Inishcealtra

The Confessional / Tomb Shrine / Megalithic Structure

After the Saint's graveyard we visited The Confessional, a small tomb shrine, which was the highlight of our visit to Inishcaltra. Inside the now roofless building is a small chamber constructed from four megalithic looking stones with a slab stone at the back. Excavations show the chamber sits on a flagstone platform built over a cist like base. West of here they discovered a small sub-circular cell made from timber. It is suggested this may have been the original tomb-reliquary that was later moved to the stone chamber and enclosed by this small 3 metre by 2 metre wide stone cell. There are two stone seats built into each section of the cell. The monk would collect money from pilgrims who visited the tomb shrine. A cross socket lies in front of the building.

Pilgrims seat on the left in the first section. A monk sat in the other seat in the small chamber to hear confession.

It was built on a flagstone base

Artists impression