This small medieval structure measures just 6.6 metres east to west and 4.4 metres north to south externally, with walls that still reach up to 1.52 metres in height despite centuries of weathering. The construction technique reveals the handiwork of medieval builders who used stone slabs for the outer faces of the walls, filled the centre with smaller rubble, and bound it all together with a distinctive yellow sea-sand mortar; a building material that speaks to the coastal proximity of this sacred site.

Just five metres north of the church lies a curious oval cairn, modest in size at 7.75 metres long and standing less than half a metre high. Local tradition holds that this flat-topped mound marks the burial place of a monk, perhaps one who served at the church during its active years. The cairn’s proximity to the church suggests the site retained its sacred character even after the building fell into disuse, continuing to serve as hallowed ground for those connected to the religious community.

The site sits on a southeast-facing slope in what remains fairly productive pastureland today, suggesting the medieval monks chose their location with both spiritual and practical considerations in mind. Archaeological surveys from the 1970s mention a lost stone cross that once stood somewhere in the Royard area nearby, though no trace of it has been found in recent decades. Together with the nearby enclosure at Leathchoill, these remnants paint a picture of a once-thriving religious landscape in medieval Donegal, where small communities of monks carved out spaces for worship and contemplation in the Irish countryside.