What is recorded here

Mud and memory collided when road builders cut through Ballyhanna, exposing a forgotten medieval church and graveyard beneath the noise of the N15 bypass. Outside its southwest corner sat a shallow stone box holding seventy-six quartz crystals, capped by clay and a displaced flat stone. The crystals did not belong to ordinary building work; they suggested prayer, loss, or reverence buried until modern hunger for speed brought them back into daylight.

A medieval church (DG017-119001-) and graveyard (DG017-119002-) was discovered as the result of an excavation carried out in the townland of Ballyhanna in the town of Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, as part of an archaeological mitigation programme associated with the N15 Bundoran-Ballyshannon bypass (licence no. 03E1384). The low foundations of a church measuring c. 14m E-W x 7m N-S was uncovered along the edge of the East Port road. A stone lined box consisting of three flat rectangular stones that were placed into the ground to form a three-sided box, open to the W, was located outside the SW corner of the church. The internal floor surface of the box was lined by a fourth stone placed down flat. 76 pieces of quartz crystals was contained within the box and these stones were sealed by a layer of loose sandy clay which in turn was found below a fifth flat stone, now out of place that may once have served as a cap stone for the reliquary or shrine (O'Donnchada 2006, 12). The above details were derived from an unpublished excavation report by O Donnchada, B. 2006, 'N15 Bundoran to Ballyshannon Bypass, Ballyhanna'. IAC Ltd. Date of upload: 15 October 2010

A medieval shrine in Ballyhanna, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, was associated with a church and graveyard dating to the early medieval period, likely 9th to 12th century. Its significance lies in its connection to early Christian worship in the region, though specific builders or dedications are not recorded.

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