The site consists of several monuments scattered around a modern walled graveyard, each telling part of the story of centuries of religious devotion. Within the graveyard itself stand the ruins of a structure known simply as ‘the Abbey’, measuring approximately 11.8 metres east to west and 5.2 metres north to south. Though much interfered with over time, its mortared stone walls still rise to about 60 centimetres in places, with an ashlar quoin visible in the southwest corner providing evidence of its once more substantial construction.

The most intact structure at Gartan is St Columbkille’s Chapel, located just southwest of the main graveyard. This simple rectangular church, built with rubble walls and ashlar quoins, dates to the 16th century based on the characteristic punch dressing of its doors and windows. Historical records indicate it was still roofed and in repair in 1622, and remained in use as late as 1810. Though a storm at the end of the 19th century brought down the east gable and damaged the east window, subsequent repairs have preserved this 6 by 3.95 metre interior space. The chapel features round-headed windows with moulded jambs in both the east and south walls, whilst pointed-arch doorways pierce the south and west walls. Inside, an altar stands against the eastern gable, flanked by two projecting stone shelves.

Beyond these buildings, the site preserves other elements of its long religious tradition. Two badly weathered stone crosses stand sentinel; one 20 metres northwest of the graveyard atop a rocky mound, the other 20 metres to the south, both now barely showing their original cruciform shape. Near the southern cross, pilgrims once performed a turas (pilgrimage circuit), leaving stones that still lie heaped at its base. A holy well surrounded by a modern concrete wall completes the complex, whilst a curious flagstone with a shallow circular depression, measuring 1.1 metres by 0.57 metres, rests against a small cairn beside the chapel’s north wall. Together, these monuments create a palimpsest of Irish Christianity, from early medieval origins through centuries of continuous worship and veneration.