Known as Cill Ard graveyard, this mysterious site now exists only as a slightly raised area in the landscape, its original features long since buried beneath centuries of shifting sand. The subtle elevation in the terrain is the sole visible clue to what may have been a significant religious site in the area’s distant past.

Local tradition holds that the graveyard was circular in plan, an unusual feature that would distinguish it from the more common rectangular churchyards found throughout Ireland. The circular design, if accurate, might suggest pre-Christian origins or an early Christian foundation that incorporated older sacred traditions. The name ‘Cill Ard’, meaning ‘high church’ in Irish, hints at the site’s former religious significance, though no visible traces of any church structure remain today.

The site was documented in the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, compiled in 1983, which catalogued field antiquities from the Mesolithic period through to the 17th century. Whilst the shifting sands have obscured most physical evidence of the graveyard, the persistent local memory of its existence and unusual shape keeps this hidden piece of Donegal’s heritage alive. The location’s commanding view over Crummies Bay would have made it an ideal spot for a burial ground, offering both practical elevation and symbolic proximity to the heavens.