The site encompasses the remains of Templedouglas Abbey, an ancient altar, and what local tradition holds to be the Abbot’s House. The graveyard itself, with its unusual sub-pentagonal shape, creates a defined sacred space that has been used for burials for centuries.

The Abbot’s House sits just north of the abbey ruins, its rectangular footprint still clearly visible despite centuries of weathering. Measuring approximately 12.2 metres by 2.6 metres internally, only the lower courses of its walls survive today, covered in a carpet of grass. Inside, small cairns of stones dot the interior; these were created by pilgrims who performed religious stations here, continuing a devotional practice that likely dates back to the site’s monastic heyday. A modern tombstone has been incorporated into the eastern wall, showing how the site continues to serve the local community’s spiritual needs.

This cluster of ruins offers a tangible connection to medieval Irish monasticism, when abbeys like Templedouglas served as centres of learning, prayer, and community life. The survival of the Abbot’s House, even in its ruined state, provides rare insight into the domestic arrangements of monastic leadership. While the exact date of the house remains uncertain, its association with the abbey and the continuing tradition of pilgrimage demonstrate how these ancient sites remain woven into the fabric of Irish cultural memory.