Our Lady's Island is a narrow and flat strip of land into the Lady's Island Lake at the extreme southeast corner of Ireland. Driving down here, with all that flatness around, is a bit depressing.
Fortunately the weather was good when we came here, the sun brightened the place and our spirit.
The only place to park the car is a large lawn. A long footpath departs from here a goes southwest to the ruins of a castle and a church. The first thing that we met is a fragment of the barbican tower of the castle. It stands in the lawn, dangerously leaning to the southwest. The castle itself is just a rectangular tower 40 metres southwest (240°) from the wall fragment. It's all that remains of a Norman castle built by de Lamport. The archway under the tower leads to a large courtyard and an old graveyard with the sad remains of an ancient church that I estimated to be at least 1,000 years old. Some sources say that an early church was founded here in the 6th century by St. Abban. The only part of the church that still survives is the northwest (300°) gable with a double bell-cot. All around the surviving gable there are dozens of very old graves.
Adjoining the castle is a more modern shrine. The place is a renowned spot of pilgrimage with a busy calendar of events during the year.
We came here for the first time on May 31st, 2001.
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