Top Things to Do in Sligo, Republic of Ireland

Inishmurray is an uninhabited island off the Sligo coast that contains one of the most remarkably preserved early Christian monastic sites in Ireland, a cashel enclosure protecting the remains of several churches, beehive cells, pillar stones and a cursing stone tradition of considerable antiquity in a state of preservation quite extraordinary for a site that has not been managed or significantly excavated since its abandonment in the twentieth century. The island is accessible by charter boat from Mullaghmore and the visit provides one of the finest and most authentic early Christian heritage experiences available in the west of Ireland. The monastic cashel at Inishmurray encloses several distinct ecclesiastical buildings including the remains of three churches, a women's church and the men's church of the main enclosure, beehive cells that provided accommodation for the monks and a remarkable collection of cursing stones, smooth rounded pebbles used in a specific ritual of imprecation that could be invoked against enemies by turning the stones in a particular direction while uttering specific prayers. The cursing stone tradition is unique to Inishmurray among Irish monastic sites and its persistence to the modern era, long after any formal religious observance had disappeared from the island, demonstrates the tenacity of folk religious practice. The island was permanently inhabited until 1948 when the last residents were evacuated to the mainland, and the remains of the twentieth-century settlement add a more recent layer of human habitation to the island's extraordinary archaeological landscape.