Chapel Finian

On the shore of Luce Bay, 5 miles north-west of Port William, the low walls of Chapel Finian stand just below the A747 with the sea beyond. The chapel was probably built in the 900s or 1000s. It was most likely a resting place for pilgrims, many of them from Ireland, landing here by boat on their way to St Ninian's shrine at Whithorn. Built in the Irish style, it was a single rectangular room about 6.7 m by 4.1 m with a door in the south wall; excavation in 1950 found traces of wall plaster and a stone bench once cased in wood. A drystone wall encloses the site, and the chapel's well, probably thought to have healing powers, survives in the grounds. It is named after St Finnian, an Irish scholar said to have taught St Columba and to have been educated at Whithorn. The site is small, with an information board, and visitors park in the roadside lay-by.