White Island


White Island is the most haunting of Lough Erne's monastic sites. At the eastern tip of the island are the ruins of a small 12th-century church with a beautiful Romanesque door on its southern side. Inside are eight extraordinary stone figures, thought to date from the 9th century, lined up along the wall like miniature Easter Island statues. A ferry makes the 15-minute crossing to the island from the marina at Castle Archdale.

The line-up is a modern arrangement; most of the figures were discovered buried in the walls of the church in the 19th century, where the medieval masons had used them as ordinary building stones. The six main figures, all created by the same hand, are flanked on the left by a sheila-na-gig (carved female figure with exaggerated genitalia), which is probably contemporary with the church, and flanked on the right by a scowling stone face. The age and interpretation of these figures have been the subject of much debate; it has been suggested that the two central pairs, of equal height, were pillars that once supported a pulpit, and that they represent either saints or aspects of the life of Christ.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Castle Archdale Country Park

0.65 MILES

This park has pleasant woodland and lakeshore walks and cycle tracks, in the former estate of 18th-century Archdale Manor and the adjacent forest park,…

2. Lough Navar Forest Park

5.09 MILES

This forest park lies at the western end of Lower Lough Erne, where the Cliffs of Magho – a 250m-high and 9km-long limestone escarpment – rise above a…

3. Caldragh Graveyard

5.55 MILES

Spooky, moss-grown Caldragh Graveyard contains the intriguing Dreenan Figure. It's often called a Janus figure, but it's actually two separate figures…

4. Devenish Island

8.42 MILES

Devenish Island, from Daimh Inis, meaning 'Ox Island', is the biggest of several 'holy islands' in Lough Erne. The remains of an Augustinian monastery,…

5. Enniskillen Castle Museums

10.48 MILES

Enniskillen Castle, a former stronghold of the 16th-century Maguire chieftains, guards the western end of the town's central island, its twin-turreted…

7. St Michael's Church

10.52 MILES

Dominating the centre of Enniskillen, this soaring church dates to only 1875, having replaced an early church that was collapsing. There's lavish artwork…

8. Clock Tower

10.65 MILES

Completed in 1901, Enniskillen's clock tower is watched over by two stone soldiers – an Inniskilling Fusilier and an Inniskilling Dragoon – representing…