What is recorded here

Leacht in Sceilg Mhichíl is a long stone bench, not a grave or altar, though people have treated it like both since the lighthouse keepers patched its SW end in 1875. Its two quartz-covered sections and the small cross at one end suggest it served more than one purpose, perhaps marking a boundary between the living church and the dead ones buried beyond. The oratory wall leans over it now, half-claiming the bench for itself, as if the monastery could not decide whether to remember or bury the place where people once sat with the stones.

Leacht described in 1996 as follows; 'This structure is partly overlain by the N wall and NE angle of the larger oratory [KE104A001039-]. Rectangular in plan, it averages 0.6m high and is 3.65m long, NE-SW. Constructed of horizontally laid slabs, Dunraven noted that its SW end was renovated by lighthouse personnel (1875, 34). The upper surface of the leacht is divided into two rectangular areas by coping slabs, each of which is covered in quartz. A masonry join is visible on its N side, indicating that it was constructed in two phases. A small slab cross [KE104A001034-] stands on the leacht at NE, while a large, inscribed, stone [KE104A001054-] stands at its SW end. Two large paving slabs, located immediately in front of the SW side of the leacht, feature pocked Latin crosses' (O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, 278-90, no. 948 (12)). See attached LiDAR image of monastery with leacht numbered 3, taken from Bourke, Hayden and Lynch 2011, 7. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 7 March 2022

Leacht in Sceilg Mhichíl is associated with St. Michael, a widely venerated Christian saint linked to protection and healing in early Irish tradition. The site reflects the religious significance of Sceilg Mhichíl as an important monastic settlement and pilgrimage location during the early medieval period.

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