What is recorded here

Conwal is a living graveyard on the SE slopes of Glendoon Hill where early church ruins and a holy well still stand beside new graves. About 1968 men rebuilt a grassy mound into a stone cairn and set cross-slabs across its flat top. Some stones carry rare Irish letters and bifurcated crosses, while others remain plain, suggesting a long line of burial and prayer rather than a single dramatic event.

Conwal Graveyard, recently extended and still in use is the site of an early ecclesiastical settlement possibly as old as the 7th century (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 33). Within the graveyard (DG053-029008-) is a holy well (DG053-029002-) (Ó Muirgheasa No. 78) and the ruins of a church (DG053-029001-). Colhoun (1970, 241) notes that the site was tidied up about 1968 and a grassy rectangular mound (DG053-029007-) at right angles to the S wall of the church was made into a rectangular cairn of stones, the flat top of which is paved with grave-slabs. In addition, there are a number of upright slabs of which six have cruciform designs, one a human figure and three are uninscribed. Five cross slabs are lying unfixed on the cairn. Three recumbent cross-slabs are set in the cairn. There are twelve other graveslabs on the cairn, one late 19th century, the others plain and uninscribed some of them trapezoidal in plan. (6) A slab (DG053-029010-) .5m × 0.27m × 0.16m lying on top of the cairn. A cross with bifurcated terminals is carved on this below the arms. Characteristically Irish letters can be barely discerned, ELM to the right, E to the left. The Conwal site is located on the SE slopes of Glendoon Hill above the River Swilly in good land. 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

The cross-slab in Conwal likely dates to the early medieval period, associated with the ecclesiastical settlement and possibly linked to Christian worship or commemorative practices. Its presence near a holy well suggests it may have had a ritual or devotional function connected to the sacred spring.

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