Folklore & legend

St Molaise's Bed: The Healing Coffin of Devenish

Teampull Mor, Devenish Island, Lower Lough Erne

Medieval to modern tradition

On Devenish Island, Teampull Mor was a great church of the monastery founded by St Molaise in the 6th century. In its shadowed corner stands a stone coffin. The Lough Erne Pilgrim Way says people believed it held healing power: if you could squeeze inside and turn three times, sickness would flee and wishes would be granted.

A tourism article says the coffin is known as St Molaise's bed, that the tradition is strongest around the saint's feast day, and that lying in it is reputed to cure sickness. It stands in the north west corner of the church. Visitors have continued the habit, though the island is now a managed heritage site reached by ferry, and the stone coffin is a fragile object.

The saint's connection to healing relics runs through other Devenish stories, including a bell that, in one told tale, refused to leave the island. Only brief summaries of those are available, so this record keeps to the coffin.

Devenish Island is reached by seasonal ferry from Trory; check opening times.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Open, admission charged
Location
54.374, -7.658 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: Lough Erne Pilgrim Way, "Coffin of Cures" [other]; Motel.co.uk, "Legends and lore of mystical Devenish Island" [other]; Fermanagh Lakelands, "Spooky Stories and Folklore: Unearthing Fermanagh's Haunting Legends" [other]

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