Discover Alone, back to main map

Leacht in Westquarter

Leacht

What is recorded here

Westquarter holds a narrow rectangular leacht beside a children's burial ground, not the oratory of St Scaithín as local story claims. Its boulder-edged chamber, barely taller than a child's knee, contains water-rolled quartz and stones taken from somewhere else. The distinction matters: a leacht is an offering place, not a praying room, and the dead children surrounding it suggest the site served more than one kind of loss.
Within the E sector of an ecclesiastical enclosure (GA009D025002-) and surrounded by a children's burial ground (GA009D025001-). Locally this structure is regarded as the site of St Scaithín's oratory but it may be the remains of a leacht. It is defined by a raised rectangular area (6.95m N-S; 2.4m E-W; H 0.24m). A clear edge, indicated by a line of boulders, is visible on the E side and intermittently so on the S, W and N sides. The interior is strewn with boulders and some rough pieces of quartz. Water-rolled stones, some of which are also of quartz, are also evident. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 31March 2023
Linked to St Scaithín, a 7th-century Irish saint associated with healing and protection, the site is traditionally believed to have been the location of his oratory. Local tradition holds that the saint performed miracles here, and the surrounding children's burial ground may reflect a historical belief in the site’s spiritual or protective significance.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

Places near here

Add to this placeAdd a picture Comment or add a tip

Explore 1,118,481 places