Church in Carrowhugh

'Kilblaney Burial Ground' (DG022-002005-) consists of a subrectangular enclosure c. 25m E-W and c. 15m N-S defined on three sides by a wall and on the fourth by a cliff edge. Near the centre of the graveyard are three drystone walls each c. 1m wide by 0.8m high forming a rectangle, 4m N-S and. 5m E-W internally, open to the W end. This is said to be the remains of a 'church' (DG022-002001-) but may alternatively be the remains of a small drystone enclosure. In the NE quadrant of this structure there are the remains of a low rectangular flat-topped rubble cairn known as an 'altar' which may be the remains of a leacht (DG022-002007-). On the W side of the 'altar' or leacht there is a cross- inscribed slab (DG022-002002-), .85m × 0.26m to .33m. On the W face of the slab is carved a plain Latin cross. Beside this slab and lying on top of the 'altar' there was a quern-stone that has since been moved to the nearby maritime museum in Greencastle. Just N of the entrance on the W side of the graveyard is a small, stone cross (DG022-002004-) supported by one half of a stone socket. There are many grave markers in the enclosure which is situated on a cliff edge overlooking the entrance to Lough Foyle. According to the local landowner a second slab decorated with scrollwork located to the N of the possible church was removed from the site in recent times and its current location is unknown. The arrangement of the leacht and the enclosure enclosure is similar in layout to the leacht and enclosure known as Ollamurray on the island of Inishmurray, Co. Sligo (O'Sullivan & O Carragain 2008, 298-313). No church is indicated inside this burial ground on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch map. However in 1834 the Topographical Dictionary of Ireland recorded that 'on a detached rock, about a mile distant, are the ruins of Kilblaney church: previously to 1620 Kilblaney formed a separate parish' (Lewis 1837 vol. 2, 399). O'Sullivan, J. & O Carragain, T. 2008 Inishmurray monks and pilgrims in an Atlantic landscape. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983).