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Magheragallon Cemetery / Machaire Gathlán Graveyard

Graveyard

What is recorded here

Machaire Gathlán is a graveyard in County Donegal where a small granite church still stands on a mound, its north wall barely one metre high and its east gable reduced to scattered stones. The missing south wall and collapsed interior suggest the building gave way gradually rather than falling in a single disaster. A modern niche fitted against the northeast corner shows the place never stopped receiving care, even as the original church disappeared into grass and memory.
Magheragallan Church (DG032-003-): The fragmentary ruins of this small church, 9.25m by 4.5m internally are built of granite boulders with small pinnings and are sited on the NW of a mound in the graveyard (DG032-003001-). The grass covered interior of the church is raised and there is no visible trace of the S wall; only the exterior face of the N walls remains, c. 0.9m high. The interior face of the E gable 4.5m high has almost completely fallen away and only a few remaining stones indicate that the central E window had a narrow ope, c. 1.2m high and a wide splay. A modern gabled-niche which formerly held a shrine or memorial has been built against the exterior NE corner of the gable. The W gable c. 2m high has a small oculus, .25m high by .2m wide. No detail survives to indicate the date of the building. 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 official description records surviving remains. Its missing or destroyed wording refers only to one part of this place or to a different nearby feature. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Visible or partial remains survive

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