A rainmaking ritual fire was lit on the rarely seen Kenny's Rock when it emerged from the depths of the River Suir Carrick-on-Suir at low tide in the early hours of last Wednesday (August 19).
The flat stone only becomes visible in the river during long dry spells when the river level plunges very low, and this was the first time in four years the rock broke the surface of the river.
The fire was lit on the slab by Carrick-on-Suir boatman Ralph O'Callaghan around 4am on August 19.
He was the first to fulfil the local fishermen's tradition of lighting the rainmaking ritual fire on the stone when it was seen for the first time in living memory in the early hours of August 15, 2022.
Ralph said it was a bit concerning that the river level has dropped so low that Kenny's Rock was visible in the river again just four years on from its first sighting in what some locals believe was a century.
“You are asking yourself is this the way it's going to be; that every few years you are looking at having drought conditions,” he said.
Kenny's Rock is located in the Suir between Carrick’s Old Bridge and Dillon Bridge just downstream from Shambles Lane. The rock is also known locally as the Fire Rock or Leac na Tine.
Ralph said as the drought continued over the past few weeks, he watched out for Kenny's Rock to become visible when the tidal conditions were right.
And they were in the early hours of last Wednesday.
“There was a low tide and a strong moon that draws out the tide. A combination of things have to come together for it to happen,” he explained.
Ralph, who lives just 200m from the River Suir at Churchtown, Carrick, rowed out in a canoe to the site of the rock around 3am, lit the fire around 4am and stayed watching the blaze until about 5am. The rock had disappeared into the river by daybreak.
“It was absolutely lovely going down there in the night. All you hear is the lap of the water. It's really something different,” he said.
Back in 2022, Kenny's Rock emerged in the river again two weeks after Ralph's first sighting of the rock.
This second appearance of the rock happened during daylight hours on Thursday, September 1. An RTE news crew filmed the lighting of the fire on the flagstone by Ralph and other Carrick fishermen at 5.15pm that day.
The event was watched by local people from the quayside and renowned Carrick-on-Suir poet and historian Michael Coady recited his poem Leac na Tine (Flagstone of Fire), which he wrote about the rock for his 2009 anthology Going by Water.
Michael Coady, who passed away in March 2024, said at the time he was delighted to witness the appearance of Kenny’s Rock and the fire being lit on it because it hadn’t happened in his lifetime and maybe not for 100 years.