Glencolumbcille & Around

Introducing Glencolumbcille & Around

It’s not much more than a gash in the rocks, making Glencolumbcille (Gleann Cholm Cille, ‘Glen of Columba’s Church’) a remote and starkly beautiful coastal haven. Approaching the town via the Glen Gesh Pass perfectly illustrates how cut off Glencolumbcille is from the rest of the world, as you drive through miles and miles of hills and bogs before the ocean appears – and there you’ll see a narrow, green valley and the small Gaeltacht village within it.

This spot has been inhabited since 3000 BC and you’ll find plenty of Stone Age remains throughout the collection of tiny settlements. It is believed that the 6th-century St Colmcille (Columba) founded a monastery here (hence the valley’s name) and incorporated Stone Age standing stones called turas into Christian usage by inscribing them with a cross.

At midnight on Colmcille’s Feast Day (9 June) penitents begin a walkabout of the turas and the remains of Colmcille’s church before ­attending Mass at 3am in the local church.

Last updated: Sep 16, 2008