monastic sites mayo

Ballintubber Abbey was founded in 1216 by Cathal Crobhdearg O'Connor, King of Connacht, near the site of the church built by St. Patrick in 441. Despite the Abbey's turbulent history, which included repression and burning, the Abbey 'refused to die' and now has the unique status of being Ireland's only royal Abbey which has been in continuous use for over 780 years. Spend some time in Ballintubber and Stroll around the grounds of the Abbey. Pray within its hallowed walls. Visit the Interpr...

Moyne Abbey and Rosserk Abbey are located close to each other, north of Ballina. Both compete for the title of largest and most impressive ecclesiastical ruins in Mayo and both have much in common. Moyne was founded by the Burke Family as a Franciscan friary. Built in the late Irish Gothic Style, it was consecrated in 1462. This abbey was destroyed in the 1590s by Queen Elizabeth's governor of Connacht, Sir Richard Bingham....

Situated on the site of an earlier monastery founded in the 7th century, this is an Augustinian Abbey founded possibly in the 12th century, and now in the grounds of Ashford Castle. it probably replaces a church which was burnt in 1137. The present Abbey may have been built by Turlough O'Connor, King of Connacht, or else by one of the O'Duffys. Of the church itself comparatively little remains, and the fine Romanesque doorway was inserted into the north wall in modern times. This doorway con...

Rosserk Friary was founded as a Franciscan Third Order Conventual Friary, this time by the Joyce Family in 1441. Like Moyne Abbey it was destroyed by Bingham. The church here is a cruciform one, with a bell-tower suspended over the chancel arch - an interesting architectural feature. Rosserk Friary and Moyne Abbey are located close to each other, north of Ballina. Moyne was founded by the Burke Family as a Franciscan friary. Built in the late Irish Gothic Style, it was consecrated in 1462....

A twelfth-century cathedral (St. Brendan's) with thirteenth-century extensions. Despoiled in the sixteenth century, it was clumsily restored at various times afterwards and now serves as the Protestant parish church of Clonfert. The carved decoration, inside and out, is of exceptional quality, and the great west doorway ranks as the masterwork of Irish Romanesque art. Built in warm-toned sandstone, it is composed of six orders (the seventh, innermost order in limestone is a fifteenth-century...