Labbanakinneriga, Ceathrú An Lisín, Co. Galway
Co. Galway |
Holy Sites & Wells
Just south of a small rural church in Ceathrú An Lisín, a low rectangular structure sits in the ground, built without mortar, barely knee-height, and measuring just over three metres in length.
It is, by local tradition, the grave of a saint. The name of the site, Labbanakinneriga, derives from the Irish "leaba", meaning bed or grave, combined with a form of the saint's name, a naming pattern common across early Christian Ireland where the burial places of holy figures were treated as sacred ground in their own right.
The saint in question is St Cinndearg, and the grave attributed to him is a drystone structure, meaning it is built from stones laid without any mortar binding them, relying entirely on their arrangement for stability. It measures 3.04 metres long, 1.66 metres wide, and stands 0.8 metres high. At its eastern end there is a cross, the eastward orientation being consistent with early Christian burial practice, where the dead were laid to face the rising sun in anticipation of resurrection. The association with St Cinndearg is described as reputative rather than documented, which places it in a long tradition of Irish sacred sites whose origins lie in local memory and devotion rather than written record.