For centuries this ruined monastic settlement near Eoghanacht was one of the great pilgrimage centres of Ireland's west coast, drawing pilgrims to the grave of St Brecan. Despite the name, only two churches survive among a haunting field of cross-inscribed stones and graves.
The largest building on site is a multi-period church of roughly the 8th to 13th century, with heavy masonry, a nave, chancel and an impressive arch. Look for the inscribed stone in the west gable reading 'OR AR 11 CANOIN' — 'Pray for the Two Canons'.
The smaller, simpler 15th-century church has a plain rectangular plan and a lintelled doorway, and may have served as a mortuary chapel. It sits beside one of the site's stone dwellings.
The graveyard holds cross-inscribed pillars and penitential beds, notably Leaba Bhreacáin and Leaba an Spioraid Naoimh. Two gravestones are inscribed 'VII Romani' (The Seven Romans) and one is dedicated to Thomas the Apostle.
The old burial ground is still in use, with simple stones and ornate crosses side by side, and fragments of two high crosses — one in the monastic grounds and one in a nearby field. The site is also the burial place of St Brecan, marked by a fragment of stone.
Flanking St Brecan's Church are rectangular houses believed to be the only pilgrim hostels to survive from late medieval Ireland. Two holy wells — Tobar an Spioraid Naoimh and Tobar Bhreacáin — were once on the site and are now enclosed.
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