Local tradition holds that an abbey once stood here in what is now Drumboe Lower, though archaeological surveys have found no physical traces of any ancient religious buildings. The land itself tells a different story; excellent soil quality suggests this would have been prime agricultural territory, now reclaimed by woodland that has grown up over the centuries.

This phantom church site represents one of many such archaeological puzzles scattered across Ireland, where oral history and cartographic records preserve memories of structures that have vanished without leaving so much as a foundation stone. The discrepancy between what maps show and what archaeologists can find highlights the complex relationship between folk memory, historical documentation, and physical evidence. Sometimes place names and local traditions preserve the only remnants of buildings that once served communities for generations.

The site was documented as part of the comprehensive Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, conducted in 1983, which catalogued field antiquities from the Mesolithic period through to the 17th century. Whilst the survey team could find no evidence to support the map markings or local beliefs about an abbey, the persistence of these traditions suggests something of significance once existed here, whether a small chapel, a monastic settlement, or perhaps even a pre-Christian sacred site that was later reimagined through a Christian lens.