These altars, which escaped official documentation until the Ordnance Survey revision of 1848, represent one of the many penal mass stations scattered across Ireland where Catholics gathered to celebrate mass during the era of religious suppression.

The altars weren’t recorded on the original 1834 Ordnance Survey maps, suggesting they were either overlooked or deliberately omitted from official records. When surveyors finally documented them in 1848, they noted in the OS Revision Name Book that these were “six old Roman Catholic altars for the celebration of mass”, according to local informant J. Byrne. Their late appearance on official maps hints at the secretive nature of these sites, which would have been used during the Penal Laws when Catholic worship was severely restricted and priests faced imprisonment or worse for saying mass.

Today, these weathered altars stand as silent witnesses to a time when Irish Catholics risked persecution to practice their faith. Like many penal mass stations across Ireland, they were typically located in remote areas, away from the watchful eyes of authorities; places where communities could gather relatively safely for religious ceremonies. Their survival offers visitors a tangible connection to this challenging period of Irish history, when faith and defiance went hand in hand.