Inchagoill
Halfway across Lough Corrib between Oughterard and Cong, a wooded island of 32 hectares holds a national monument that is easy to reach and almost unknown. Inchagoill, the island of the devout foreigner, has two early churches joined by a flagged path, a graveyard where a coarb of Tuam was buried in 1128, and a rudder-shaped pillar bearing the oldest Latin-letter inscription in Ireland.
Checked against the source on 2026-09-19.
Rick Crowley, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Inchagoill Monastic Site, Lough Corrib - Loch Coirib on the 3D model; tap a pin for its page and directions.
Patrick's church and Lugnad's stone
Templepatrick, Teampall Phádraig, was traditionally built by St Patrick and his nephew Lugnad, who is credited with bringing him to Ireland by boat; it more likely dates from the sixth or seventh century. Beside it stands the Lugnaedon Pillar, a piece of Silurian grit about two feet high and shaped like a rudder, with an incised cross on its north face and two on each of the other sides. Its inscription reads Lie Lugnaedon Macc Li Menueh, the stone of Lugnad son of Limenueh, Patrick's sister Liamain, though there are many variant readings. Every older inscription in Ireland is in ogham; this is the oldest in the Latin alphabet.
The church of the saints
A flagged path 72 metres long leads to Templenaneeve, Teampall na Naoimh, a Hiberno-Romanesque church with a decorated arched doorway of the twelfth century whose carved heads resemble those at Annaghdown; the chancel is semicircular and plain, there is an eighth-century incised slab and three bullaun stones. The graveyard is ancient too: Muirgheas O'Nioc, coarb of Tuam, was buried here in 1128, often wrongly called archbishop, a title that did not exist until 1152, and the Kinnaveys, Conways, Sullivans, Murphys, Lyddans and Butlers of the district used it after him. A holy well, Tobernaneeve, two cross-inscribed pillars and five cross slabs complete the site.
Getting there
Burr Island lies just to the north. Coillte has planted much of Inchagoill with forest, a Mass is said on the island once a year, and cruise boats from Oughterard and Cong land visitors in summer. The model on this page pins the monastic site and the lake.
Questions people ask
How do you get to Inchagoill?
What is Lugnad's stone?
What does Inchagoill mean?
Written from Wikipedia, "Inchagoill" (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.