St Colman mac Duagh
The round tower at Kilmacduagh, leaning over the road south of Gort, belongs to a monastery founded by a hermit and a king who were cousins. Colman, son of the chieftain Duac, was born about 560 at Corker in Kiltartan, in the country the Burren guide calls O'Shaughnessy's land, and spent his youth in prayer and long fasts, first on Inishmore under St Enda and then in a cave in the Burren, before King Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin brought him out to build.
Checked against the source on 2026-09-19.
Sheila1988, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Kilmacduagh Monastery, Colman's Lough, Kiltartan Castle on the 3D model; tap a pin for its page and directions.
Hermit and bishop
On Inishmore he built a church, Teampall Mór Mhic Duagh, and a small oratory, Teampall Beag, near Kilmurvey, part of the group called the Seven Churches. With Guaire, who died in 663, he founded Kilmacduagh and governed it as abbot-bishop until his death on 29 October 632. He is sometimes confused with the earlier Colman of Templeshanbo. The Martyrology of Donegal gives his feast as 2 February, but the diocese keeps 29 October, and pilgrims climb to his hermitage each 21 October.
The legend of Rhinagh
A prophecy told his pregnant mother that her son would surpass all his line; fearing her husband would harm the child, she fled, and when the king's men tried to drown her in the Kiltartan river with a stone about her neck she floated. The model on this page pins Kilmacduagh and Colman's Lough; the Kilmacduagh guide has the monastery.
Questions people ask
Who founded Kilmacduagh?
When is St Colman mac Duagh's feast?
Written from Wikipedia, "Colman mac Duagh" (CC BY-SA 4.0), read on 2026-09-19, and from the OpenStreetMap places on the model. Nothing has been added from memory; follow the source for its footnotes.