Children's burial ground, Magheranaul, Co. Donegal
In a quiet field sloping towards the channel between the Isle of Doagh and Inishowen in County Donegal, an irregularly shaped plot measuring roughly 31 metres east to west and 23 metres north to south holds a poignant piece of local history.
Children's burial ground, Magheranaul, Co. Donegal
Known as St. Buchan’s Burial Ground for Children, this sacred space appears on Ordnance Survey maps from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At its highest point, visitors will find a small cairn topped with an upright slab, surrounded by several other grave markers that speak to generations of loss and remembrance in this rural community.
Just southwest of the burial ground, though technically in the neighbouring field, stands a remarkable stone monument known locally as ‘Cloghtogle’. This impressive standing stone rises nearly two metres high and displays a large inscribed cross on its western face, accompanied by a smaller cross positioned near its base. Two small circular depressions beneath these crosses hint at uses lost to time, perhaps for offerings or other ritual purposes. The stone’s prominent position and elaborate carving suggest it served as an important religious marker, possibly predating the children’s burial ground itself.
The site represents a type of burial ground once common throughout Ireland, where unbaptised infants and children were laid to rest outside consecrated church grounds. These cillíní, as they’re known in Irish, often occupy liminal spaces; boundary areas, old church sites, or places associated with earlier spiritual traditions. The presence of the decorated standing stone adds another layer to the site’s complex history, suggesting this spot held sacred significance long before it became a children’s burial ground, making it a touching testament to continuity of belief and community care across centuries.





