What’s there
St Gobnait’s Church (Cill Ghobnait) is a small rectangular medieval church in the northern part of Inis Oírr, the smallest of the Aran Islands, a few minutes’ walk from the pier. The site has been in use since the 6th century, but the stone church you see was built between the 10th and 12th centuries, around 1100. It’s a National Monument (ref. 41.05) and was excavated in 1980 by W. Walsh.
Don’t expect a grand ruin. This is a modest, roofless church with a north window, and the interest is in the cluster around it: the remains of a beehive hut said to be St Gobnait’s own cell, two bullaun stones (the basin-shaped hollows used for grinding), and three raised stone slabs. The whole thing is left as it is, with no railings, ticket or tour. Come for twenty quiet minutes as part of an island walk, not as a destination you’d cross the country for.
St Gobnait, and why she didn’t stay
The church carries her name, but the story is that Inis Oírr was a stopover, not her home. According to tradition, Gobnait – a saint of the 6th century – fled County Clare to Inis Oírr to escape a family feud. An angel then appeared and told her this was not her ‘place of resurrection’: she was to return to the mainland and travel south until she found nine white deer. She found them at Ballyvourney in County Cork, and that is where she founded her community and is buried.
Gobnait is remembered as the patron of beekeepers and ironworkers, and the bees are central to her legend – she is said to have driven off cattle raiders by loosing a swarm on them. Her feast day is 11 February, and the church remains a place of pilgrimage on the island, though the main pilgrimage to her well is at Ballyvourney, not here.
Getting there
Inis Oírr is reached by ferry from Doolin in County Clare and from Rossaveal in County Galway; it’s the closest of the three Aran Islands to the Clare coast. There are no cars to hire for most visitors – the island is walked or cycled – and the church is a short, level walk inland from the pier, though the ground is uneven and slick after rain, so wear proper shoes.
There are no facilities at the church itself; the toilets and a café are back near the pier. With time on the island, it’s an easy stroll on to An Loch Mór, the island’s freshwater lake to the east, and the wider Aran Islands hold a string of other early Christian sites if you’re island-hopping. Check the last ferry before you wander – missing it means a night you hadn’t planned on Inis Oírr.