This active burial ground, recently extended and still serving the local community, sits on what may be one of County Donegal’s oldest religious sites, with scholars suggesting the earliest settlement here could date back to the 7th century. The location was clearly chosen with care; positioned on good farmland with views across the valley, it would have provided both practical and spiritual benefits to early Christian communities.

The graveyard contains a fascinating collection of archaeological features that tell the story of continuous worship spanning over a millennium. At its heart stand the ruins of an old church, accompanied by a holy well that would have been central to religious practices and pilgrimages. Around 1968, during tidying works at the site, a grassy mound running perpendicular to the church’s south wall was transformed into a rectangular stone cairn. This structure now serves as an open-air gallery of sorts, its flat top paved with historic graveslabs that preserve the artistry and devotion of generations past.

Among the most intriguing artefacts are the decorated stone slabs scattered throughout the site. Six upright stones bear cruciform designs, whilst another displays a carved human figure, and three stand unadorned. The cairn itself incorporates numerous graveslabs; five cross slabs rest loosely on top, three recumbent cross slabs are built into the structure, and twelve other graveslabs crown the monument, ranging from plain medieval stones to a single late Victorian example. One particularly noteworthy piece measures half a metre long and features a cross with distinctive bifurcated terminals. Below its arms, barely visible Irish lettering spells out fragments that appear to read “ELM” on the right and “E” on the left, though centuries of weathering have made the full inscription difficult to decipher.