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BULLAUN

CO. GALWAY · IE

Bullaun
An Ballán, Co. Galway

The South Galway
STOP 08 / 08

An Ballán · Co. Galway

An Iron Age carved stone, a one-star restaurant in an old stable, and a name that means a hollow in a rock.

Bullaun is a small parish village six kilometres northeast of Loughrea, in the farmland east of the lake. The name itself is the most honest thing about it: a ballan, or bullaun, is a cup-shaped hollow worn into a stone, and local tradition says there was one in the rock where the graveyard now stands, holding water that never dried up and was reckoned a cure for warts and skin trouble. People came from far and near to try it. That is the whole village in one sentence - a hollow in a stone, and the people who kept coming back to it.

The bigger stone is up the road. The Turoe Stone, a granite block a little over a metre and a half tall, carved around two thousand years ago in the flowing curvilinear La Tene style, is one of the finest pieces of Iron Age Celtic art in Ireland. It originally stood at the rath of Feerwore and was moved in the late 19th century to the lawn of Turoe House outside the village. A fair warning before you set off: as of 2025 it had been taken to an Office of Public Works depot in Athenry for conservation, so it may not be standing where the maps still put it. Ring ahead.

Then there is Lignum, which is the reason Bullaun turns up in newspapers. Danny Africano took a derelict stable on the edge of the village, brought in Italian builders, and opened a restaurant in 2019 that cooks almost everything over an open fire of local ash, birch and oak - lignum is Latin for wood. It won a Michelin star in the 2025 guide. It is a serious, booked-ahead, destination dinner in the middle of fields, and it is the most surprising thing in any east-Galway village its size.

Beyond the stone and the table there is not much, and that is fine. St Patrick's church, a pub, the Sarsfields GAA ground, and the roads home. Use Loughrea as your base for beds and shops, drive out for the stone and the dinner, and treat the rest of Bullaun as the quiet it advertises.

Population

A small village, well under 300

Founded

Civil parish; the Turoe Stone nearby dates c. 100 BC to AD 100

Coords

53.2481° N, 8.5550° W

01 / 08

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The Turoe Stone

An Iron Age ritual stone in flowing La Tene Celtic carving.

A 1.68m granite stone, carved around 100 BC to AD 100 in the continuous curving La Tene style. National Monument no. 327. Note: as of 2025 it had been moved to an OPW conservation depot in Athenry, so check before you drive out to see it.

Stories & lore → 02 Lignum

A Michelin-starred restaurant in a converted stable.

Danny Africano cooks over an open wood fire in a former stable on the edge of the village. Opened 2019, one Michelin star in 2025. The single reason most outsiders set a sat-nav for Bullaun.

Where to eat → 03 East Galway farmland

Quiet parish country off the R350.

A church, a pub, a GAA pitch, field walls and narrow roads. Not on the coastal loop, not signposted from the motorway. You come here on purpose or not at all.

Getting here →

02 / 08

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

The Harbour Bar

The local

Village pub

The village pub, and as far as research confirms, the only one. A country bar in a small parish - the sort of place that does the village's drinking, talking and watching of Sarsfields matches. Do not expect a music programme or a gastropub menu; expect a pint and the local news.

03 / 08

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
Lignum	Michelin-starred restaurant, edge of the village	€€€	A destination restaurant in a converted stable, run by chef Danny Africano, who opened it in 2019 after returning from Australia and brought in Italian builders to make the dining room out of the old stables. Almost everything is cooked over an open fire fuelled by local ash, birch and oak - the Latin lignum, meaning wood, is the name. It was awarded a Michelin star in the 2025 guide. Tasting-menu fine dining, well off any beaten track, and there is accommodation on site if you would rather not drive after dinner. Book well ahead.

04 / 08

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Iron Age art in granite

The Turoe Stone

The Turoe Stone is a granite block about 1.68m tall, decorated over its upper half with a continuous abstract curvilinear design in the La Tene style - the flowing, asymmetric Celtic art of the European Iron Age. It probably dates to somewhere between 100 BC and AD 100, which makes it roughly two thousand years old, and it is usually classed as a ritual stone, perhaps used in ceremonies marking the transfer of power. It is one of a small handful of decorated stones of this kind in Ireland, closely comparable to the Castlestrange Stone in Roscommon. It originally stood at the rath of Feerwore and was moved to Turoe Farm, and then to the lawn of Turoe House, in the late 19th century. That move stripped it of its original archaeological setting but probably saved it from the weather and the cattle. It is National Monument no. 327. As of 2025 it had been moved to an OPW conservation depot in Athenry, so confirm where it actually is before driving out.

An Ballan

The hollow that named the place

The village name comes from ballan, a cup-shaped hollow carved or worn into a stone. Bullaun stones turn up at early Christian sites, monastic settlements and holy wells all across Ireland, and nobody is entirely sure what they were for - grinding grain, holding ritual water, or simply marking a spot that meant something. The Schools' Collection folklore record for the parish says there was such a stone where the Bullaun graveyard now stands, with a hollow that held water even in dry weather, and that the water was held to cure skin diseases, warts especially. People travelled to test it. The stone gave the parish its name, and the cure gave it its small fame, long before the Turoe Stone and the restaurant.

05 / 08

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

The village and graveyard There is no waymarked trail here - this is working farmland, not a walking village. A short loop takes in St Patrick's church and the old Bullaun graveyard, the spot local tradition links to the cup-stone that named the place. Quiet roads, no footpaths in places, so mind the traffic on the R350.

Short, on the roaddistance

20-30 minutestime

06 / 08

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

East Galway greens up and the roads are quiet. A good time to combine the Turoe Stone (if it is back in place) with a dinner at Lignum and a base in Loughrea.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings and the best chance of dry roads for the drive out. Lignum books up further ahead in summer, so reserve early.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Fire-cooked food suits the turning year, and the GAA county scene is in full swing if Sarsfields are playing.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and dark, unlit country roads. There is little to do outdoors. A winter trip really only makes sense if you have a table booked.

◐ Mind yourself

07 / 08

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Turning up expecting a tourist village

Bullaun is a farming parish with a church, a pub and a GAA pitch. There are no shops to browse, no cafe, no visitor centre. The draws are the Turoe Stone and a restaurant, and that is the honest sum of it.

Driving out for the Turoe Stone without checking

As of 2025 the stone had been removed to an OPW conservation depot in Athenry. It may not be on the Turoe House lawn where older guides and maps place it. A short phone call saves a wasted drive.

Lignum on a whim

It is a booked-ahead, Michelin-starred destination restaurant in the middle of fields, not a walk-in. Reserve before you build the day around it.

Getting there.

By car

From Loughrea, take the R350 northeast for about 6 km. From the M6 motorway, come off at Loughrea and follow the R350. The roads are narrow and country, and signage is light, so a map or sat-nav is essential.

By bus

No useful direct service. Loughrea on the M6 corridor is the nearest town with regular Bus Eireann coaches; from there you need a car. Local Link covers parts of rural east Galway but is sparse - check timetables in advance.

By train

Nearest station is Athenry, about 20 km away, on the Galway to Dublin and the Limerick to Galway lines. You will need a car for the last leg.