Book excerpt: "On the small island of Inishmurray, off the coast of County Sligo, is one of the best-preserved early medieval church sites in northern Europe. Unlike many of the other stone-built establishments on Ireland's western littoral, this was no hermitage where a handful of ascetics sought refuge from society. Inishmurray was a monastery of some significance and around the end of the first millennium its community built a remarkable suite of stations on the islands perimeter that helped to establish it as one of the premier pilgrimage centres in the northwest of the country. In this, the first detailed study of the site since the 1880s, a comprehensive new survey and series of excavations form the basis for a major reassessment of its significance. In particular, the authors place the satellite monuments firmly in a tradition of ritual practice that is attested to at cities and important monasteries throughout early medieval Christendom. This book offers the reader an understanding of how the sacred topography of Inishmurray was experienced both by its resident community of monks and by the pilgrims who journeyed there." --Book Jacket.