The Tullaghan Cross is a 3 metre tall plain cross that stands proudly in the small town of Tullaghan.
Whilst the exact origins of the Cross are unknown, local folklore tells the story that the Cross was discovered on the foreshore of Donegal Bay after being exposed by a storm. Whilst others believe that the Cross originally belonged to a monastic settlement near the seashore.
The Cross was erected as a market cross by Major Thomas Dickson on a small hillock in Tullaghan village in 1778. Major Dickson’s reputed reason for erecting the cross was to attract attention to the market in Tullaghan which was at the time in competition with the more popular Ballyshannon market. Historically the right to hold a regular fair or market was granted by a monarch, bishop or baron going back to 7th century England where elaborate carved stones, crosses, spires or ornate wooden structures were erected in the market square.
