The cliff face here forms a natural shelter, its surface decorated with prehistoric cup marks that have weathered countless centuries. But look closer and you’ll spot something far more recent carved beneath these ancient symbols: the faint outline of a figure wearing a conical cap, holding a crosier whilst standing in a boat.

This naive carving depicts John McColgan, who served as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry from 1752 until his death in 1765. The letters of his name are etched above his head on the left side, though time has softened their edges. Local folklore, recorded by pupils at nearby Glasalt School in 1937, preserves the story behind this unusual maritime portrait of the bishop. The artistic style bears a striking resemblance to the crucified Christ figure carved on an early Christian slab at Inishkea in County Mayo, suggesting a shared tradition of folk religious art along Ireland’s western seaboard.

The site itself sits on poorly drained land, with an earth-fast boulder bearing additional prehistoric rock art just three metres to the south. The combination of Bronze Age cup marks and 18th-century religious carving makes this clifftop shelter a unique chronicle of human activity, where prehistoric ritual sites continued to hold significance for local communities well into the modern era. The rock face, photographed by Bauke Roof and documented by archaeologist Caimin O’Brien, remains accessible to those willing to venture to this atmospheric spot above the bay.