What is recorded here

Conwal is not a lost place, but a living graveyard on the SE slopes of Glendoon Hill, where a cross-slab lies among church ruins and a holy well. Its wheeled-cross still shows hollow angles and a recessed shaft, marking the kind of craft made for a settlement that may reach back to the 7th century. The site has been tidied, extended and kept in use, so the old stones are not being preserved behind distance; they are still sharing room with the living.

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. (12) A slab (DG053-029016-) .8m x.57m × 0.08m situated on the cairn is broken into a point at the top. The remains of a wheeled-cross survive. It is clear that the cross had hollow angles. The shaft has a central recessed panel. A projection below the base of the shaft, and of equal width to it, fades away towards the bottom of the slab. 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, possibly between the 8th and 10th centuries, and may have served as a Christian memorial or liturgical marker within the ancient ecclesiastical settlement. Its presence near a holy well suggests a spiritual or ritual significance linked to the site’s long-standing religious use.

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