Though some historians have suggested traces of a circular enclosure once existed here, recent surveys haven’t found any evidence of these features. The modern church that now occupies the site sits just north of where an older church stood until 1828; that earlier building measured 52 feet by 21 feet, with walls three feet thick and reaching up to 14 feet high, topped with a vaulted, arched tower at its western end.

Just south of the present church, a modern entrance leads down into a remarkable souterrain that reveals the site’s complex history. This underground structure begins with a subcircular shaft that drops 1.8 metres before transforming into a rectangular opening at the bottom. Through a lintel-roofed doorway, you enter a central chamber measuring 5.6 metres east to west, with partially corbelled walls closed by strategically placed slabstones. From here, passages lead to both eastern and western chambers; the eastern one stretches over six metres long, whilst the western chamber extends an impressive 8.7 metres. Notably, the second roof slab from the western end is actually a repurposed cross-slab, featuring an incised circular depression surrounded by a groove attached to a straight stem.

Scattered throughout the graveyard are several significant cross-slabs that speak to centuries of Christian worship at this spot. Near the southeast corner of the church, a graveslab displays a Latin cross with distinctive bar terminals, whilst further east lie two more horizontal slabs, one bearing a bar cross with unusual extra arms. Perhaps most intriguing is a broken cross-slab found east of the church, standing 1.76 metres tall when complete, decorated on its western side with elaborate motifs including a three-pointed star surrounded by L-shapes, double triple interlaces, and a quartered circle pattern all connected by a central stem. These monuments, occupying the most prominent position on the floor of Glencolumbkille valley and surrounded by good pasture land, form part of National Monument number 139 and represent layers of religious significance spanning many centuries.