ig8 The Irish Naturalist. September, 



Further to the west, on the outskirts of West Town, stands 

 the Murrisher, or Church of the Seven. Of this small 

 building, which stands on a kind of platform, little remains 

 except the western gable. Its walls are three feet in thick- 

 ness, and internally it measures about eleven by eight feet. 

 At the east end a rough stone-altar is built, but this shows 

 some slight evidence of more modern work than the rest of 

 the building, which may date from the sixth centur}'- A short 

 distance from the Murrisher is the Nun's Grave, about which 

 manj^ strange traditions are told. A little soil from the grave is 

 still carried in each fishing boat setting out from Tory, as a 

 protection from shipwreck. 



Mevagh. — The old church of Mevagh w^ould seem from 

 architectural evidence to date from the eleventh centur}^ It 

 shows in the slender lancet w^hich pierces the east gable an 

 interesting example of an arch formed by small flat stones. 

 On the south side of the church stands the old stone cross of 

 Mevagh— a huge unornamented monolith. 



Doe Castle- — -Doe Castle (Plate ii), stands at the head of 

 Sheep Haven, in a strong position, surrounded b}- water on 

 three sides. Now in a ruinous condition, the date of its 

 erection is lost, but it was apparently in existence in 1440. 

 At one time the stronghold of the Mac-Swj^ne-na-Doe, it 

 latterl}^ passed through the hands of several owners, until 

 towards the close of last century it ceased to be a residence. 



In the graveyard near the castle, the former site of a 

 Franciscan Monastery, is an interesting inscribed stone 

 slab built into the north wall. The slab, which is the 

 memorial of the MacSwyne family, is sculptured with a fine 

 Celtic cross, having a curious seven-rayed head. Down the 

 left side four strange monsters are carved, and on the right 

 are four elaborate ornaments of interlaced pattern and the 

 well-known crest of the MacSwynes. Most of the graves in 



m 



this tiny churchyard and at Mevagh are marked by the wooden 

 crosses of a curious foliated pattern, so characteristic of the 

 country chtirchyards of north-west Donegal. 



Rosape7i7ia Castle. — The ancient seat of the Viscounts Bo3'ne 

 Avas destroyed by the shifting of the Campion sands. The 

 demesne is still covered by the blown sand, and onl}- a mere 

 remnant of the house remains. Sixteen farms were destroyed 

 at the same date, about 1784. 



