What is recorded here

Inishtrahull Island Graveyard sits high on the Donegal sea cliffs, a sub-circular pit where drystone walls and standing stones trap the wind. Modern graves scatter the uneven, east-sloping floor, but the site belongs to deeper time. Around 1900, diggers pulled up a re-used saddle quern bearing a design similar to the Marigold stone at Carndonagh, proof that the dead had shared this ridge with people who chipped and polished rock long before written records. The island keeps its own counsel, dropping its secrets into hands strong enough to carry them ashore.

A sub-circular area enclosed by stretches of drystone wall and orthostats strung between sections of rock outcrop. There are several modern graves in the uneven E-sloping interior. It is situated high up on the sea cliffs. A re-used saddle quern with a design (DG002A003-), similar to that on the base of the Marigold stone at Carndonagh (1532), was dug up on the island c. 1900. It is now in the National Museum of Ireland (JRSAI 1961, 90). 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

A sub-circular megalithic enclosure, likely dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age; its significance lies in its association with early funerary or ritual practices in a coastal setting.

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