Archives: Map Markers

4. Mullach na Croise

Mullach na Croise – Height of the Cross – is a stone pillar carved with the faint outline of a cross. It stands in the centre of a cairn. Both the cairn and cross lie within the remains of a circular enclosure.

Pilgrims following the turas walk round the cross as they pray, genuflecting each time they pass in front of it.

Local tradition claims that this is the site of Colmcille’s monastery. It is said that Colmcille came to Gleann Cholm Cille following the battle of Cúl Dreimne in 561 to do penance for the lives that were lost there. Legend says that he spent two years here and established a monastery before departing for Iona.

3. Áit na nGlún

Áit na nGlún – The Place of the Knees – is a cairn. To the side there is a flat stone slab with a round stone on top. After circling the cairn, pilgrims pass this smaller stone around their bodies as they pray.

This cross is almost 2 metres tall and is decorated with carved designs on both sides. It is a Christian monument probably made around 700-800AD.

The east-facing side is decorated with rectilinear panels, each one with a rectangular boss in the centre. The west side has four patterns on it.

At this stop, pilgrims circle the cross as they pray.

This used to be the most westerly point of the turas. Today pilgrims carry on further west and climb the hill to Colmcille’s Well.

Traditionally everyone in Gleann Cholm Cille followed the turas every year. On the 9th of June, the saint’s feast day, hundreds of people could be seen circling the glen

This is the ruined remains of a burial tomb dating from about 3,000BC. It was made and used by farmers who lived in Gleann Cholm Cille. It is pre-Christian but has been incorporated into the Turas Cholmcille pilgrimage trail around the glen.

The tomb is now used as the starting point for the turas but traditionally it could be started at any point in the glen and followed clockwise. People who lived in the glen would start at the point nearest to their home and pilgrims following the turas would be welcomed into local homes and invited to leave their shoes while they carried out the turas barefoot.

At this stop, pilgrims circle the tomb clockwise saying prayers.