Church in Dubhoileán Mór

Located in the E half of cashel (MA033A003001-), on Duvillaun More Island. Following a visit to the island in the 1936, Henry (1937, 272) recorded that ‘I unearthed last September the top of the walls of a small oratory…The walls were made of very thin, large slabs, those of the long sides cut obliquely on the edge to give the curve of the roof. The inside dimensions were 9 ft. x 13 ft. [2.75m x 4m]. But a good deal of the oratory is certainly still buried in the ground…’ When inspected in 2006, the church was evident as an almost square area (int. 4.3m E-W; 3.6m N-S) defined by remains of a low, largely sod-covered wall (Wth 1.6m; H 0.55m), with short sections of stone-facing (H 0.3m) protruding in parts; a gap (Wth c. 0.4m) in the S side may represent an entrance. At the N, the wall has been incorporated into a later field wall that bisects the interior of the cashel. Immediately to S of the church there is a cross slab (MA033A003002-) and a possible slab-lined burial (MA033A003003-). Attached image: MA033A003004-_01.JPG Sod-covered outline of church, with cross-slab (MA033A002002-) on S side. Viewed from E. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 27 February 2018

A small oratory was recorded on Duvillaun More Island in the 1930s; its builder and dedication are unknown, but it may date to the early medieval period and reflects the island's possible monastic or ecclesiastical use.