Located on prime land that slopes gently towards Lough Foyle to the east, this monastery is traditionally believed to have been founded by St. Patrick himself in the 5th century. The first church here was known as ‘Domnach Bili’, meaning ‘church of the ancient or sacred tree’, and according to local tradition, St. Patrick travelled from Domnach Mor Maige Tochair (Donagh) into the Bretach region, where he ordained Oengus, son of Ailill, at this very spot. During medieval times, the church became known as Magh Bile, or ‘plain of the ancient tree’, which evolved into the name Moville, though this shouldn’t be confused with another monastery of the same name in County Down associated with St. Finnen.

A 2014 magnetometer survey by the Bernician Studies Group revealed the hidden outline of the Early Christian monastery’s ecclesiastical enclosure, measuring approximately 85 metres in diameter. The survey detected the arc of a curving enclosure in the fields surrounding the churches and graveyard, with possible traces of a second outer bank identified to the northeast, likely representing the remains of an outer monastic precinct boundary. Within the graveyard today, visitors can find the remains of two churches, one of which served as a medieval parish church, and a fascinating mortuary house known locally as the ‘Skull House’. The site is rich with carved stone monuments including a tall ringed high cross standing sentinel at the graveyard entrance, a small basin or bullaun stone, and numerous cross-inscribed slabs, including ten ring-headed examples discovered during a 2010 clean-up of the graveyard.

The annals provide glimpses into the site’s medieval importance, recording the death of Aenghus, son of Loingseach, the airchinneach (erenagh) of Magh-bile in 953 AD, and more dramatically, the treacherous slaying of Muircheartach, son of Ladhmaun Ua Duibhdhiorma, lord of Fordruim, who was killed by Donnchadh Ua Duibhdhirma and the people of Bredach in the middle of Magh-bile in 1167. These records, along with the archaeological remains, paint a picture of a site that was not merely a quiet religious retreat but an active centre of ecclesiastical and political life in medieval Inishowen, with the modern town of Moville now sitting just 1.2 kilometres to the east of this ancient sacred ground.