Graveyard, Carrowmore, Gleneely, Co. Donegal

Graveyard, Carrowmore, Gleneely, Co. Donegal

At Carrowmore in County Donegal, the remains of an early Christian monastic site reveal centuries of religious life along the banks of the Carrowmore River.

Graveyard, Carrowmore, Gleneely, Co. Donegal

Known historically as Both Chonais, this ecclesiastical complex occupies gently sloping land that drops sharply to the river on its northwestern edge. Though a modern road now bisects the site, archaeological evidence confirms it once formed a single, cohesive religious community dating back to Ireland’s early medieval period.

The western portion of the site contains a rectangular burial ground, its boundaries marked by modern field walls to the southeast and southwest, whilst low stone walls define the northwest and northeast edges. Two jamb stones near the southwest corner, positioned 1.5 metres apart, likely mark an ancient entrance to this sacred space. Within and around this enclosure, several significant monuments survive: a flat-topped boulder that may have once supported a high cross, a partially buried cross-slab, and a tall plain stone cross. Just beyond the modern road stands another cross, surrounded by what appears to be a penitential cairn; a heap of stones that pilgrims would have added to as acts of devotion.



Recent archaeological investigations have revealed even more about Carrowmore’s significance. In 2012, magnetometer surveys uncovered the subsurface remains of a bi-vallate enclosure; essentially two concentric earthen banks that would have defined and protected the monastic settlement. Additional features include a cross-inscribed boulder embedded in the earth 18 metres south of the main cross, and historical records mention a holy well against the field boundary to the northeast, though this has since been sealed. Together, these elements paint a picture of a thriving religious community where monks lived, worked, and were buried, whilst pilgrims came to pray at the crosses and leave stones at the cairn as testament to their faith.

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O’Brien, C. and Adams, M. 2014 Early ecclesiastical precincts and landscapes of Inishowen. Interim report of field work by the Bernician studies group 2012-2014. Unpublished report, Bernician Studies Group. Newcastle upon Tyne. Ó Muirgheasa, E. 1936 The holy wells of: Donegal. Béaloideas 7, No. 2, 143-62. Corrigenda 7, No. 2, 247, 1937. Lacy, B. with Cody, E., Cotter, C., Cuppage, J., Dunne, N., Hurley, V., O’Rahilly, C., Walsh, P. and Ó Nualláin, S. 1983 Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century A.D. Lifford. Donegal County Council. Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1970 (Reprint 1988) Medieval religious houses of Ireland. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.
Carrowmore, Gleneely, Co. Donegal
55.25629549, -7.1895822
55.25629549,-7.1895822
Carrowmore, Gleneely 
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