not aligned astronomically and have no artistic decoration.

Local accounts suggest they are the burial place of nine chieftains who died in a battle nearby or nine shepherds caught in the snow or nine rebels killed in the 1798 Rebellion.

The story I like is about Moling, a local Carlow saint. One day on his way over the pass he was hungry so when he met a man with a sack over his shoulder he asked for something to eat. The man was not in a generous mood and claimed he had only stones in the sack. The saint replied, ‘If they are stones, may they be turned into bread and if bread, may they be turned into stones.’  As a result we have nine stones on the mountain pass today.

Near the stones is a replica of a cell-hut such as early Irish monks like Moling lived in. However he was not the only revered person in the area. Down the road the village of  Myshall claims two of Ireland’s most famous scholar-saints, Finnian of Clonard and Columban of Bobbio.

Finnian, around 520, went on to found the famous university-monastery at Clonard in Meath. It produced the scholar pioneers who went on to establish monastic schools all over Ireland. Columban however studied at the monastery of Bangor and in 590 at the age of fifty set out for Europe with twelve companion, founding major monasteries at St Gallen in Switzerland and Bobbio in Italy. They brought a respect for Irish scholarship on the continent.  

Myshall is now a ‘pilgrimage village’ commemorating two famous sons but women are not forgotten either. There is a holy well with St Brigid’s name on it. Whether she ever visited there is uncertain but it is a reminder that women were also influential in the early Irish church. When the youthful Columban was trying to make up his mind about his future he visited a local wise woman for advice and she set him off on the right road.  Her name may be forgotten but her wisdom is remembered.   

The village is also proud of its Adelaide Memorial Church, a miniature version of Salisbury Cathedral. It was built in 1912 by a London businessman, John Duguid, in memory of his wife Adelaide who died shortly after the tragic death there in a horse riding accident of their daughter Constance.  

Nine Stones is well worth a visit on a good day. Enjoy the view from the Stones, stroll down the mountain road to Myshall, visit the churches and enjoy the hospitality.

And if someone asks you to share your lunch bread with them, don’t tell them you have only stones in your bag.