Ritual site - holy/saint's stone, Carn, Pettigo, Co. Donegal

Ritual site – holy/saint’s stone, Carn, Pettigo, Co. Donegal

On a hilltop overlooking the southern shore of Lough Derg in County Donegal sits an enigmatic stone feature that has puzzled historians and archaeologists for nearly two centuries.

Ritual site - holy/saint's stone, Carn, Pettigo, Co. Donegal

Known as St. Dabog’s Chair, this curious arrangement of stones crowns a knoll in the townland of Carn, surrounded by rough terrain of gorse and heather, with remnants of old forestry dotting the slopes. The site consists of a concentration of large and medium stones stretching about five metres northwest to southeast, with the highest portion forming a low, gently domed rise that may be the remains of a small cairn.

The most intriguing element is a subrectangular stone arrangement on the southwest side, where two large stones flank a narrow cavity measuring roughly 75cm north to south and 20 to 30cm east to west. According to an 1835 OS Memoir drawing of what appears to be this same feature, pilgrims would kneel in this stone box to pray, placing their feet at the broader end, knees at the narrower end, and resting their elbows on the sides. The connection to St. Dabog links this site to the famous pilgrimage tradition of Lough Derg, though the exact nature and origin of the monument remains uncertain.



Historical records add to the mystery; Margaret Stokes noted a ‘Giant’s Grave’ at Carn in 1882, which may or may not refer to this same feature, whilst various OS maps from 1838 and 1906 alternatively spell it as St. Davog’s Chair. Whether this represents a genuine prehistoric monument, a medieval pilgrimage station, or simply a natural arrangement of bedrock that gained religious significance over time is impossible to determine. What remains clear is that for generations, this modest stone structure formed part of the sacred landscape around Lough Derg, serving as a station where the faithful would pause to pray on their spiritual journey.

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Carn, Pettigo, Co. Donegal
54.5971571, -7.86065123
54.5971571,-7.86065123
Carn, Pettigo 
Holy Sites & Wells 

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