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Derbi, laloo is a medieval church and graveyard situated within an oval earthwork enclosure in the townland of Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The site occupies Oligocene Lough Neagh Clays, a geological formation comprising clay and lignite deposits that would have offered stable ground suitable for ecclesiastical settlement. The oval enclosure is characteristic of early medieval monastic and church sites across Ireland, providing a defined sacred boundary around the burial ground and church structure.
The monument's most distinctive features are two bullauns—stone basins carved into natural rock or boulders—which served liturgical and practical purposes within the medieval ecclesiastical community. Such stones are commonly found at Irish church sites, traditionally used for water in ritual contexts or grinding grain. Their presence here documents the site's active religious function during the medieval period.
Now protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 4769, Derbi, laloo represents an important element of medieval religious life in this region. The survival of its earthwork enclosure, along with the in situ bullauns, provides material evidence of settlement patterns and ecclesiastical organisation during the medieval period on the Lough Neagh Clays landscape.
Derbi, laloo. medieval church & graveyard in oval enclosure with 2 bullauns is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 4769. View the official record →
Derbi, laloo is a medieval church and graveyard situated within an oval earthwork enclosure in the townland of Lisburn, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 4769.
Derbi, laloo. medieval church & graveyard in oval enclosure with 2 bullauns dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a ecclesiastical site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Derbi, laloo. medieval church & graveyard in oval enclosure with 2 bullauns is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 4769.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Crannog (0.3 km), Achcli. medieval church (in ruins) & graveyard with bullaun & ?holy well (2.9 km), Enis-garden, inis-garden, inis-draicrenn, inis-daircairgren, the church of lennewy?. early christian monastery, round tower & church site (4.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Derbi, laloo. medieval church & graveyard in oval enclosure with 2 bullauns's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Derbi, laloo. medieval church & graveyard in oval enclosure with 2 bullauns stands on Lough Neagh Clays Group, bedrock that formed in the Oligocene. The rock here is clay and lignite.