St Connell's Church / St Conall's Abbey

Located within a graveyard (DG064-003001-) which encloses two medieval churches, St Mary’s (DG064-003002-) and St. Connell’s (DG064-003006-), a fragment of a high cross (DG064-003008-), four cross slabs (DG064-003004-; DG064-003005-; DG064-0030009-; DG064-003010-) and a graveslab (DG064-003007-). Another cross-slab (DG064-003003-) is now missing. This complex of monuments, a National Monument in state ownership (No. 658), is located on the E side of Inishkeel Island in good pasture land. This small island which lies in a sheltered spot c. 500m offshore is accessible on foot at low tide. ST. CONNELL'S CHURCH (DG064-003006-): The ruins of this church, 15m by 5.15m internally, are built of rubble with ashlar quoins and grit-stone dressings and testify to a number of different building periods. The E gable, almost at full height and with distinctive base-batter, is lit by a narrow rectangular lintelled window, 1.6m high by .15m splaying to 1.25m on the interior. Though the moulded jambs, sill and scontions are of grit-stone, the lintel is a simple flag; the whole may have been rebuilt. The S wall c. 2m high has a battered buttress-like addition of equal height on the exterior E half of the wall; a break in the masonry at the E end may indicate the position of an initial angle buttress, the western section subsequently added to support the S wall. The interior face shows many signs of rebuilding. The three single-light windows have similar moulded jambs; the W has a simple lancet head, the central window a trefoil head and the original head of the E window has been replaced by a reused double-chamfered voussoir. The windows are of 14th century character; no rear-arches survive. The chamfered jambs of the pointed door at the W end of the S wall are weathered, and the splayed ingoings are without rear-arch. The W gable is featureless and only the E and W returns of the N wall survive. Some moulded fragments from the east church, St. Mary's, and the sill of a single-light window form part of the low, rectangular altar-like platform reconstructed at the E end of this church for the laying of St. Connell's memorial plaque in 1967. The large flag with central hole is known to have been regarded as a healing stone. 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

St Connell's Church on Inishkeel Island was likely built in the medieval period, possibly by a monastic community dedicated to St Connell (or Conall), a 6th-century Irish saint associated with Donegal. The church is significant as part of a religious landscape that includes multiple ecclesiastical sites and stone monuments, reflecting the island's historical role in early Christian worship.