We have talked about the stories behind holed stones before - things like passing through the hole for a cure and such, but I've found a continuation of this into a Christianised site.
At Tully church in south Dublin there are two crosses, one is a very early christian cross and the other is an extremely early Celtic one. The monastic site dates from at the latest 600 ce.
It is said that women (and this goes on still today) used to pass bed linen through the holes created by the celtic ring to help with childbirth.
Further to that it is said that if two people hold hands through the lower holes they are married and that "no tighter bond can be made".
The area around there is rich in tombs, cairns and barrows with many more that have gone now. There are many more 6th & 7th century monastic sites in the vacinity too, in fact there are at least 6 such sites that I can think of.
This massive concentration, one of the densest in Ireland, would indicate to me that the area had been a deep 'religious' center prior to the coming of Christianity. Dublin was not the sprawling metropolis it is now until 1200 so it can not be explained by population mass.
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