Cooley Graveyard is an important ecclesiastical site dating back to the 5th century, it is situated in a commanding position overlooking Lough Foyle on the east side of the Inishowen peninsula in County Donegal. It is believed that St Patrick established a church here in 442AD and it is surmised that the site may have held an earlier pre-Christian spiritual significance. Cooley is very near Moville, whose name derives from the Irish ‘Maigh Bhile’ meaning ‘the Plain of the Ancient Tree’. It was also discovered in 2013 that two earthen ring circles enclose the site which again point to an earlier use. The High Cross that stands outside the graveyard is an unusual sight. Well over three metres in height the cross has a hole bore right through its top section. These holes are seen in several stone monuments around Ireland and it is believed that this would have been used for a pre-Christian hand-fasting ceremony. There is a chance this was created as a way to co-opt those of a pagan background into the early Christian Church.
The graveyard itself is rectangular and contains the scant remains of three structures, one being the remains of a 14th century parish church, the second being a Plantation era church built in 1622 that was subsequently destroyed in 1688. The third and more unusual structure is known as ‘The Skull House’ and this is a mortuary house or tomb shrine. It is a small gabled structure with a stone roof and measures 2.5 by 1.8 metres externally. It contains a single chamber inside and a corbelled roof rising to a central capstone, on the day of my visit it did appear you could see the remains of bone and other pieces of debris inside the structure but in fairness I did not wish to venture any further into it to confirm my suspicions. With such fantastic views over Lough Foyle it most certainly is worth a visit, be careful underfoot though as the terrain is overgrown and fairly unsteady.
GPS: 55.18894, -7.06111