The rectangular plot, now little more than a mound overtaken by nature, guards an unusual relic; cemented to the northern gatepost is a weathered stone head, roughly 30cm tall and 25cm square. Though time has worn away most of its features, the faint suggestions of two eyes and a nose remain visible, possibly linking it to similar carved heads recorded throughout the Raphoe area. This curious guardian watches over what was once a much larger sacred landscape.

Archaeological testing in 2007 revealed that this quiet graveyard sits at the heart of a medieval ecclesiastical complex that extends well beyond its current boundaries. When archaeologists excavated trenches to the south-east of the enclosed cemetery, they uncovered both loose and articulated human remains across an area spanning at least 30 metres east to west. The poor preservation of the bones suggests these burials are considerably older than the 18th-century headstones within the current graveyard walls. Historical evidence points to a church foundation here dating back to at least the late 14th century, when Archbishop Colton visited in 1397, with medieval texts referring to it as ‘Tech na Comairce’, meaning ‘house of sanctuary’. This sanctuary appears on Mercator’s 1620 map of Ireland, positioned east of Castlefinn, confirming the site’s longstanding religious significance.

The investigations also uncovered evidence of much earlier activity near the River Finn’s banks, where archaeologists found a burnt spread of fire-shattered stone and charcoal, typical of prehistoric cooking sites known as fulachta fiadh. Together, these discoveries paint a picture of a landscape that has drawn people for millennia; from prehistoric communities gathering by the river to medieval Christians seeking sanctuary, and finally to the local families who continued burying their dead here until the 1830s. Though no trace of the medieval church building survives above ground, the weathered stone head on the gatepost serves as a silent sentinel, marking this place where centuries of Donegal’s spiritual history lie buried beneath the grass.