The site, designated as National Monument number 24, represents centuries of religious significance that stretches back to the 7th century. Historical records paint a picture of a once thriving spiritual centre; the Civil Survey of 1654-56 mentions ‘five churches almost ruined’ on the island, though only one appears to have survived. Literary references throughout the early and medieval periods confirm Tory’s importance as an ecclesiastical site, with the island maintaining its religious character for over a millennium.

At the heart of this complex stands what’s marked on old Ordnance Survey maps simply as ‘Altar’, though it was apparently dedicated to St. John. This peculiar monument appears to be a 20th century reconstruction, assembled from thirteen stone fragments cemented together on a slight platform, with three additional loose pieces resting on top. The collection reads like an archaeological puzzle, each piece telling its own story: a granite block bearing a simple cross in relief, a circular cross base with its distinctive cross shaped socket still holding a broken shaft, and most intriguingly, a weathered cross fragment displaying a carved human figure with outstretched arms and what appears to be a hood or cowl about its head.

Among the other assembled pieces are decorated slabs whose patterns, though now faded, were documented by the antiquarian Westropp in 1905; a stone trough that once had an associated smaller stone, now missing; and various blocks of granite, some with mysterious notches and cuts whose purposes remain unclear. A quern stone and another enigmatic cut stone lie loose atop this curious altar, adding to the sense that this is less a coherent monument and more a respectful gathering of sacred fragments, each piece a survivor from Tory Island’s long religious past, assembled together like relics in an open air reliquary.