Inishmacsaint

Saint Ninnid founded a church on Inishmacsaint, the “island of the sorrel plain”, in the 6th century, and the site stayed the parish church and graveyard until the 18th century. The ruin shows two periods: a small pre-Romanesque west end, probably from the 10th or 11th century and with its west door walled up, and an eastern extension of about 1200. South-west of it stands a tall, almost undecorated cross about 4 m high, whose head is fixed to the shaft with a mortise and tenon; local legend says it turns three times on Easter morning. The way in is by water: the official access is from the jetty, because the land route crosses private farmland. There are no services on the island; on the mainland, Camagh Bay at Blaney has a public slipway. Bring a picnic, and look for wood sorrel in the graveyard.