Overview
Local legend says St Smucán of Aran built this chapel in a single night. What actually stands at Barr an Doire, just outside the Gaeltacht village of Carraroe, is a granite church whose architectural detail – a Gothic doorway, a curvilinear window – points to the 15th century. It also goes by the name Teampall Inis Mhic Ádhaimh. The Irish name is plain geography rather than legend: barr an doire, the top of the oak-wood. Today the walls are down to grass, lichen and salt air, and the site is free and open all year.
The chapel and its graveyard
The church is small and worth a slow walk: 15.6 metres from end to end and 5 metres wide, its walls and gables built of granite blocks with the windows and doors dressed in limestone. The roof is long gone and the interior has grassed over, but the walls have held. Look up through the curvilinear window to frame the sky and the water beyond it.
Beside it is the graveyard, Reilig Bharr an Doire. Tradition holds that at least one person from every county in Ireland is buried here – a nod to the seasonal migration and sea trade that once tied this remote coast to the rest of the island. Whether or not the count holds, the moss-covered headstones and the wind off the Atlantic make it the most affecting part of a visit.
Around the site
This corner of Carraroe is thick with small landmarks, though none are signposted and you’ll need a local or a good map to string them together. Cnoc an Phobail was a gathering point for patron-day and St John’s Eve celebrations; Loch na Naomh carries a holy-well legend; and Tobar na Croise is marked by a stone cross erected in 1934. Leic an Phátrúin is the stone linked to the festival of St Mac Dara, once held on 15 March until the custom lapsed in the 1950s.
The obvious pairing, though, is Coral Strand (Trá an Dóilín), a Blue Flag beach a short way off in Carraroe. Its ‘sand’ is really a coral-like shingle formed from lime leached out of seaweed – good for swimming, snorkelling and diving, with a summer lifeguard. In season it hosts Féile an Dóilín, one of Ireland’s larger maritime festivals, built around the traditional Galway hookers.
Practical information
The chapel sits off the R343, on a turn between Carraroe and the coast. A small lay-by near the ruins takes a couple of cars; in summer you can use the free car park at Coral Strand, though it fills fast on a fine weekend. Bus Éireann route 424 runs from Galway city to Carraroe.
There are no facilities at the ruins – no toilets, café or shop. The nearest are in Carraroe; Coral Strand has public toilets and changing rooms in summer. The ground around the chapel is uneven, grassy and slippery after rain, so it’s not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs, and you’ll want proper footwear. Come on a clear morning if you can: the light is best early, and the whole point of the place is a quiet half-hour with the walls and the sea, which a still, bright morning gives you and a wet afternoon does not.