Located on prime land that slopes down towards Lough Foyle to the east, local tradition maintains that St. Patrick himself founded this sacred site. Just outside the western entrance to the graveyard stands a tall, plain ringed high cross, whilst inside the boundary walls visitors can explore the remains of two churches and a mortuary house or tomb shrine. One of these churches continued to serve the local community as a medieval parish church well into later centuries.

During a clean-up scheme in 2010, volunteers made an intriguing discovery in the western quadrant of Cooly graveyard. A broken upright slab emerged from beneath years of overgrowth, revealing the lower half of a ringed cross carved in relief. This cross-slab, positioned west of the church ruins, has become known locally as the ‘Cat’s Eyes’ and appears as number 2 on plans drawn up by the Cooley Cross Heritage Committee. The committee’s detailed graveyard plan describes it as a ‘wheel-head cross-inscribed slab’, adding another layer to our understanding of this site’s religious significance.

The archaeological record at Cooly offers a remarkable window into Ireland’s early Christian heritage, with its collection of crosses, churches and burial monuments spanning centuries of worship and community life. The recent rediscovery of the cross-slab demonstrates that even well-known sites can still yield surprises, reminding us that Ireland’s ecclesiastical landscapes continue to reveal their secrets to those who look carefully.