The island itself is accessible on foot when the tide retreats, offering visitors a unique opportunity to explore this ancient religious site in relative isolation. The graveyard, now a National Monument under state ownership, sits on good pasture land and contains an impressive assemblage of early Christian and medieval structures that speak to centuries of continuous worship and burial traditions.

At the heart of the complex are two medieval churches: St Mary’s and St Connell’s, both of which would have served the spiritual needs of the island’s inhabitants and possibly pilgrims who made the journey across the tidal causeway. Alongside these ecclesiastical buildings, the site preserves several important carved stone monuments, including a fragment of a high cross and four cross slabs, each bearing testament to the skilled stonework of medieval craftsmen. A single graveslab also survives, whilst records indicate that another cross slab once present has since gone missing, a reminder of how vulnerable these ancient sites can be to the ravages of time and human interference.

The graveyard’s modern subrectangular walls enclose and protect these monuments, creating a defined sacred space that has endured for centuries. The sheltered position of Inishkeel Island would have made it an ideal location for a religious community, protected from the worst of Atlantic storms whilst remaining connected to the mainland population. Today, this complex offers visitors a tangible connection to Ireland’s medieval past, where the rhythms of religious life were governed as much by the tides as by the canonical hours.