Disert is situated in the Bluestack Mountains approx. 6 miles NE. of Donegal Town and approx. 2 miles from Drimarone. It can be accessed from the scenic Bluestack Drive and is featured on the Ordnance Survey Map, Discovery Series No. 11. Directly beneath Carnaween Mountain, Disert is the site of an ancient Graveyard and a Holy Well dating to the times of St Colmcille. The walk, which is two miles in length, circles this National Monument and utilises existing roads and tracks. There is a link into the graveyard site where there is a Mass Rock, Well and Standing Stones (Dolmen) as well as other artefacts associated with Religion and Folklore. The walk is suitable for walkers of all levels of ability and there are many vantagepoints offering magnificent views of the surrounding Bluestack Mountains and Donegal Bay. Flowing through the site is the Eany Beg Water and a small tributary of this river that has cut a gorge into the hillside making a fine waterfall. This short walk provides plenty to see in this dramatic landscape, which still remains relatively unspoilt. THE ALTAR AND GRAVEYARD - A brief history. According to tradition Mass was celebrated on the Disert altar in penal times. The priest was said to travel up and down the river Eany between the Alt in Ardaghey saying mass in each, on alternate Sundays. The bullaun stones were said to have been used as candle holders. Fr. Dominic Cannon was parish priest of Inver from the 1770"s until his death in 1801. He is said to have been the last to celebrate Mass in Disert. Fr. Cannon erected the first "Mass house" in the parish at Frosses- adjacent to the site of the present Church, which was built in 1808. In keeping with Church decrees the celebration of Mass and administration of sacraments was being moved into the Churches where possible and after the death of Fr. Cannon, Mass was no longer celebrated in Disert. From the Plantation of Ulster the graveyard as well as the Church at Inver had been taken over by the Established Church. The Catholics continued to use one side of the graveyard for burying their dead until the new graveyard opened in Frosses in 1841. From then on no priest would officiate at funerals in Disert and the graveyard fell into disuse. Indeed, no family in the area today can point to the burying ground they held there. Some of the inhabitants of the area had moved in from the Glen of Glenties- they carried their dead out of the hills for burials in the old graveyard there for a time. The graveyard at Disert continued to be used for the burial of unbaptised infants until the 1930s. Disert Clay. Like other Columban sites in Donegal, such as Gartan and Tory, the clay at Disert is said to banish rats. The clay must be lifted from the right hand side of the altar and in former times great stress was laid on it being asked for and received with great reverence. Newspaper reports have suggested that uranium in the clay caused it to banish rats but these reports haven"t lessened the belief in its power. Until recently Disert clay was often put in the foundation when houses were being built THE TURAS. The Turas at Disert. Turas literally means a journey. The Turas was a widespread and ancient practice all over Ireland while doing a circuit of stations, holy well or other place associated with a saint. Many of these began or ended at a well. Wells were sacred to the pagan Celts and in doing stations the early Christians were following in the footsteps of their pagan ancestors. As well as prayers being said at the well the Rosary was recited and Palters and Aves were said. As the pilgrim made his or her way round the heaps or cairns walking on the right hand or deiseal and placing a pebble on top of the cairn as the prayers were said. The Turas at Disert was noted for its cures. East of the megalith is a large slab or concave stone. The penitents lay on this flag and pressed their back into the cavity. This was a noted cure for backache. The well water was said to cure toothache. The water in the bullaun stone was said to cure warts. It was also used to cure eye complaints. In those days people came to the Turas at Dysert on June 9th - the Feast of Colmcille - from far and wide.