Doon Rock in County Donegal

Doon Rock is easily found as it is well sign posted; it is situated 8 miles outside of Letterkenny and 2 miles from Kilmacrennan on the main road to Creeslough.

It has a spacious car park and has toilet facilities but no other amenities.
Doon Rock is a lofty, wild, barren place but the atmosphere that you feel is one of majesty. You can almost sense the presence of the mighty clansmen of the O’Donnell clan who were inaugurated there.

It is an uneven climb to get to the top but very well worth the slight effort as the panoramic view you get from the top is spectacular. Heather grows between the gorse covered rocks and you are overlooking a sparkling natural Lough.

Immediately you are transported back in time and if you close your eyes you can picture what the inauguration of the kings must have been like.
The religious ceremony took place nearby in the Abbey in Kilmacrennan, but it is the civil ceremony that took place high on Doon Rock that would have been the main event.

The inauguration stone at Doon Rock

The ceremony took place in front of other clansmen and the ruler elect would remove his shoes and stand in the imprint of the feet of the first Chieftain that was cut into the inauguration stone.

Oaths were then administered so that the ancient practices were preserved.
This done the newly elected chieftain would set aside his mighty sword and would be presented with a straight white rod called ‘An slat Bhan’, (meaning white wand). This was an emblem of purity that the king would be upright and pure in his judgement. It was also an indication that his people would obey and serve him loyally and that no other weapon would be necessary to command them.

Once this was done a sub-chieftain would replace a sandal on the kings’ foot as a sign of total submission and he then threw the other one over his shoulder for good luck.

The crowd would cheer and clap and music would be played and the king would step down off the stone and turn round 3 times forward and 3 times backwards to honor the Holy Trinity and to survey his new territories and to allow his people to see him.

The inauguration stone was kept in Kilmacrennan Abbey until 1775 when unfortunately it was lost forever when it was smashed to pieces by an anti-Irish bigot.

The Last Chieftain

The last O’Donnell and the last Celtic lord of the Finn Valley to be ‘elected’ was Niall Garbh in 1603 although this ‘inauguration’ was not sanctioned by the derbfine (electoral kinship group).

Niall Garbh was the cousin of Red Hugh O’Donnell who was himself inaugurated in1592. Niall was incensed that Red Hugh had been inaugurated and sided with the English in the nine years war.

After Red Hugh left Ireland in 1602, Niall Garbh seized the chieftainship and had himself inaugurated in1603.

This was repudiated by Red Hugh’s family especially his younger brother Rory so both Niall and Rory went to London where the Privy Council endeavoured to find a way to make peace.

This was achieved when King James 1 of England gave lands to Niall Garbh and elevated Rory to the peerage and made him the 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.
Niall Garbh later turned against the crown and was charged with complicity in the Cahir O’Dogherty rebellion in1608. As a result Niall Garbh and his son were imprisoned in the Tower of London until their deaths.

Doon Mass Rock

Follow the path and you will find a secret place where there is situated a mass rock. This is a very Holy place and you can feel a certain reverence come over you. It is an amazing place that pilgrims still come to to-day, this is evident by the amount of Holy relics that have been placed on and around the mass rock and there is a beautiful figurine of the Virgin Mary surrounded by smaller statues of Our Lady.

The mass rock was used during the penal years (1695 – 1741) when Catholics were not allowed to openly practice their faith. Doon was one of the secret places that Catholics could meet up and attend mass. Priests said mass under pain of death because if they were caught they faced a horrendous death by being placed in a barrel of nails and thrown over a cliff called ‘Binn an Sagairt’ (hill of the priest) near Doon.

Although there is no official mass said there anymore thousands of pilgrims flock there every year for prayer and devotions.

Doon Mass Rock

Doon Well

No-one can go to Doon and not go to see the Holy Well. Every home in Donegal will have a bottle of Holy water from Doon.

Situated beside Doon Rock Doon Well is very accessible and is wheelchair friendly, placed in a pretty little garden beside a house the owners tend to the well and garden.

Doon Well’s origins are definitely pre-Christian as the natural spring water would have been used in the pagan inauguration ceremonies of the O’Donnell clan.

Bronze age artefacts have been unearthed near the well and there is a ‘togher’, an ancient wooden road that runs underneath the bog adjacent to Doon Rock.

It is a very special place and has a holiness and peaceful stillness about it. You almost feel as though you should whisper as you would in a church.
In fact, stations and rosary are still walked from St.Columba’s chapel to Doon Well every New Years Eve and on the day before May 1st.

Doon Well became a Holy well possibly in the 15th century when a man called Lector O’Friel blessed the well.

Lector O’Friel was a powerful healer and a very holy man. Sufferers of all sorts of illnesses and incurable conditions came or were carried to see him in the hope of a cure. Many stories are told of the miracles that he preformed.
Legend says that when he was in his old age and death was upon him the people became upset at the thought of losing such a holy man into whom God had placed such a wondrous gift.

On hearing the peoples lament, Lector O’Friel is reported to have said, “When i die, my powers will live on after me.” With this he blessed the well and told them that those who drank or applied the water would benefit from his prayers of intercession.

The well itself is behind two little wooden doors and there is a plaque that tells you what prayers need to be recited it reads:

Doon Well
Prayers of Station
Repeat Our Father and Hail Mary 5 times
And apostles creed for your intention
Repeat same for each bottle of water
Our Father and Hail Mary for Father O’Friel who found it
Our Father and Hail Mary for Father Gallagher who blessed it
Our Father and Hail Mary for the person who put the shelter around it
N.B These prayers must be recited with bared feet.


Doon Well - Prayers of Station

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