Killaghtee Churchyard &
Cross
This Church was likely to have been built around (1152) after
the Synod of Kells, which resulted in the formation of parishes but
it is not improbable that the church was built before this. The
east window of the church was dated no earlier than 1100 AD and not
later than 1200 AD.
The church was taken over by the establishment in 1654 under the
Plantation and was is use as a place of Christian worship by the
Protestant community up until 1720 when a new church at Church Lane
Dunkineely was completed. Of that new church nothing remains and
the Church of Ireland Church just outside of Dunkineely where
parishioners now worship was built in 1828. Killaghtee takes its
name from Aédh's leacht or sepulchre monument and it was called
Cill Leacht Liche, the Church of the Sepulchre of Night.
The graveyard of the Killaghtee Old Church was used by all
denominations and is still used occasionally by some of the older
Protestant families in the parish. The earliest gravestone is
believed to be that of Catherine Hamilton of Eden (Rosbeg), dated
1709. The cross standing amongst the tombstones in the graveyard of
Killaghtee Old Church is a most important antiquity and it is
believed that the cross marks the resting place of Aédh, an early
monk or (anchorite) who had his cell or oratory there.
The Maltese cross marks the transition from inscribed slab to
sculptured high cross therefore the Killaghtee Cross holds an
important place in the development of Celtic art.
The three-fold knot, (triquetra) which can be seen on the cross
is believed to represent the Trinity.
The Cache
This cache is small sample container wrapped in black
tape.
Bring your own pen. There are some great views over Donegal
Bay.
Please place exactly as you found it.
Visit the Geocaching Ireland discussion
forum HERE