Domhnach Mór · Co. Tyrone
A 9th-century High Cross stands in the village graveyard, 4.8 metres tall, carved with scenes from Genesis to the Resurrection. It was thrown down in the 17th century, buried in the Torrent River for a century, and put back up in 1776. It has been there ever since.
Donaghmore is a small village in mid-Tyrone, three miles from Dungannon on the road that runs north-west through O'Neill country. The name is a shortened form of Domhnach Mór Magh Imchlair - 'the great church in the plain of Imchlair' - which tells you the two things that define the place: a church site, and flatlands. St Patrick is credited with the original monastic foundation in the 5th century; his companion Colum Cruither was left in charge. Whether that is history or hagiography, there has been a Christian site here for at least 1,500 years.
The High Cross in the old graveyard is what draws people from outside the village. It stands 4.8 metres tall, a composite monument carved from two separate crosses, its shaft and base dating to the 9th century. The head, from a companion cross of similar vintage, was fitted when the monument was re-erected in 1776 - the two halves having been found buried in the bed of the Torrent River, where they had lain since the cross was thrown down in the 17th century. The carving covers both faces systematically: Old Testament scenes on the west (Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the Loaves and Fishes), New Testament on the east (the Annunciation to the Shepherds, the Marriage Feast at Cana, the Baptism, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection). It is badly weathered in places - these stones have been outside for over a thousand years - but the narrative programme is still legible if you work your way around it slowly.
The village has two establishments that give it a food and drink reputation out of proportion to its size. The Brewer's House on Castlecaulfield Road is a gastropub with its own microbrewery, reviving a tradition of brewing in Donaghmore that dates to a brewery founded here in 1797. It won Best Gastro Pub at the Irish Restaurant Awards in 2018. The Lower House Bar, in the centre of the village, has been a pub since the 18th century, with self-catering accommodation in a converted neighbouring house. Between them they cover most of what you need for a night or two.
Donaghmore is not a destination that tries to be more than it is. The cross is real and specific - one of the best preserved examples of 9th-century scriptural carving in the North, and worth the detour from Dungannon for anyone with an interest in early Christian Ireland. The Heritage Centre holds the local record for those who want to go deeper. The rest is a working village in mid-Tyrone, with two good pubs, a microbrewery, and a graveyard that has been in use since the early medieval period.