2021:712 - Gartan, Churchtown, Donegal

Conservation works took place at a church (DG044-017001) and chapel (DG044-017005), part of the Gartan ecclesiastical site in Churchtown townland, County Donegal, in 2021, under Ministerial Consent No. C001059. The works were funded by Donegal County Council, carried out by experienced stone masons and overseen by a Conservation Architect. The site was visited by the writer during the works in November 2021 and following the completion of the works in December 2021. These visits included inspection of the works as they progressed, the removal of vegetation from the wall tops of the church and a structure located north of the chapel and the retrieval of pinning stones from a cairn located within the structure for reuse in the project.
This important ecclesiastical site is associated with Donegal's most notable saint, Colmcille or Columba, who was born nearby in 519 (according to Colgan) and after a long and distinguished life associated with Derry (Doire Colmcille), Tory and Iona, among other ecclesiastical foundations, died in 597. His feast day is celebrated on 9 June. Two crosses (DG044-017002 and DG044-017003), a holy well (DG044-017004), a bullaun stone (DG044-017006) and a graveyard (DG044-017007) are also located within the site, which is located on an east-south-east-facing slope overlooking Lough Akibbon.
Saint Colmcille's Chapel (DG044-017005) is a roofless building constructed of rubble with ashlar quoins, which measures 6m long and 3.95m wide internally. There are doorways in the west gable and south wall and the building was lit by splayed round-headed single-light windows in the east gable and near the east end of the south wall. The interior is covered in stone flags with a grave slab located in the south-east corner. An altar is located below the east window with a wall press just east of the window in the south wall. Along the exterior of the north wall are the grass-covered remains of a building which abuts, but is not tied into, the chapel. A cairn of small rocks is located within the building. A bullaun stone (DG044-017006) rests against the southern side of the cairn.
The poorly preserved remains of a church (DG044-017001), known as the 'Abbey', are located within the adjacent graveyard (DG044-017007). The church measures c. 11.8m east-north-east/west-south-west and c. 5.2m wide externally. Its grass-covered walls measure 0.65-0.7m thick and 0.3-0.6m high. A gap in the south wall may be the location of a doorway. A modern marble marker/sign, inscribed 'Turas 4' is located on top of the west wall. It is part of a series of stops which make up the turas (or pilgrimage) around the site. Three modern burials are located within its interior.
The removal of vegetation from the tops of the walls of the church (DG044-017001) and the structure to the north of the chapel (DG044-017005) was carried out by the writer. An inscribed grave slab was revealed in the north wall of the church. A number of modern finds, including a red brick and two concrete blocks, were recovered during the removal of vegetation from the wall of the building to the north of the chapel. The remains of the building measured 6.2m long and 4.5m wide. The walls, which were partially collapsed, measured 0.6-0.7m thick and up to 0.4m high. A 0.9m wide gap, located 0.8m from the southern end of the west wall, may be the location of a doorway. A number of pinning stones, located in the loose cairn of rocks within the building, were retrieved for reuse in the conservation works. Following their recording, the walls of the two buildings, along with the chapel, were consolidated.

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