What started as routine test trenching by Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd quickly transformed into a major archaeological excavation when they uncovered the foundations of a medieval church and its associated graveyard. The site sits on gently sloping ground at the base of a hill, with views overlooking both the town of Ballyshannon and the River Erne valley.

The church itself was a modest structure, measuring roughly 14 metres east to west and 7 metres north to south, with its traditional east-west orientation marking it clearly as a Christian place of worship. Though later road construction had destroyed the northern and western walls, archaeologists could still trace the building’s footprint clearly. Inside, they found a layer of collapsed building material along with fragments of 12th and 13th century pottery; similar medieval ceramics turned up in a ditch that ran alongside the church’s north wall. These finds helped date the site to the high medieval period, when Anglo-Norman influence was spreading through Ireland.

What makes Ballyhanna particularly significant is how the burials respect the church foundations, suggesting the building was already standing when the graveyard began to fill. This careful arrangement of graves around the existing structure tells us something about medieval burial practices and the reverence shown to sacred spaces. The excavation, directed by Brian O’Donnchada and funded by Donegal County Council and the National Roads Authority, preserved crucial evidence of medieval life in this corner of Donegal before the bypass construction continued. Today, while modern traffic flows overhead, the careful archaeological work ensures that the story of this medieval community remains part of Ireland’s historical record.