What is recorded here

Three thousand years of cup marks wait above a naive bishop standing in a boat, his name carved beside him on the cliff edge overlooking Trawbreaga Bay. John McColgan, Bishop of Derry, seems to have jumped out of history and into the rock, crosier raised against the sea. The prehistoric marks do not explain him, nor he them; they share one surface, one horizon, one forgotten moment of making visible what love or fear would not leave unseen.

On poorly drained land with good views of Trawbreaga Bay to N. Earth-fast boulder decorated with prehistoric rock art (DG011-065----) 3m to S. Rock outcrop protruding from N edge of cliff face forming a small cave or rock shelter in the cliff face with views out to Trawbreaga Bay. The surface of the rock outcrop contains two prehistoric cup marks (DG011-065002-) located at the top of the stone. Beneath these cup marks there is the faint outline of an incised figure wearing a conical cap with some letters carved to the left of the head. The naïve figure represents John McColgan (1702-65), R.C. Bishop of Derry (1752) who is holding a crosier standing in a boat with the letters of his name carved above his head on the left hand side. Folklore collected in 1937 from nearby Glasalt [Treanfasy] School records the local story which explains the meaning behind the carving of Bishop John McColgan standing in a boat (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1116, Pages 90-1; www.duchas.ie). The carving of the face of the Bishop is similar in its naive style to the carved face of the crucified Christ figure on the early Christian slab (MA023-014005-) at Inishkea, Co. Mayo. Image with file number DG011-065001-_07.jpg has been uploaded courtesy of Bauke Roof who took the original photograph. Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of revised upload: 24 April 2020

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