The term 'Hagstone' (also known by a variety of other names such as as 'witchstone', 'holeystone' or 'luckystone'), is generally taken to refer to any stone with a naturally occurring hole or holes. These stones are still considered by some to be protective talismans which can help to ward off evil and protect the wearer.
I found some references to the local use of the hagstone whilst doing some research into another topic at my local library. The source for most of the information which follows was an article in the journal of 'Ulster Folklife', Volume 10. My interest in the subject was piqued when I recently found lots of natural holestones on a beach near me (seemingly from a particularly 'holey' kind of fossiliferous limestone), and I was curious about their use in folk tradition.
The day before we got married my husband and I went to the 'holestone' at Doagh to join hands. Traditionally this is a place where couples went to make their promises, and the hole is small enough to admit a woman's hand. There is a record of a man putting his hand through the stone around 1800, and getting it stuck almost requiring the use of gunpowder to release it! I don't recommend that...
Maybe the notion is that holes through stone allow some kind of energy transformation. I've no idea if this is true, but a belief in the power of certain types of stone would seem to have been around for a long time (as countless megalithic sites can attest). Whatever the fascination, my husband and I are still together 12 years later, so....
In his article 'The Witchstone in Ulster and England' (published in 1964), J.G. Dent covers the topic in some depth. 'Names for this amulet vary from district to district but all are descriptive of its appearance or purpose: holeystone, hagstone, and luckystone are common, but witchstone is here preferred as best indicating its primary function.' 'The emphasis placed on loss of fertility by Innocent VIII* is reflected in the Ulster Practice of keeping a witchstone to protect cattle and their milk. In the Glens of Antrim witchstones were hung on the wall inside the byres to protect the cattle from 'blinking'. The Ulster Folk Museum has a holed flint from Ballyvester which was hung around the neck of a calving cow, and the County Museum Armagh has several witchstones from the counties of Armagh and Tyrone, all of which hung in byres to prevent the stealing of milk by witchcraft. In the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, London, are two witchstones from Co. Antrim, both of which are said to have been tied to cows' horns for the same purpose, and in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, is a large rough flint from Ballyrashane through the hole in which the first strains of milk from a new-calved cow were drawn to safeguard the future supply. From evidence elsewhere it seems that the stealing of milk refers to the drawing away of the goodness or virtue, rather than the literal taking of the milk itself. It was thought that, under the influence of a spell, the milk of the bewitched cattle would be thin and watery, its richness going to augment the quality of yield from the witch's own cows' I find the connection between holestones and cows/milk interesting given that in ancient Ireland cows were essentially currency, and butter and milk were of enormous importance. Because of their economic significance, perhaps cows attracted particular superstitions and required particular 'protection'. Whilst the article seems to refer to the practice having been established for quite some time in Ulster it doesn't go into detail on this; perhaps finding out the stories behind the stones acquired by the museums might shed more light.
The article goes on to talk about other places where holestones/hagstones/witchstones were used, including England, but explains that in Ulster the associations are particularly with cows and milk. Mr Dent also notes the existence of similar traditions in lowland Scotland, especially in Dumfriesshire. I find this connection particularly interesting given the connections sometimes made between the Cruthin people and the Scottish Picts, and their geographical proximity.
The writer concludes: 'Only through the careful collecting, recording and interpreting of the information still available can a full account of this curious practice be preserved, and only thus can the former distribution of the witchstone be established'.
Further reading: Article: 'Witchcraft belief and trials in early modern Ireland' by Andrew Sneddon
https://www.silentearth.org/prehistoric-holed-stones/?fbclid=IwAR15-mczGAW9yAuxIrKgq413T3je6JVWA1aK0UiePt9BKKHGlWyYWgE6Sz8
* Bull of Pope Innocent VIII 1484
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