On Sunday, September 8th, Canon Jimmy McPhillips will celebrate an open air Mass at the monastic site, beside Clogher Markets at Wattlebridge. The ceremony is taking place to mark the opening of a new carpark at lane at the historic cemetery.

The new carpark and lane were built by the Conlon family from Drumsloe in memory of their son Frank, who died tragically in 2017. Mr Conlon was the first person to be interred in the cemetery for many years. On Sunday, renowned writer and friend of the Conlon family, Shane Connaughton, will officially open the new facilities. 

“A church has stood on old Drummully hill for hundreds of years and has strong links to the nearby monastic island of Galloon which was one of the earliest monasteries on the shores of Lough Erne and dates back to the fifth century,” said local photographer and history enthusiast Michael McPhillips. 

“Today the oldest artefacts at Drummully are two window corbel stones built into two gate pillars dating back to a medieval church that once stood on the site. 

“The graveyard contains headstones from as far back as the 1600s containing many of present day local family names including Conlon, Connolly, Fitzpatrick, Gleeson, Martin, Murphy, McCarney, McCaul, McDonald, Tinneny, Tumin and Winters to mention but a few. For some weeks a small number of locals have been working hard to clean up the graveyard and reveal the remains of an old ancient church in the centre of the site and the fruits of their hard work will be seen on Sunday.” 

The Mass will begin at 2pm this Sunday, with parking on the site.