What is recorded here

Desertegny is an early Christian foundation in Donegal, preserved inside a later graveyard where crude crosses and marked stones still stand beside the remains of an 18th or 19th century church. The cross-inscribed stones are not showpiece sculpture; they are practical marks of belief, identity and memory, the kind of thing a small community would set repeatedly as people came and went. Even if some lines belong to a newer wall and some shapes are worn flat, the place still works like a threshold: a field made sacred by marking it over and over.

Greenhill disused graveyard is believed to be the site of Desertegny early ecclesiastical foundation (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 379). It contains the remains of a R.C. Church of 18th or 19th century date, aligned NW-SE. It is possible that the curved wall of the graveyard from E to S represents part of the line of an earlier enclosure (DG019-005006-). The graveyard contains a number of crude stone crosses (DG019-005002-) and cross-inscribed stones (DG019-005003-). One cross-shaped stone (DG019-005004-) NW of the church has a cupmark on each face (DG019-005005-). 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). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Date of upload: 22 September 2008

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