<< Text Pages >> Tory Island - Ancient Cross in Ireland (Republic of) in Co. Donegal
Submitted by Sunny100 on Thursday, 01 December 2011 Page Views: 4172
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Tory Island Alternative Name: Oilean Thoraigh, Oilean Thur RiCountry: Ireland (Republic of)
NOTE: This site is 10.624 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Co. Donegal Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Dunglow Nearest Village: Derrybeg
Map Ref: B854464
Latitude: 55.264340N Longitude: 8.230405W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Ancient Cross in Co. Donegal
Tory Island is located about 9 miles off the north-western coast of Co Donegal. Near West Town are the ruins of St Columba's church, the famous Tau Cross, round tower and an ancient burial site. On the north side of the island is the legendary Wishing Stone, while on the eastern side is the ancient fort of Dun Bhalair. [You can catch a ferry boat from Magheroarty on the mainland].
There are the ruins of a church that stands on the site of a 6th century monastery associated with St Columba and St Earnan. The famous Tau Cross stands upon a pile of stones, probably one of two oratories on the island. This is in the shape of a "T" resembling the Greek letter - otherwise it is fairly crude, but it is rare because there are only two in the whole of Ireland. The age of the cross is uncertain but it probably dates from between the 6th-12th century ? There are also the remains of a high cross and a medieval round tower that was originally the monks bell tower.
The Grave Of The Seven is an ancient tomb, don't know how old, where six men and one woman were buried. Local legend says that clay from the woman's grave keeps vermin away. Below the rocks at the northern side of Tory Island is a flat-topped rock. A wish is granted to anybody who might want to step onto the rock or manage to throw three stones onto it. At the east side of the island is Dun Bhalair or 'The Fort of Balor' the one-eyed Celtic god of darkness.
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