Altar in Inishmurray

Located in a church (SL001-001005-), known as Teach Molaise. A stone altar spans the entire east end of Teach Molaise, internally. This is a high narrow bench – raised almost to the window sill – formed of small and medium angular slabs. Wakeman (1893, 42) describes a fortuitous discovery here; ‘While removing some of the accumulation in search of carved or lettered stones, my companion ... was rewarded by the discovery of a cist-like hollow within the centre of the altar ... no doubt, intended as a secret receptacle for some very sacred relic. We found within it a piece of decayed yew ... this we returned to the cist, over which we replaced the stones’. A wooden stature (SL001-001008-), traditionally said to represent St. Molaise, formerly stood on this altar. The above description is derived from the results of a survey of the archaeological monuments on Inishmurray undertaken in 1997-1999 and published in: Jerry O’Sullivan and Tomás Ó Carragáin 2008 Inishmurrary. Monks and pilgrims in an Atlantic landscape. Volume 1: Archaeological Survey and Excavations 1997-2000. Cork. The Collins Press. Date of upload: 16 January 2018

The altar in Inishmurray is associated with Saint Molaise, an early Irish monastic saint linked to the foundation of Teach Molaise, a 7th-century church on the island. Saint Molaise is venerated in local tradition as a healer and spiritual guide, and the altar may have been a focal point for prayer and pilgrimage.