The story of Banagher Old Church
Local tradition holds that the church was founded by St Muiredach O'Heney, who is thought to have lived in the late 11th or early 12th century, though older legends tie the site to St Patrick. Archaeological evidence points to a foundation around the end of the 11th century. The earliest written reference comes in 1121, when the Annals of Ulster record a death at the site.
The church grew in stages. The nave is the oldest part, followed by a chancel added in the 12th to 13th century, with the east end remodelled in the 15th century. This was the medieval parish church of the area, important enough that Archbishop Colton of Armagh chose it as a base during his visitation of the Derry diocese in 1397.
By the early 17th century its working life was over — a survey of 1622 already noted it as ruined, and it was abandoned. What you see today is the surviving shell along with the mortuary house, the so-called residence or strong house, termon crosses and a bullaun stone. The church passed into state care in 1880 and was fully excavated and conserved in the 1970s.
The mortuary house outside the church became a focus of pilgrimage as the reputed grave of St Muiredach O'Heney. From it grew the tradition of 'Banagher sand', taken from beside the tomb-shrine and believed to bring good luck — a belief still attached to descendants of the saint's family today.