A wonderful and peaceful place indeed!
At this place we found an old and ruined Christian church and a more recent Protestant church, one next to the other one.
All around them is the graveyard. The first grave we saw upon entering the place was the St. Gobnat's grave. It's a low mound covered with a large and flat stone slab. All the settlement is a pilgrimage site. There are 10 stations in all and pilgrims have to say some prayers according to a guide shown at the entrance. St. Gobnat's grave is one of these 10 stations. Pilgrims also leave some offerings to the saint's grave and mark a cross on the stone with a pebble.
Opposite the graveyard, next to the car park, is the statue dedicated to this saint, who lived in the 6th century and chose this spot in county Cork as the place of her resurrection. She founded a religious community here and performed some miracles like defying the plague from the village of Ballyvourney. She has been proclaimed an Irish national saint, and her feast day is February 11th.
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