The second and third editions of the OS 6-inch maps, dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, clearly indicate an ‘abbey’ at this location, though today not a single stone remains to suggest any ecclesiastical structure ever stood here. The site sits on pleasant grassland just southeast of the coast, offering views that would have been fitting for a religious community seeking both isolation and natural beauty.

What does survive, however, is a holy well located a short distance to the northwest. This circular spring has been carefully lined with drystone walling, a traditional Irish construction technique that uses no mortar between the stones. Above ground level, someone has added a penannular wall; essentially a circular wall with a gap or entrance; built with mortar to create a more permanent structure around the well. Such wells were often associated with early Christian sites throughout Ireland, serving both practical and spiritual purposes for religious communities and local populations alike.

The tantalising map evidence and the presence of the holy well suggest this area once held religious significance, even if the physical evidence of any abbey has long since vanished. Whether the structure was dismantled for building materials, fell into ruin and was cleared for agriculture, or perhaps was never as substantial as the map notation implies, remains unknown. The site was documented during the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal in 1983, which catalogued field antiquities from the Mesolithic period through to the 17th century, ensuring that even these ghostly remnants of Ireland’s ecclesiastical past aren’t entirely forgotten.