This National Monument (number 24) represents centuries of religious life on this remote Atlantic outpost. Historical records paint a picture of a far grander past; the Civil Survey of 1654-56 mentions ‘five churches almost ruined’, though today only one survives. Literary references to Tory’s religious significance stretch from the 7th century through the medieval period, marking it as an important spiritual centre despite its isolation off the Donegal coast.

Southwest of West Town stands the lone survivor of these early churches, known locally as the Church of the Morsheisear, or Church of the Seven. This modest rectangular structure, built from rough stone blocks, runs along a west-northwest to east-southeast axis. Its walls, varying between 0.7 and 0.9 metres thick, enclose an irregular interior space that measures roughly 3.4 to 3.8 metres in width. The western gable still rises 2.3 metres above the current floor level, whilst at the eastern end, a stone altar holds several small portable stone objects; relics of centuries of worship.

Just outside the church’s northern wall sits a small basin stone, measuring 45 by 35 centimetres, with a shallow depression carved into its surface; likely used for holy water or baptisms. The Office of Public Works has carefully conserved the church, ensuring this tangible link to Ireland’s early Christian heritage endures. Though modest in scale and weathered by Atlantic storms, this small church speaks to the determination of early Christian communities who established and maintained religious life on one of Ireland’s most remote inhabited islands.