Devenish Island

Devenish or Devinish Island

Monastic site on Devenish Island
Devenish or Devinish Island
Geography
Location	Lower Lough Erne
Coordinates	54°22′20.31″N 7°39′27.51″W / 54.3723083°N 7.6576417°W / 54.3723083; -7.6576417
Area	0.498 km2 (0.192 sq mi)
Length	2 km (1.2 mi)
Width	1.1 km (0.68 mi)
Highest elevation	64.3 m (211 ft)
Highest point	Sour Hill
Administration
Northern Ireland

Devenish or Devinish (from Irish: Daimhinis, meaning "ox island") is an island in Lower Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Aligned roughly north–south, it is about one and a quarter miles long and two-thirds of a mile wide. The main place to catch a ferry to the island is at Trory Point, just outside Enniskillen. Devenish Island is owned by the Kilravock Christian Trust.

Devenish contains one of the finest monastic sites in Northern Ireland. A round tower thought to date from the twelfth century is situated on the island, as are the walls of the Oratory of Saint Molaise who established the monastery in the 6th century, on a pilgrim route to Croagh Patrick in County Mayo. It became a centre of scholarship and although raided by Vikings in 837 and burned in 1157, it later flourished as the site of the parish church and St Mary's Augustinian Priory.

There are extensive low earthworks on the hillside, but the earliest buildings are St Molaise's House (a very small church) and the fine round tower close by, both with accomplished Romanesque decoration of the 12th century. The round tower is some 30 metres (100 ft) tall and can be climbed using internal ladders. It features a sculptured Romanesque cornice of heads and ornament under the conical stone roof. Nearby is a cross carved with spiral patterns and human heads. There are also several cross-slabs, one with an interlace design and a mediaeval carved cross. Near the round tower, the foundations of another tower were found, which the present tower probably superseded.

The smallest of the three churches (Mo-Laisse's House, named after the founder of the monastery) dates from the late 12th or early 13th century. It has narrow antae with bases carved with classical motifs. Only the lower parts of the walls and some of the roofstones survive.