Home » Places » Old Banagher Church and the Last Dragon in Ireland
Banagher Church
Banagher Church

Old Banagher Church

“The ruins of Banagher Church, about a mile westwards of Dungiven, presents a beautiful and remarkable remnant of the sacred architecture of our ancestors”

Ordnance Survey Memoirs 1837

.

The medieval parish of Banagher comprised Banagher and parts of the parishes of Boveva and Cumber. It is situated in the rugged glens of the Sperrin foothills between the Rivers Roe and Faughan.

“This parish is one of the most mountainous in the county and contains much of the original Irish population……The better cultivated portions are occupied by the descendants of the English and Scottish settlers at the Plantation”

Ordnance Survey Memoirs 1837

The Founding of Old Banagher Church

The church itself is said to have been founded by St Muirdagh O’Heney (there are various spellings of the name (Muiredach/Murriagh/Murrough) who was said to be a contemporary of St Patrick. The saint is buried in the Old Banagher Church graveyard.

Folklore has it that St Muirdagh was led to the site, the remains of an ice-age drumlin on the banks of the River Owenreagh, by a stag. The stag also acted as a lectern allowing the saint to place holy books on its antlers while preaching.

stag
St Muirdagh’s Stag

The Church

The old church was rectangular in shape, 64ft by 26ft. It was constructed of freestone held by cement. Internally the wall facing is of coursed rubble, that is, irregular stones or flint levelled up in lines. On the south side were two Gothic-style windows with beautiful mouldings 6ft high by 3ft across.

Church interior
Church interior

The chancel, the space around the altar, is narrower than the nave and may have been added later in the thirteenth century. In Christian tradition the chancel is at the east end of a church facing the rising sun. The central part of the building was separated from the chancel by a 3ft thick wall.

The western entrance has square mouldings with inclining jambs. It has a straight lintel on the exterior but arched on the inside.

Banagher Church Entrance
Banagher Church Entrance
Banagher Church door interior
Banagher Church door interior

An inscription above the western doorway reads ‘This Church was built in the year of God 474’. This was added in the 1730’s by an ecclesiastical engraver by the name of Alexander Sterling. He claimed he had read the exact date of the church’s founding in an old manuscript and was recording it for future generations.

The first authenticated written reference to a church at Banagher is in the Annals of Ulster. It records that Gillespie Owen O’Henry, king of Keenaght, was killed by his kinsmen in Banagher cemetery in 1121.

The ecclesiastical taxation records of 1306 show Banagher as a parish church. In 1397 we know the church was visited by Archbishop Colton of Armagh during his tour of the diocese of Derry. However, the 1622 Royal Visitation documents record Banagher church as in ruins.

The Residence

Next to the church are the remains of a monastic building/ residence. This is thought to have been 3 storeys high and constructed of the same materials as the church. It measures 25ft by 20ft.

Banagher Church with residence in the foreground
Banagher Church with residence in the foreground

Originally the graveyard would have been marked out with four stone crosses. Only two remain today, one of which is broken. Many of the graves were inscribed by the above mentioned craftsman Alexander Sterling. Sterling, known locally as Sawney Sterling, was reputed to be the best stone engraver in the north at this time.

There is also a bullaun stone in the graveyard. A bullaun stone is an ancient stone used for grinding grain with a pestle. They are often found near church sites and folklore has grown up around them that the water collected in the circular depression has curative powers for various ailments. The name comes from the Irish bullan meaning bowl.

The bullaun stone
The bullaun stone

St Muirdagh and the Dragon

Lig na Péist (or Paiste) – The Last Dragon in Ireland

St Muirdagh is also said to have vanquished the last dragon from Ireland. St Patrick is said to have banished all serpents & snakes from Ireland some years before but one dragon lived on…

Lig na Péist – the ‘Last Great Reptile’ lived in a deep pool in the Owenreagh River. It was reputed to be large, covered in armoured scales with curling rams horns, sharp fangs and fiery breath. The locals lived in terror of this fearsome creature, as it would rise from the water and devour their sheep and cattle.

Dragon - Lig na Paiste
Ireland’s Last Dragon – Lig na Paiste

“No warrior could defeat him and he began a reign of terror from the slopes of the Sperrins to the shores of Lough Foyle, burning crops, cattle and people before devouring them in hunger in vengeance for his banished kin”

www.emerald isle

St Muirdagh Confronts the Dragon

In desperation the local inhabitants called on Muirdagh, a man of the ‘new faith’ for help.

St Muirdagh prayed and fasted for 9 days and 9 nights on a rocky outcrop overlooking the valley. Then he went to the river bank and called to Paiste. The dragon rose from his pool, thinking this man had been offered to him as a sacrifice.

Muirdagh flattered the creature and asked could he perform an ancient ritual sacred to his clan. The dragon, bemused, agreed. Muirdagh placed three bands of reeds across Péist’s back. Then the saint fell to his knees and implored God to grant his request. Immediately the reeds turned to unbreakable iron!

It is said the ground shook for miles around as the mighty creature roared and thrashed in a vain attempt to break his bindings. Muirdagh then had Péist cast into Lough Foyle, where the dragon remains a prisoner till Judgement day.

It is said that unusual tides occurring in the Lough or the Owenreagh River flooding is a sign that the dragon is still struggling to free itself. Even to this day locals claim, at times, that they feel unexplained fear or dread when crossing certain parts of Lough Foyle – an indication that Péist is close to the surface….

Beneath the surface
Beneath the surface

St Muirdagh’s Tomb

St Muirdagh’s tomb in Banagher graveyard is known as the Mortuary House. It is 8ft high and 5ft wide with a steep pitched stone roof. At one end was a panel bearing a religious carving, possibly depicting St Muirdagh himself. This type of tomb is only found in the province of Ulster.

West of the saint’s burial place and close to the original gate to the cemetery is thought to be the final resting place of the outlaw Shane Crossagh. Crossagh and his two sons were executed in 1822 and buried in an unmarked plot in the graveyard.

Mortuary House view
Mortuary House view
Scotty and the Mortuary House
Scotty and the Mortuary House

The Mystery of Banagher ‘Magic Sand’

The Magic Sand

Close to the ruins and St Muirdagh’s tomb is what is known as Banagher Sand. This sand was reputed to have special powers though the intercession of the holy man. However, these graces were only ‘activated’ when it was collected and distributed by a descendent of St Muirdagh.

“The house in which any of the above sand is deposited can never burn down by accident, in that it is a barrier and safeguard against burning, drowning, the spells of witches or necromancers, as well as against phantoms or evil spirits”

Ordnance Survey Memoirs 1837

In past times most houses in the area would have had containers of the sand in their homes for protection.

Other Uses of the Magic Sand

Another use of the Banagher Sand was apparently pest control. A woman named Kitty Poston, who lived in Templemoyle, had seen an insect called a ‘douhal’ (a type of beetle) crawling on her floor. She called on Thomas Heaney, a descendant of the saint. He arrived at her home and sprinkled a circle 4 inches in diameter around the bug. Try as it might the douhal did not venture over the sand. When Thomas dropped some sand directly on it, the insect immediately died.

Emigrants travelling to America would take a small parcel of sand with them to bring good luck on their hazardous voyage in their new life’s endeavours.

The Coffin Ships
Irish emigrants set out for a new life (The ships were known as “Coffin Ships”)

The most common use of the sand however, was at the racetrack. The sand thrown over a horse would apparently ensure its success in a race!

Unfortunately the saint’s descendants have all died leaving us without a source of magic sand.

Old Banagher Church Today

Today Banagher old church and graveyard stands quietly on its grassy drumlin. Its stories of saints and dragons, outlaws and holy sand are all but forgotten.

However, we should not forget that over 1,000 years of history lies buried in this mound.

Gallery of Images

Click to enlarge images. Mobile users should swipe up to quit the slideshow

Related Post

Shane Crossagh – The Outlaw of the Glen

Glenshane view - Autumn colour
Glenshane view – Autumn colour

The fact that the name of Shane Crossagh remains synonymous with bravery and justice reflects his popularity in those most dangerous times.


If you enjoyed this article…

If you like our posts please help us to grow our readership by sharing any posts that you like using the social media sharing icons at the foot of each post.

Please Consider a Small Donation

Belfast Entries is a husband & wife hobby website featuring articles on our shared history, memories and entertaining stories of our past. To help us meet rising website hosting costs please click the coffee cup below to learn how to make a small donation. Please note that every contribution is valued and that we will not contact you directly in order to respect your privacy.

Buy Us a Coffee
Buy Us a Coffee

Donations this month 8 🙂

We had 6 donations last month


What are others reading now?

Galboly cottage view

Galboly – The County Antrim Village Lost in Time

By P&P / 30 September 2021 / 4 Comments
Mill chimney - a common sight in Belfast

Ardoyne – The Story of a Village

By P&P / 13 November 2021 / 2 Comments
Bodies Illustration at the scene Belfast Telegraph 13th March 1890

Nora’s Grave – A True Story of Love & Death

By P&P / 19 March 2022 / 0 Comments
Belfast Long Bridge crossed the River Lagan between 1688 and 1841

Unusual Laws in Old Belfast 1613 – 1816

By P&P / 11 March 2022 / 0 Comments

Cost of Living Crisis

Given the current cost of living crisis that will impact so many in coming months we have added a page signposting organisations that may be able to offer support. We have no relationship with these organisations and cannot offer financial advice but we hope that some of the links may prove useful.



Ancestry Antrim Arthur Chichester artist Belfast Belfast Entries Belfast Family belfast roots Carrickfergus Castle Cemetery Church Clifton House County Antrim County Down Department Store Donegal education. family tree Famous Folk Forgotten folk Genealogy Ghost graveyard Historical places History Hotel Ireland Irish Census Records Irish Family Irish genealogy irish roots Mary Ann McCracken Operation Overlord Otto Jaffe People Philanthropist Places to see Poor House Public Health Reformer Sailortown St Patrick Titanic Tourism United Irishmen


Belfast Entries posts & photos are our intellectual property and copyrighted to us. Where we use photos that do not belong to us, it is because we believe them to be in the public domain or shared under a Creative Commons licence with appropriate attribution. None of our content or images can be used without our consent. Note that a link to our Copyright & Takedown notice is included in the website footer on all pages.


P&P

We are a Belfast couple adding information on Belfast and the surrounding counties. Over coming months we will add a range of posts covering the people, places, products and stories that interest us and will hopefully be of interest to you. Over time we hope to build up information of use to locals & visitors alike and welcome your feedback on subjects of interest or stories that might be interest to the wider audience. Let us know what you think.

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Avatar placeholder

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Would you like notifications of new Belfast Entries posts? OK No thanks