The story of Aghalurcher
Aghalurcher began as an early Christian site, traditionally founded by St Ronan around the 7th century on a rise east of Upper Lough Erne. The visible stonework is later: details suggest a 12th-century Romanesque church with 13th-century additions, marking it as a long-used place of worship rather than the saint's own building.
By the later Middle Ages the church belonged to the Maguires, the ruling family of Fermanagh, and became their principal burial place. In 1447 Thomas Maguire rebuilt the east gable and put a new roof on the church, a sign of how important the family considered the site.
Its decline was violent. In 1484 Gilla Patrick Maguire was killed by his own brothers on the church altar, and in 1486 Don Maguire was killed by his uncles and cousins. A murder on the altar effectively deconsecrated the church, and the site fell out of use as a place of worship; it was shown roofed with a tower around 1609-10 but recorded as ruins by 1622.
What remains today is the ruined church and its crowded graveyard, with a post-medieval vault sheltering 17th-century Galbraith and Balfour grave slabs and the carved medieval gate pillars at the entrance. Two 12th-century carved stones, including a bishop's stone, were removed for safekeeping and are now held by Fermanagh County Museum in Enniskillen.