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MONASTICON HIBERNICUM ; ak 
 a ae Coupnaee aie me 
 
 MONASTICAL HISTORY ae. 
 
 OF TRELAND, 
 
 CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF ALL THE ABBEYS,*PRIORIES, 
 CONVENTS, AND NUNNERIES, 
 
 OF THE VARIGCUS RELIGIOUS ORDERS, | 
 Which have been, andare, | / wide 
 
 IN THE KINGDOM, 
 
 COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC ANCIENT AND wai 
 MODERN Mss. AND PRINTED WORKS, “ee 
 
 
 
 
 
 BY We TB a 
 
 Compiler of the Complete Annual Catholic Registry, &c, 
 
 Finn Bee 
 SHH wfti il fi 
 
 “DUBLIN, CPRINTED FOR THE =: PROPRIBTOR, AND 
 SOLD AT 5 ESSEX BRIDGE, 
 
 1339. 
 
 
 
 
 
See 
 cry 
 
 eS 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 To give an accurate account of all the Abbeys, 
 Priories, Convents, Nunneries, and other Religious 
 Establishments, that have been, or are, in Ireland, is 
 the object of the following pages. 
 
 As the variety of, and differences in, the books hi- 
 therto published, rendered accuracy, in every instance, 
 extremely difficult, it may be well to say something on 
 the nature of those works, and upon the plan the pre- 
 sent writer has adopted. 
 
 The works on religious institutes may be divided 
 into three classes;—those which present a history of the 
 orders, in particular—those which give an account of 
 the orders, in general; and those which present an 
 account of communities in Jreland. Of the first 
 class—the Canons Regular of St. Augustin, and of the 
 Premonstratenses, there is a history in Joan le Paige, 
 Bibliotheca Ordinis Premonstratensis, presertim vero 
 Sancti Augustin regulam profitentium, utilis maxime- 
 que necessaria. Paris, 1633.—In Tull. de Ord. Ca- 
 
 nonicor. Regular., &c., and in Gabrieli’s Pennote Nova-_ 
 
 riensis Historia Canonicor. Regular. 
 sin account of the Benedictines is given at length 
 in Annales Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, by Mabillon, in 
 six vols. quarto, or in Acta Sanctorum Ordinis Sanc- 
 ti Benedicti, by the same, in nine volumes folio, or the 
 substance of these may be found in Bulleau’s Abrege 
 de l Histoire de St. Benoit, two volumes quarto, 1664. 
 A full account of the Franciscans may be found 
 -in the “Annals” of the order, by Father Wadding, am 
 frishman, in seventeen volumes folio, entitled, Luce 
 
 403543 
 
 
 
 aes 
 
4 
 
 Waddingt Annales Minorum, seu Historia Trium Or 
 dinum a Sancto Francisco Institutorum, Editio secunda, 
 studio Josephi Marie Fonseca.—Rome, 1731. Father 
 Harold, another Irishman, has published a good abridg- 
 ment of Wadding’s work, and a continuation of it, in 
 two volumes. , 
 
 The history of the Dominicans is elegantly written 
 by Father Touron, a friar of that order, in six vols. 
 quarto. The history of this order in Ireland, written 
 by Dr. Burke, bishop of Ossory, so remarkable, al- 
 though said to have been printed at Cologne in 
 1762, was printed at Kilkenny, under the title of 
 Hibernia Dominicana. It is a great typographical curi- 
 osity. The supplement is not easily found; and the 
 pages from 136 to 147, are wanting in most of the 
 present copies. 
 
 The history of the Carmelites is written in the 
 Speculum Carmelitarum, printed at Antwerp, in four 
 vols. folio, 1680. 
 
 An account of the Trinitarians is given in Annales 
 Ordinis SS. Trinitatis, auctore Bon. Baro, Ordin. 
 Minor.— Rome, 1684; in Regula et Statuta Ord. 
 S'S. Trinitatis, in duodecimo, 1570; and abridged in 
 the English history of the order, by Father Dwyer.— 
 Dublin, 1795, duodecimo., 
 
 An account of the Society of Jesus is given by 
 Orlandini, Sacchini and others, in the Historia Societa- 
 tis Jesu, by Fathers Ribadaneira, Maffei, Bartoli, and 
 Bouhours, in their lives of St. Ignatius, in Lettres Edi- 
 Jiantes, and the New Disquisition concerning the Society, 
 from the Nouvelles Considerations, printed at Ver- 
 sailles, 1817, and in London, 1819. Dallas, although 
 a protestant, has nobly vindicated this admirable 
 order against its calumniators. ’ 
 
 An account of the Knights Templars is given by 
 Abbé Vertot, in his History of the Knights of Malta, 
 which has been translated, and published in three vols. 
 octavo, in Dublin; and also, in Le Martyrologe des Che- 
 valiers de Malte, par M. Goussaneour, in two vols. 
 
 The history of religious orders in general, has 
 been given by various authors. Of the eastern monks, 
 
o 
 
 or primitive Fathers of the Desert, there are full 
 accounts in Vies des Peres du Desert, par Arnauld 
 d Andilly, three vols. octavo, or two vols. quarto; in 
 Vies des Saints Peres des Déserts d Orient et d’ Occidené, 
 par Villeford, five vols. duodecimo ; in the Vite Pa- 
 trum by Rossweide, one vol. folio ; and the Lives of the 
 most Eminent Saints of the Oriental Deserts, by the 
 Rt. Rev. Dr. Challoner, | vol. 8vo, also in duodecimo. 
 Ample and authentic accounts are also given of those 
 institutes, and of modern orders, by Dr. Alban But- 
 ler, in his inimitable work, the Lives of the Fathers, 
 Martyrs, and principal Saints, repeatedly printed in 
 twelve vols. octavo ; but particularly in Dublin, 1833, 
 also in the “ Acta Sanctorum” of. those renowned 
 Jesuits—the Bollandists. 
 
 Father Helyot, a Franciscan friar, in Z’ Histoire 
 des Ordres Monastiques, Rehigicux et Mulitaires, eight 
 vols. quarto, gives a succinct account of the origin and 
 nature of orders in general—of the eastern monks—otf 
 the western or Benedictines, and of the congregations 
 diverging from them—of the canons regular of St. 
 Augustin; and of the four mendicant orders, Fran- 
 ciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, and Hermits of St. Au- 
 gustin. 
 
 A. brief account of the various religious orders, 
 ancient and modern, is given by Dr. Challoner, in 
 chapter xviii, of the Catholic Christian Instructed. 
 
 Of the various histories of the monastic or religious 
 communities in Ireland, it is now our duty to speak. 
 It is not our object to dwell upon all the ancient manu- 
 sciipt monasticons and martyrologies of Ireland. De- 
 tailed accounts of many of them are given in Father 
 Colgan’s collections. The most ancient record which 
 the present writer has seen, is the famous Book of the 
 Church and Monastery of Fenagh, in the county 
 Leitrim, written in Irish verse, by St. Caillan, con- 
 secrated Archbishop by St. Patrick. This most cu- 
 rious work, which was transcribed in 1517, gives an 
 account of Irish kings, and monks, in general, and 
 what belonged to Fenagh in a particular manner. We 
 expect to see this work soon translated. Ay ie 
 
 r 
 
of 
 
 6 
 
 According to Colgan, Aenghios Hui-Bhlean, a monks 
 in the Queen’s county, about the end of the eighth 
 century, left various works, in which he describes the 
 monasteries and churches in Ireland, down to that time. 
 
 Tamhlachtt, or Tullow martyrologv, was written 
 before 900, in which, with the other Irish Saints, those 
 who founded monasteries are specially mentioned. 
 
 In the Cashel Calendar, written about 1030, an- 
 cient lists of Irish Saints, and monks, particularly those 
 of the Archdiccess of Cashel, are given. 
 
 In O’ Gorman’s Martyrology, composed in Irish verse 
 about 1167, are enumerated (with the principal saints 
 of other nations,) the saints and religious of Ireland. 
 
 Donegal Annals and Martyrology are a selection made 
 from foreign and domestic Hagiologists, by Fathers 
 M. O’Clery, Fearfessa O’Maelchonaire, P. O’Clery, 
 and P. Duigenan, learned and pious Irish friars, who 
 associated in the Franciscan Convent of Donegal, to 
 compile and translate materials for the Lives of Irish 
 Saints, for. Fathers Ward and Colgan. This work is 
 also called, the Annals of the Four Masters. 
 
 St. Cummin, or Connor, about 650, left, in verse, 
 an account of the principal Irish Saints, and religious. 
 
 Aengheesh Giolla De; or Aenguss Ceile De, (or Deicold 
 i. e. servant of God) about 850, compiled an account 
 of saints and religious in Ireland, in six books. In 
 the three subdivisions of the first book, he enumerates 
 three hundred and forty-five bishops, two hundred and 
 ninety-nine abbots and priests, and seventy-eight 
 deacons. | 
 
 St. Cormac, king and primate of Munster, (who died 
 in 903,) in his work, called the Psalter of Cashel, has 
 left us many interesting details of Irish saints, reli- 
 gious, monks, and kings. 
 
 The ecclesiastical history of the venerable Bede of 
 the eighth century, although not strictly Irish, gives 
 some interesting facts connected with Irish monasteries. 
 
 Shalvach or Sealbhach, secretary to Prince Cormac, 
 famous for piety and erudition, left a genealogical 
 
 account of the saints and religious of Erin, com- 
 
7 
 
 mencing with MNaovsheanchas naoiv Innse Fail, ow 
 Saered Pedigrees of the Saints of Faill’s Isle. 
 
 Tigearnach O’Braoin, (Breen) in 1088, wrote his 
 Annals of Clouinmaenoish, in which he enumerates the 
 holy men of Ireland. 
 
 Augustine M‘Graidin, canon regular of the Abbey 
 in the Isle of Saints, near Longford, left us the 
 Lives of Saints, and Ecclesiastical Annals, to 1405, 
 when he died, according to Ware. 
 
 Cathal Macguire, of Fermanagh, Canon of Armagh, 
 and Dean of Clogher, a man of great piety and antiqua- 
 rian knowledge, continued the Heclesiastical Annals and 
 Martyrology, until his death, lst April, 1498, in his 
 sixtieth year. 
 
 The Antiphonary of Bangor Monastery, in Ireland, 
 according to Muratori, (keeper. of the Ambro- 
 sian library at Milan,) was written in the seventh or 
 eighth century in Irish characters. It gives an account 
 of St. Patrick, and the ancient saints and religious of 
 Treland.— See Murat, Arezzo, 1771, part 2, Tom. wiii. 
 p- 24. 
 
 MS. Book of Kilkenny, which, according to Colgan, 
 was written by Evin, before the middle of the sixth 
 century, presents a great body of sacred and religious 
 biography ; from whence Fathers Ward and Colgan 
 largely extracted for their work. 
 
 Dr. Roth, a native of Kilkenny, and D.D. in the uni- 
 versity of Douay, V. General of Armagh, and Bishop 
 of Ossory, who died 1655, has left us many works 
 and Mss. to which Primate Usher, was largely indebt- 
 ed for his antiquities. His “ Zreland Rerising” was 
 printed in 1621, His tract on the names of [reland,. 
 prefixed te the ‘“ Florilege’ (or flowery collection of 
 the Isle of Saints) was printed in 1624, The unedited 
 Mss. of his ““Hierographia Hibernica,” and other works, 
 present many pieces of the ecclesiastical and monasti- 
 eal history of his native land, of which Fathers Col- 
 gan, Messingham, and others, availed themselves. 
 
 Me.Carthy, Riabach, and O’Sullivan, left maay 
 ecclesiastical and monastical records of Ireland, men- 
 tioned by Colgan, which have become a prey to time, 
 
8 
 
 or were transplanted with many others to foreign lands. 
 
 Father Hugh Ward, who was a native of Donegal, 
 was educated at Salamanca and Paris, about the year 
 1590, affiliated into the Franciscan order in 1616, and 
 was next lecturer and guardian of the Franciscan 
 Irish College at Louvain, where he left before his 
 death, which happened in 1635, a martyrological and 
 other works in print and Mss. which afforded great 
 assistance to Father Colgan in his labors. 
 
 Father Luke Wadding, born in Waterford in 1588, 
 studied logic and philosophy in Ireland; at fifteen 
 he entered the Jesuit College at Lisbon; then as novice 
 under the Recollet Friars, at Motazinhos, near Oporto. 
 He received the Franciscan habit in 1605, and priest's 
 orders in1613; became Professor, Preacher, and Lectu- 
 rer of Divinity in Liria, Coimbra, and Salamanca, where 
 he was applauded for hisknowledge of the Portuguese, 
 Castilian, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew languages, and em- 
 ployedas Ambassador to the holy See, on the question of 
 the immaculate conception. He was founder of St. Isi- 
 dore’s College at Rome, in 1625, and of a preparatory 
 college for his own order, at Capranica, (about twenty- 
 eight miles from Rome,) in 1656 ; and, as a prodigy of 
 learning, died at Rome, Nov. 18th, 1657. His Annals of 
 the Franciscans in seventeen vols., and of the Writers of 
 the Franciscan order,” folio in 1650, present most 
 valuable materials for the ecclesiastical and monastical 
 history of Ireland. 
 
 Father John Colgan, a native of Donegal, entered 
 the Franciscan order of strict observance, at an early 
 age; heafterwards became professor of Divinity in Lou- 
 vain, where he died in 1658. His five folio vols, 
 (of which two only, amounting to 1652 pages, he lived 
 to publish,) contain the Acts of the Saints of the Is- 
 land of Saints; the Antiquities of the Sacred Island ; 
 and lives of the founders of religious establishments 
 and monasteries in Ireland. Patrick Lynch, secretary 
 to the Gaelic Society, a short time before his death, 
 commenced translating the greater part of Colgan’s col- 
 Jections, in his “ Hibernia Sancta” which was printed in 
 1817. Itis‘o be regretted that it hasnot been completed. 
 
2 
 
 Philip Sullivan Beara, in his “Compendious History 
 of Catholic Ireland,” printed in four tomes, quarto, 
 at Lisbon, in 1621; has left us some ecclesiastical and 
 monastical notices, but he is deemed too credulous. 
 
 Father John Lynch, a native of Galway, archdea- 
 eon of Tuam, afterwards V. A., er bishop of Killala, 
 who died in 1670, in his refutation of Gerard Barry 
 or * Cambrensis Eversus,” has left us much ecclesias- 
 tical information, in which, as Dr. Nicholson (Lrish His- 
 torical Library ) says, ‘he has pointed out the mistakes, 
 blunders, and falsehoods, of an insolent pretender te 
 skill in the annals of this kingdom.” 
 
 Father Thomas Messingham; born in Leinster, 
 appointed Apostolic Prothonotary and Moderator of 
 the Irish College in Paris, where his “ Offices of Irish 
 Saints,” were published in 1620, and his “ Florilege 
 of the Isle of Saints,’ in 1624, 
 
 Roderick O'Flaherty, who, according to Hardiman, 
 ( Hist. Galway) was born at Park, in Galway, about 
 1630, and died April 8, 1718, author of the celebrated 
 Ogygia, printed in 1684, ‘lett several valuable manu- 
 scripts, particularly his Ogygia Christiana, or Arnals 
 of the Christian Ages until the dissolution of the Irish 
 Monarchy,” which,no doubt, throw great light upon the 
 history of the ancient religious establishments in Lreland. 
 
 Father Anthony Hickey, (Hignaeus) a Franciscan, 
 born in Clare, very learned in languages and divinity, 
 a definitor of the order in 1680, and afterwards Su- 
 perior of the College at Louvain. He assisted F. 
 Wadding in compiling his stupendous works, and died 
 in 1641. 
 
 Father Patrick Fleming, a Franciscan, born in Louth 
 in 1599, and died in 1631, wrote lives of Irish Saints _ 
 and Abbots. 
 
 Primate Usher, (who was born in Ireland 1578, 
 and died in 1655) in his “ Primordia,’ or Origin of 
 the British Churches, and in his “ Syd/oge,” or collection 
 of letters respecting Ireland, printed in 1696, (with 
 some absurd statements, which might be expected from 
 2 protestant bishop, refuted by Lanigan and others, ) 
 
10 
 
 has left us an admirable account of ancient monasteries 
 in this country. 
 
 Sir James Ware, another Protestant, who was boin 
 in England 1593, and died in Dublin 1666 ; has left 
 usamost valuable, and in general, a most accurate 
 account of the Monasteries in Ireland, in the second 
 volume of his works, published in Dublin in 1626 
 and 1655, and in London 1656, 
 
 Father Francis Porter, who was born near Droghe- 
 da, (Co. Meath,) early initiated into the order of St. 
 Francis, completed his studies at St. Isidore’s in 
 Rome, where, after obtaining a doctor’s degree, he 
 was chosen Jubilate Lecturer of Divinity, and Presi- 
 dent of the College ; died seventeenth of April 1682. 
 In addition to various polemical works, his ‘“* Compen- 
 dium of the Ecclesiastical Annals and History of Ireland,” 
 printed at Rome, quarto, 1690, presents some curious 
 monastic details. 
 
 Abbé Mac Geogheghan, (who was born in Ireland, and 
 died in Paris, about 1775,) in his Histoire de l Irelande 
 printed at Paris, in 1758, three vels. quarto and lately 
 translated by O’Kelly into English, three vols., octa- 
 vo, makes various references tu the monasteries and 
 other religious establishments in Ireland. 
 
 The next who wrote expressly on the religious in- 
 stitutions of Ireland, and whom we purpese to follow 
 more immediately, is Louis Augustus Alemand, who 
 was born in Grenoble, in 1663. His “ Monasticon 
 Hibernicum” iw French, was dedicated to King James 
 I]., and printed at Paris in 1690, duodecimo. It was 
 translated into English, and enlarged by Captain J. 
 Stephens, and printed without a name in London, 
 1722, octavo. Alemand considerably enlarged the list 
 of religious houses, left by Ware and Usher; and availed 
 himself of the labors of Father Colgan, and of many 
 trish Mss., then, for safety, sent beyond the seas. 
 
 Walter Harris, (a protestant,) followed next: he 
 was born in Mountmellick about 1690, entered Dublin 
 College in 1704, and, after being appointed Doctor of 
 Laws, died July 4th, 1761. Having newly translated 
 
Il 
 
 and enlarged Ware's Antiquities, Irish Writers, Bishops 
 and Monasteries, he published the first volume at 
 Dublin, in 1739, and the second, with illustrations of 
 the monastic habits, (engraved at Paris,) at same place 
 in 1747. 
 
 Ware’s Whole Works, by Harris, were again printed 
 in two folio volumes, at Dublin, in 1764. It is to be 
 regretted that the analytical form of the lists of the 
 Irish Monasteries, adopted by Harris, in this work, 
 is too much confined to give any thing like a full or 
 satisfactory account of them. The whole occupies but 
 twenty-two pages, whereas Alemand’s work (all of 
 which we shall substantially give) contains 450 pages. 
 
 The Report made by his Grace, the Primate, from the 
 Lord's Committee, in 1731, which the present writer 
 possesses, presents a curious account of the religious 
 establishments, particularly the Franciscans, then in 
 Ireland, to which we must call attention in the pro- 
 gress of our work, 
 
 In “The Life of the most eminent and truly illustrious 
 Bishop, St. Patrick,” printed in Dublin, octavo, 1747, 
 there are most valuable notes on the ecclesiastical and 
 monastical buildings in Ireland and elsewhere, which 
 we have used, where necessary, and with many of which 
 Lynch has enriched his life of St. Patrick, printed in 
 1815 and 1828. 
 
 Dr. Nicholson, Bishop of Derry, who died in 1718, 
 in his Zrish Historical Library, printed in 1724, octavo, 
 gives an account of some monastical writers. 
 
 It is not necessary to say, that we have freely made 
 use of the ancient and modern lives of Saints Patrick, 
 Columkille, Bridget, &c. 
 
 The Brief Discourse in vindication of the Antiquities 
 of Ireland, printed in Dublin, 1717; M. O’Reilly’s 
 Dissertations on the Origin, Government, Letters, 
 Science, LFeligion, Manners, and Customs of the 
 Trish, printed in Dublin, 1753; the Essay on 
 the Ancient and Modern state of Ireland, about 1760 ; 
 Taaffe's Letters (in 1798—1800;) and the late Edward 
 O’Reilly’s works, afford curious ecclesiastical informa- 
 tion. 
 
12 
 
 The Rev. Charles O’Connor, although of little weight, 
 so far as his letters called Columbanus are concern: 
 ed, (so ably refuted by Plowden and Clinch,) yet, as 
 he enjoyed at Stowe almost the exclusive possession 
 of Irish Mss. which of right belonged to our coun- 
 try, in his Rerum pease Scriptores et Auctores, 
 printed at Buckingham in 1814, quarto, he gives the 
 names of Monasteries and religious establishments, 
 with much interesting matter. 
 
 Mason’s Hibernia Antiqua et Hodierna, printed in 
 Dublin in 1819, quarto, we regret does not exten 
 its details to the kingdom generally. The volume is 
 mostly confined to the Cathedral, Annals, and Religious 
 institutes of Dublin. 
 
 Dr. Villanueva’s Sancti Patricii, Ibernorum Apostol, 
 Synodi, Canones, Opuscula, &c., printed in Dublin, oc- 
 tavo, 1835, present some critical notes upon several 
 ancient [rish Monasteries. 
 
 At the end of the “Historical Collections,” printed in 
 Dublin, 1758, there is an appendix, setting forth the 
 Abbeys, Priories, and other religious houses, dissolved 
 in [reland, extracted from Ware, Harris, Alemand, 
 and others. So far as this goes (but seventy -nine 
 
 _ pages) the account seems perfectly correct, 
 
 In the Dublin edition of Butler’s Saints, printed in 
 1784, (and again by Cross in 1802,) first published un- 
 der the patronags of the then C. Archbishop of Dub- 
 lin, Dr. Carpenter, there is a valuable appendix, 
 which among other things gives an account (nearly si- 
 milar to the last referred to) ef the monasteries and 
 other religious houses in lreland, and is the same as 
 that published in 1825, called an Historical account of 
 “ll the Monastic Institutes. This freely makes use of 
 Dr. Surke’s Hibernia Dominicana, to which we are 
 much indebted. 
 
 Archdall, the next in erder, devoted his time and 
 talents to monastical researches in Ireland, Patronized 
 by Dr. Pococke, protestant bishop of Ossory, he com- 
 piled four or five folio volumes, on the Irish Monas- 
 teries; but not finding sufficient encouragement for so 
 extensive a work, in 1786, he published an epitome ot 
 
13 
 
 it in one vol. quarto, containing 820 pages, with plates 
 similar to those in Harris’s edition of Ware. Although 
 Archdall has, in many instances, displayed a laudable 
 anxiety to augment the lists of Irish Monasteries, 
 given in preceding works; yet, if we believe Dr. Lani- 
 gan, (who was born in Cashel, 1758, and died near Dublin 
 1828,and whose Ecclesiastical History of Ireland was 
 published in 1822, four vols. octavo, awork of prodigious 
 labor and criticism, to which we: shall pay. becoming 
 respect,) he has, in many instances, attached monaste- 
 ries to ancient frish Churches, and attributed the foun- 
 dation of others to St. Patrick, without sufficientauthori- 
 ty: on the other hand, we think, that the extra criticism 
 of Dr. Lanigan has induced him to diminish the real 
 number in some instances, 
 
 Mr. William Cobbett, who was born in 1768, and 
 died 1835, in the second vol. of his admirable Aistory of 
 the Protestant Reformation, has supplied us with a List 
 of the Abbeys, Priories, Nunneries, and other religious 
 houses, in England, Wales, and Ireland. The pre- 
 sent writer feels some pleasure in knowing that 
 he transmitted to Mr. Cobbett, in 1824, for his 
 publication, a work full of most important details. 
 Although his account of the Irish Monasteries is short, 
 it is, in many respects, very complete, and gives some 
 particulars, such as the value of the Monasteries, and 
 the names of those to whom they were surrendered, 
 not always to be found in more extensive works, Mr. 
 Cobbett’s preface is a powerful piece, and deserves 
 to be studied by every lover of truth and antiquity. 
 
 Having thus briefly noticed the chief works of an- 
 cient and modern times, especially written on reli- 
 gious foundations in Ireland; we have. but to refer to 
 some other works, not exclusively confined to such 
 institutions, but which we have cunsulted, where ne- 
 cessary, during our inquiries on the subject. 
 
 ' Dr. Ledwich’s Antiquities of Ireland, first printed 
 in 1790, quarto, and again in Dublin, 1803, amongst 
 a few facts coming under his own observation, contain 
 
 a bundle of falsehoods and blunders, rar ely equalled, 
 which have beentriumphantly refuted in Dr. Lani- 
 B 
 
14 
 
 gan’s Ecclesiastical History, in its Abridgment by 
 Dr. Carew, and in Dr, Milner’s Tour through Ireland. 
 Captain Grose compiled two quarto volumes of the 
 Antiquities of Ireland, and commenced publishing 
 them in London, 1791; but had only proceeded with 
 seven pages, when he died in June, same year, Far 
 as the personal observations of Grose go, they gene- 
 rally appear accurate, and afford us data for deciding 
 between the credulity of Archdall, and the doubts of 
 Dr. Lanigan, as to the existence, at least, of several 
 monasteries in his day: but wherever Ledwich has 
 introduced his absurd statements, he has destroyed the 
 credit of the work. The Anthologia Hibernica in 1794, 
 Seward’s Topographia Htbernica, printed in Dublin, 
 in quarto, 1795; theCollectanea in 1795, and Sleator’s 
 Topography, in 1806, afford similar evidence of the 
 ruins, or remains .of those institutions. Since that 
 period, we have had some labored disquisitions and 
 essays on Irish Antiquities, which, although presenting 
 little new, give many things not generally known. 
 John O’Phelan’s work on the Cathedral Church of 
 St. Canice, at Kilkenny, accurately published by Peter 
 Shee, Esq. and printed in 1813, folio, presents several 
 curious and interesting facts, connected with the an- 
 cient monasteries, at Kilkenny, which we must notice. 
 As it is our intention, in another volume, to give A 
 complete English and Scotch Monasticon, including 
 Willis’s (admirable and scarce) History of the Mitred 
 Parliamentary Abbeys, and ; Conventual Cathedral 
 Churches, printed in Lendon, 1718, octavo; it would 
 be tedious, and, perhaps unnecessary, for us to men- 
 tion here, in detail, those who have written upon that 
 subject. The following, however, although mainiy 
 treating on religious houses in England, Scotland, and 
 Wales, have some curious facts, concerning Monaste- 
 ries in Ireland, as may be seen in the ensuing pages, 
 Wiikin’s Concilia, in four folio vols. containing three 
 thousand three hundred and thirty-two pages—a prodi- 
 gious work—from which Hart has mainly taken his 
 Records, already mentioned; Sir W. Dugdale’s Mo- 
 nasticon Anglicanum, and Tanner’s Nolitia Monastica, 
 
15 
 
 are works of great celebrity; and, although written 
 by protestants, contain innumerable evidences of the — 
 ancient faith. | 
 
 The Regular Dissection of the Saxon Chronicles 
 (printed in London, 1835, duodecimo,) presents most 
 curious criticisms on the writings of Elfric, Malmes- 
 bury, Hugo Candidus, Wulstan, Peinaldus, Athel- 
 wold, and on ancient annals, monasteries, &c. 
 
 Spottiswood has given us a succinct list of the re- 
 ligious houses in Scotland, which has been copied into 
 (the first vol.) Carruther’s History of Scotland, printed 
 in Edinburgh,—two vols. octavo, 1826. 
 
 Hart’s Medulla Conciliorum, (printed in 1833,) is 
 compiled from Spelman, and other English writers. 
 
 Sir W. Betham’s Antiquarian Researches, in 1827, 
 give less information than might be expected. Mr. 
 D’ Alton, in his Lddustrations of Irish Topography, Prize 
 Lissay on Ireland, Antiquities of Meath, History of the 
 Bishops, and of Co. Lublin, quotes innumerable books 
 and Mss., on Ecclesiastical and Monastic foundations, 
 Hart has given Ecclesiastical Records of England, 
 Ireland, and Scotland, octavo, 1836. The Rev. Mr. 
 Brennan, in his work, now compiled, has displayed con- 
 siderable talent and persevering industry in searching 
 after the ecclesiastical antiquities of his native land. 
 
 The Memoirs of the Ordnance, or Topographical 
 Survey, (now making in Ireland, in quarto volumes), 
 present some interesting facts and documents, particu- 
 larly those by Mr. Donovan. . It were to be wished 
 that Mr. Lewis’s (most expensive) Topographical Dic- 
 tionary of Ireland (preceded by a similar work of 
 N. Carlile in 1810,) had heen sufficiently accurate for 
 reierence. Hardiman’s distory of Galway; Stuart’s 
 History of Armagh; Smith’s History of Cork, Wa- 
 terford and Kerry; Vallancy’s Collectanea, de Rebus 
 EMibermicis, from 1750, to 1804, particularly in refe- 
 rence to Westmeath ; Harris and Whitlaw’s Histories 
 of Dublin; Ryan’s History and Antiquities of County 
 Carlow, 1833; the History of Carrickfergus in 1823 : 
 Bell’s Prize Essay on Gothie Architecture in Ireland, 
 octavo, 1829; andthe County Statistical Surveys, 
 
16 
 
 (drawn up under the direction of the Royal Dublin 
 Society,) have also been consulted. 
 
 From such a mass of materials, it is not the origin- 
 ality of an author; but the caution of a compiler, that 
 is required. Our object was not to give here, all that 
 might be collected in reference to the ancient and 
 present religious houses in Ireland. We considered it 
 better, at first, to confine ourselves to these simple in- 
 quiries, (reserving the annals and writers of each 
 order in Ireland, for some ‘other time.) I.—What 
 has been the number of Abbeys, Priories, Monasteries, 
 Nunneries, &c., of each order in Ireland? JI.—Where 
 was the immediate site (net merely parish and coun- 
 ty, but peculiar locality in the parish) of each house? 
 I1J.— Who was the founder? 1V.—When was it 
 founded? V.—What was the yearly value? VI.— 
 What would it be now worth? VIIl—What its 
 probable size, extent, or description? WIIT.—By 
 what king or queen was it dissolved? IX.—To 
 whom was it granted? X.—Does it, or its ruins, 
 remam? X{I,—Has it been restored on or near the 
 former site ? 
 
 ~ To be as accurate, as the nature of such a work 
 
 would allow, the writer has applied to those connected 
 with religious orders in Ireland, most conversant with 
 the subject, aud feels grateful for the kind assistance 
 they have given him. Their retiring modesty forbids 
 the mention of their names; but the reward of their 
 virtues and works shall follow them. 
 
 Instead of adopting the plan of arranging the mixed 
 establishments, under the various counties, (as fol- 
 lowed by Archdall, Cobbett, and others,) to ascertain,. 
 with greater facility, the precise number of houses 
 connected with each order, we preferred enumerating 
 them under the respective mstitutes, commencing with 
 the canons regular of St. Augustin; and afterwards 
 referring to them in their respective counties. Whilst 
 most of the preceding writers on the subject, limited 
 their inquiries to the monasteries suppressed—we, far 
 as possible, have detailed the entire of these that 
 were, or are, in Ireland, including the religious houses. 
 established even since the Reformation. 
 
17 
 
 ON THE MONASTIC AND RELIGIOUS 
 LIFE. 
 
 *¢ [ will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her 
 heart.’’.—Qsee ii. 14. : 
 
 Tue children of God, from the earliest ages, have 
 loved retirement. Those who from their state in life 
 were actively engaged in the world, while they served 
 God publicly, sought convenient times to,attend more 
 closely to private and particular-devotion ; whilst 
 those who could separate from the cares of the world, 
 left their country or their homes, and, in a state of 
 solitude, or seclusion, dedicated themselves more im-- 
 mediately to the service of God ;-—for as Isaias says, 
 «© The Lord changes the desert into a place of delights, 
 and makes the solitude a paradise, and a garden wor- 
 thy of himself.” 
 
 Of the first class, we have. all the holy Kings, 
 Queens, Nobles, and other persons in active life, who 
 attended to the “ one thing necessary.” (Luke x. 42.) 
 Thus whilst David attended daily to the affairs of his 
 kingdom, he devoted his nights and secret hours to 
 fasting, contemplation, and prayer. “I have labored 
 in my groanings, (says he,) every night: I will wash 
 my bed—I will water my couch with my tears.” 
 (Psal. vi. 6.) ‘I prevented the dawning of the day 
 —my eyes to thee have prevented the morning, that 
 I might meditate on thy words.” (Psal. exviii. 147, 
 148.) “TI arose at midnight to praise thee.” (62.) 
 “Seven times a day I have given praise to thee.’ 
 (164.) ‘ My knees are weakened through fasting, and 
 my flesh is changed for oil.” (Ibid. eviii. 24.) “I am 
 smitten as grass, and my heart is withered, because 
 J forgot to eat my bread. Through the voice of my 
 groaning my bone hath cleaved to my flesh. I am 
 become like.a pelican of the wilderness; 1 am like a 
 night raven in the house. JI have watched, and have 
 become as a sparrow, all alone on the house-top.” 
 (ibid, ci, 5, 6,7, 8.) Holy Judith, as we learn from 
 the book under her name, (which is admitted, with that 
 of Esther, as an authentic history, even by those who 
 
 | B2 
 
18 
 
 deny its inspiration, ) made herself a private chamber im 
 the upper part of her house, in which she abode, shut up 
 with her maid. And she wore hair-cloth upon her 
 loins, and fasted all the days of her life, except the 
 sabbaths, and new. moon, and. the feasts of the house 
 of Israel.” (ch. vii. 5, 6.) “ And chastity was joined 
 to her virtue, so that she knew no man all the days of 
 her life, after the death of Manasses her husband.” 
 (Ibid. xvi. 26.) Queen Esther, likewise, “had re- 
 course to the Lord—laid away her royal apparel, put 
 on garments suitable for weeping and mourning; in- 
 stead of divers precious ointments she covered her 
 head with ashes and dung, and humbled her living 
 ‘with fasts.” —(Ksther xiv. 1,2.) Holy Jebin like 
 manner réeprehended himself, and did penance in dust 
 and ashes, (Job xlii. 6,) and declares (ch. xxi. 17,) 
 how “he never eat his morsel alone, but divided with 
 the poor his food, his clothes, and his dwelling.” 
 St. Clement, speaking. of the religious of the old law, 
 says, (Epistle to the Corinthians,) ‘“‘Let us be fol- 
 lowers of those who went about in goatskins and sheep- 
 skins, preaching the coming of Christ. Such were 
 Elias and Eliseus, and Ezechiel, the prophets. And, let 
 us add to those, such others as have received the like 
 testimony, Abraham, Job, Moses, David, &c. Did 
 not Abraham go forth from his own land, at the com- 
 mand of God, and went out as St, Paul says, (Heb. 
 xi. 8,) “not knowing whither he went?” Didnot Ja- 
 cob make a vow, saying, ‘If God shall be with me, 
 and shall keep me in the way by which I walk, the 
 Lord shall be my God; and this stone, which I have 
 set up fora title, shall be called the house of God?” 
 (Gen. xxviii. 20.) And when he “came to Luza, 
 which is inthe land of Chanaan, surnamed Bethel, he, 
 and all the people that were with him; and he built 
 there an altar, and called the name of that place the 
 House of God.” (Ibid. xxxv. 6, 7.) And to show that 
 it was agreeable to the law of Moses, and common for 
 the servants of God, even then, to vow to live in re- 
 tirement, to live continent, to fast, or to be abstemious, 
 
 we find God himself thus declaring his will: « And the 
 
19 
 
 Lord spoke to Moses saying; speak to the children of 
 Israel, and thou shalt say to them—when a man, or 
 woman, shall make a vow to be sanctified, and will 
 consecrate themselves to the J.ord, they shall abstain 
 from wine, and from every thing that may make a 
 man drunk, They shall not drink vinegar of wine, 
 or of anyother drink ; nor any thing that is pressed out 
 of the grape—nor shall they eat grapes, either fresh 
 or dried. All the days that they are consecrated to 
 the Lord by vow, they shall eat nothing that cometh — 
 of the vineyard, from the raisin even to the kernel.” — 
 (Number vi.) In Deuteronomy (xxiii. 21) the people 
 are expressly commanded to be faithful in performing 
 whatever is offered by vows; although “if it had not 
 been promised there would be no sin.” In Ecelesias- 
 tes (v. 4,) we are told “ that it is much better not to 
 vow, than after a vow not to perform the thing pro- 
 mised.” How great was the voluntary austerity of “ the 
 Rechabites, or sons of Jonadab, who neither drank 
 wine, nor built houses, nor sowed seed, nor planted 
 vineyards nor had any, but dwelt in tents all their 
 days!” (Jerem. xxxv.) Which was so pleasing to God, 
 that he declared “there should not be wanting a man: 
 of the stoek of Jonadab.”’ (Ibid.) How great were the 
 merits and rewards of the prophet Eliseus, who fasted 
 and prayed, and lived so much in retirement!” (4th 
 Kings.) How wonderful the sanctity of the prophet 
 Klias, who was miraculously fed from heaven, whilst 
 fasting from human food for forty days in the 
 desert ! (3rd Kings xix.) Howastonishing the mira- 
 cles of the prophet Isaias, “ who brought the shadow 
 of the sun ten degrees backwards, by the lines,” (4th 
 Kings xx.) “and who is called the great prophet, 
 (Eccl. xlviii. 25) and faithful in the sight of God,’— 
 who sought, all his days, retirement, prayer and fasting. 
 How admirable were the virtues, the fastings, the 
 prayers, the watchings, and solitary spirit of Jere- 
 mias, ‘* who was sanctified in the womb of.his mother, 
 and made a prophet unto the nations!” (Jer. i. 5.) Did 
 not Daniel, by fasting, prayer, and retirement, dispose 
 himself for celestial visions ? (Dan, ix. 3—x. 3,7, 10.) 
 
20 
 
 Did not Ezra and Nehemiah follow his example ?— 
 (Ezra viii. and Nehem. i.4.) But why go into detail— 
 were not the lives of all who served God, even in the 
 ancient law, models of retirement, of penance, of self 
 denial, and of prayer? ‘‘ And what shall I yet say? 
 (adds St. Paul.) For the time would fail me to tell of 
 Gideon, of Barac, of Samson, of Jephte, of David, 
 of Samuel, and of the prophets: who, through faith 
 subdued kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained pro- 
 mises, stepped the mouths of lions, quenched the vio- 
 lence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, recovered 
 strength from their infirmity, became valiant in war, put 
 to flight the armies of foreigners : women received their 
 dead raised to life again ; but others were racked, not ac- 
 cepting deliverance, that they might find a better resur- 
 rection, And others had trial of mockeries and stripes, 
 moreover also of bands and prisons : they were stoned, 
 they were cut asunder, ‘they were tempted, they were 
 put to death by the sword, they wandered about in 
 sheep-skins, in goat-skins, being in want, distressed, 
 afflicted: of whom the world was not worthy: wan- 
 dering in deserts, in mountains, and in dens, and in 
 caves of the earth. And all these being approved by 
 the testimony of faith, received not the promise, God 
 vreviding something better for us, that they should not 
 be perfected without us.”—Heb. xi, 32 to 40. 
 
 Is not St. John the Baptist presented by our di- 
 vine Redeemer, as a model of penance and mortifica- 
 tion. (Matt. xi.) Who “ was great before the Lord ; 
 who drank no wine nor strong drink, and who was 
 filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s 
 womb.” (Lukei, 15.) Who was “ strengthened in spi- 
 rit, and was in the deserts until the day of his mani- 
 festation to Israel.” (Ibid. v. 80.) ‘ Who was 
 clothed with camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about 
 his loins, and ate but locusts and wild honey.” (Mark 
 i. 6.) And. “who came, says our divine Redeemer, 
 neither eating or drinking.” (Matt. xi. 18.) ‘“ Yet there 
 hath not risen among them that are born of women, 
 a greater than John the Baptist.” (ibid, v, 11.) Is not 
 Anna the prophetess, commended because she did not 
 
21 
 
 depart from the temple—“ by fastings and prayer serv- 
 ing God night and day ?” (Luke ii, 37.) 
 
 But however great the example, and striking the 
 counsels we received, from all those holy men and wo- 
 men, it is from Jesus Christ, as our legislator and re- 
 deemer, the religious or monastic state of life amongst 
 christians is derived, When the ruler, or young man, 
 had told him that he had “kept the commandments 
 from his youth, Jesus saith to him—yet one thing is 
 wanting to thee if thou wilt be perfect,” (Mat. xix. 
 21.) “Sell all, whatever thou hast, and give to the 
 poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and 
 come follow me.” (Luke xviii. 22.) Again: “If any 
 man come to me, and hate not (or be not ready to 
 leave for his sake) his father, and mother, and wife, 
 and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his 
 own life also, he cannot.be my disciple.” (Ibid. xiv.26.) 
 And explaining the reward of such renunciation, Je- 
 sus said to them: ** Amen, I say to you, that you who 
 have followed me in the regeneration, when the son 
 of man shall sit in the seat of his Majesty, you shail 
 sit on twelve seats, judging the tweive tribes of Israel. 
 And every one that hath left home, or brethren, or 
 sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, 
 or Jands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundred 
 fold, and shall possess life everlasting.” (Matt. xix. 
 28, 29.) 
 
 But where should we end, if we were fully to de- 
 scribe the practice and counsels of the Apostles, and 
 first christians, touching the value of aretired, mor- 
 tified, and religious life? Did they not, with St. Paul, 
 “bear in their body the mortification of Jesus, that 
 the life also of Jesus might be manifest in their bodies, 
 or mortal flesh ?” (2nd Cor. iv. 11.) Were they not 
 “fastened with Christ to the cross?” (Gal. ii. 20.) Did 
 they not “crucify their flesh with the vices and con-+ 
 cupiscences ?” (Ibid. v.24.) The Apostles were, after 
 Christ, the first true adorers who lived up to this rigor, 
 and who ascending, according to the language of the 
 Scripture, to the summit of this evangelical tower, 
 transmitted the same epirit to almost all those whom 
 
¥ 22 
 
 they converted to the faith of Christ. The martyrs 
 possessed it in an eminent degree, since they not only 
 renounced their goods, their parents, their children and 
 their brethren, hut even their own lives, (Matt. iv. 22,) 
 and they preferred the glory and happiness of losing 
 them for the sake of Christ, to all worldly honor and 
 advantage. Hence, we are expressly told by St. Peter, 
 that “ they had left all things, (wives no doubt ‘in- 
 cluded) and followed him.” (Ib. v. 27.) And Christ, (in 
 the same chapter, verse 12,) says: ‘‘ There are eunuchs 
 who made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of 
 heaven, He who can take it, let him take it.” Hence, 
 to show that a life of celibacy is best suited to the mi- 
 nistry, and most pleasing to God, St. Paul says: “ No 
 man, being a soldier to God, entangleth himself with se- 
 cular business, that hemay please him to whom he hath 
 engaged himself.” (2d Tim. ii. 4.) “ But I would have 
 you to be without solicitude. He that is without a 
 wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the 
 Lord, how he may please God; but he that is witha 
 wife, is solicitous for the things of this world, how he 
 may please his wife, and he is divided. And the un- 
 married woman, andthe virgin thinketh on the things 
 of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and 
 spirit, But she that is married thinketh on the things 
 of the world, how she may please her husband.” (1 
 Cor. vil. 32, 33, 34.) And before, “I say to the un- 
 married and widows, it is good for them, if they abide 
 or continue evenas J.” (V.8.) How far the first chris- 
 tians imitated this noble example, we learn from the 
 Acts, in which we are told, “ That they had but one 
 heart and one soul, neither did any one say that aught 
 of the things which he possessed was his own; but 
 all things were common unto them. For neither was 
 there any one needy among them. For as many as 
 were owners of lands, or houses, sold them, and 
 brought the price of the things they sold, and laid it 
 down before the feet of the Apostles, and distribution 
 was made to every one according as he had need.” (iv. 
 82 to 37.) How far their virtuous descendants fol- 
 lowed this ascetic or religious life, we learn from the 
 
25 
 
 Keclesiastical History of Eusebius. For greater sa- 
 tisfaction the reader may see the protestant version of 
 it, published by Dr. Hanmer, printed in London, 1650. 
 
 But christians being however multiplied, it became 
 impossible for all to live in seclusion cr retirement. 
 But whilst many had to follow, like Martha, a mere 
 active life, others, like Mary, ‘chose the better 
 part” of a secluded state. Thus God, who was 
 pleased te maintain this perfect purity in his church, 
 preserved some of its member from the general relax- 
 ation, filling them with the spirit of his Apostles, by 
 which being animated, they, like a new train of mar- 
 tyrs, forsook their parents, their wives and children, 
 by a sort of death which seemed not less holy, less 
 real, nor less miraculous than that which the first mar- 
 tyrs had endured. They retired into the most distant 
 solitudes, exposed themselves to nakedness, to culd, to 
 hunger, and to all the inclemency of the most rigorous 
 seasons—to the fury of wild beasts, and, ina word, 
 to the rage and envy of devils; and that in order to 
 praise God, and to contemplate his infinite perfections 
 in the silence of the passions, and in a separation from 
 every thing that might distract them from the medi- ° 
 tation of eternal truths. Now followed the monks, an. - 
 chorites, and hermits, who filled the deserts and mo- 
 nasteries, and astonished mankind by their virtues and 
 self denials. Hence the Pauls, the Anthonies, the Hi- 
 larions, the Pachomiuses, and those renowned oriental 
 Saints, whose lives may be found at large in the books 
 already referred to. Next followed the Basils, the 
 Augustins, the Martins, the Columbans, the Bene. 
 dicts, and other founders cf religious orders, whose 
 acts and rules are found in the volumes named: and 
 in later days, the Roberts, the Celestines, the Brunos, 
 the Norberts, the Dominicks, the Francises, the Ig- 
 natiuses, and others, who followed in their train, and 
 of whom we must hereafter speak at length. 
 
 For further information on the ascetic lives of the 
 early christians, we may refer to the 14th oration of 
 St. Gregory Nazianzen; to Rufinus, in his Hcclesias- 
 
24 
 
 tical History, (Pref. in vitam phe ers to Saint 
 
 Ephrem, in his first sermon, (in S. Pat. defunct) to St. 
 
 Jerom, (in Epist. 22 de Virgin. ») and to St. Athana- 
 
 sius,'in his Lives of the Fathers of the desert. 
 Rufinus says :— 
 
 ‘“*T have seen, in truth, the treasure of Jesus Christ shut up in 
 the frail vessels of human bodies, and having found it, I would 
 not conceal it, as if I were determined that others should not be 
 made partakers of it. . . .I have seen many Fathers among them 
 who led a heavenly life on earth, and new prophets. raised up to 
 shine in the world, as well by their eminent piety as by their 
 predictions of future events. We have seen men, the greatness 
 of whose merits was proclaimed by the number of prodigies and 
 illustrious miracles which God wrought by their hands ; and in- 
 deed it is just that they who renounce both the possession and 
 love of temporal things, should be invested with divine power and 
 authority. I have seen some among them whose souls were so 
 purified from all malicious suspicions with regard to their neigh- 
 bour, that they had even quite forgotten the ill that is committed 
 in the world: their souls were so Calin’ and their hearts so re- 
 plenished with good and tender dispositions, that it might be said 
 of them with justice---* Those who seek thy law, O Lord, enjoy a 
 profound peace.’ 
 
 * Moreover, they live in the desert in cells far separated from 
 one another, but closely united in charity: and they choose to 
 have their dwellings thus removed from one another, to the end, 
 that they seek only God, -so their silent repose, and their fervent 
 inflamed -meditations, may not be disturbed by the noise of visi-’ 
 tors, or their useless conversations. Thus having their souls in 
 Heaven, and each individual remaining in his grotto, they await 
 the coming of Jesus Christ, as children do the coming of their 
 father, or as soldiers prepared for battle expect thearrival of their 
 general; or, in fine, as servants the return of their master, who 
 is to give them both liberty and reward. ‘There is no uneasiness 
 among them concerning their food or their clothes, knowing that 
 such anxiety is the fruit of unbelief; but as they ardently seek 
 the kingdom of God and his justice, so all these things are given 
 them over and above, according to our Saviour’s promise. 
 
 We must now proceed to that which immediately 
 cencerns our own country. 
 
INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO 
 | ‘IRELAND. 
 
 To fix the time precisely when Christianity was first introduced 
 into Ireland is difficult, not only because the primitive preachers 
 of the gospel were more solicitous to gain souls, than to transmit 
 the memory of their actions to posterity ; but because many of 
 eur modern writers have rather delighted in showing their read- 
 ing and abilities, by calling in question what all others wrote be- 
 fore them, than in endeavouring to reconcile trivial differences, 
 and to correct errors which might have been owing to transcr?- 
 bers, and not to the original authors. We have not here leisure 
 to enter upon controversies, and shall therefore only briefly 
 touch upon what is generally received by those who have not 
 taken a resolution to carp at whatsoever does not suit their 
 taste. Itis a generally received opinion that the faith of Christ 
 was known in some parts of Ireland in the fourth century, if not 
 sooner; for before that time some Irishmen in other parts of Eu- 
 rope, were noted for piety and learning, and although St. Patrick 
 says, “till his time the Irish generally had not the knowledge of 
 God but worshipped idols and unclean things.”” (Conf. p.16); yet 
 we are told, that in parts of the kingdom where St. Palladius and 
 his companions were, the sacred vessels of the altar were disco- 
 vered, almost immediately after St. Patrick had commenced his 
 apostolic labors. (Colgan Tr. Th. part ii. Cap. 35, Jocelin Cap. 
 105.) The age here spoken of produced St. Diarmit, and St. 
 Liberius, persons ofeminent sanctity in the island, of whom we shall 
 soonspeak. Though we cannotaffirm who first brought the know- © 
 ledge of Christ into Ireland, yet there is no question, that from 
 the first entrance thereof, it wasnever extinguished. Those holy 
 men were succeeded by others in the work of propagating the gos- 
 pel, as St. Albeus, St. Kiaran, St. Declan, St. Iberus, and 
 others, about the latter end of the same century, and the begin- 
 ning of the next. These all appear to have been private attempts, 
 and the holy men who went upon them seem to have been monks, 
 whether they were priests or not, it is difficult to be proved; but 
 it is certain that none of them were bishops, for we are expressly 
 
26 WHEN MONASTERIES 
 
 told that St. Palladius, who received episcopal consecration from 
 St. Celestine the pope, was the first. bishop who was sent to the 
 Scots and Irish. (See St. Prosper’s Chron. A.D. 431, and the 
 other authors quoted by Lanigan.) These indeed converted some 
 and are said to have built monasteries; however the harvest was 
 not very considerable. Palladius was the first bishop sent over by 
 Pope Celestine to the Scots, that is, the Irish, who believed in 
 Christ, as Venerable Bede informs us, (Eccl. Hist. L. i. ch. 13.) Not 
 meeting with the success he expected, he soon left that island, 
 returned into Britain, and died there ; whereupon St. Patrick 
 was sent the next year by the same Pope Celestine; and he was 
 the great apostle of the Irish nation, which he almost wholly re- 
 duced from idolatry to the faith of Christ, ordained bishops, 
 founded monasteries, and performed so many wonderful actions, 
 as would make a large volume, were they all known. We shall 
 pass over the details of the mission and conversion of St. Patrick 
 as they are given at length by Dr. Lanigan in his history, and by his 
 abridger Dr: Carew. 
 
 
 
 WHEN THE MONASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF LIFE 
 WAS FIRST BROUGHT INTO IRELAND, AND WHO ERECTED 
 REGULAR COMMUNITIES THERE. 
 
 This island became acquainted with monks almost as soon as it 
 had any knowledge of christianity; because those who labored 
 here in planting the faith, were themselves engaged in the mo- 
 nastical state of life: for, not to mention the three first centuries 
 after the death of our Saviour, as it is very uncertain whether 
 there were then any christians in Ireland; yet, during that time, 
 there are known to have been in other parts of Europe some 
 Irishmen eminent for sanctity, both bishops and monks, who had 
 been so fortunate as to quit their then idolatrous country, which 
 was wholly ignorant of the ways of christianity, except what it 
 heard from some travellers. 
 
 ‘“‘ The fourth century,’’ says Stephens, ‘‘ produced several saints 
 in Ireland, the most remarkable whereof were St. Diermit, and 
 St. Liberius, who made the lake of Ree (in the midst of Ireland, ) 
 yenowned on account of the two first monasteries that were known 
 in that kingdom.”’? Lanigan, says Diermit, founded his‘monas- 
 tery in 546. (Seep. 10, vol. ii.) 
 
 The beginning of the fifth century is no less remarkable for 
 St. Ailbe, St. Ybarus, St. Declan, and St. Kiaran, or Keran, 
 the last which has been surnamed the first born of the saints of 
 Ireland. These holy men, who converted a considerable part of 
 the island, were monks, and founded considerable abbeys, where 
 they were themselves abbots. 
 
 _. ‘the famous St. Palladius, whocame into Ireland at the be ginning 
 of the fifth century, as missioner from Rome, was also a monk; 
 most historians assure us that he was a regular canon, and that 
 
WERE INTRODUCED INTO IRELAND, 27 
 
 he brought several others with him, the chiefest whereof were 
 Augustin, Benedict, Sylvester and Solonius, who built some 
 churches in the provinces of Leinster and Munster. 
 
 The fifth century produced several other abbots in Ireland, 
 who were founders of monasteries. The mostnoted of them were 
 St. Endeus, St. Mocteus, St. Senan, St. Rioch, St. Canoc, 
 called also Conoc or Mochonoc, who flourished, according to La- 
 nigan, in 492, and the great St. Bridget, who was also an abbess, 
 and foundress of several monasteries, which shall be noticed 
 hereafter. 
 
 The sixth century was no less fruitful in holy monks, who not 
 only founded many abbeys in Ireland, whereof they were abbots, 
 but some also established new rules. The most renowned saints of 
 that century were the great St. Columba, the two St. Finians. the 
 two St. Brendans, the St. Colmans, one St. Colmanel, St. Bro- 
 gan, St. Colman, St. Comgal, St. Edan, or St. Madoc, St. 
 Fachnan, St. Carthage, St.Cronan, St. Lazerian, or St. Malais- 
 sus, St. Sincellus, and several others, whose names are given by 
 Lanigan, and other historians. 
 
 Ti the seventh century we meet with many abbots eminent for 
 sanctity of life, as St. Donan, St. Fechin, St. Columban, St. 
 Monchin, St. Bodan, and St. Faitlech. Marianus Scotus says, 
 that Ireland was full of samts at that time. We will however 
 stop here, although there were likewise many holy men in 
 the eight, ninth, and tenth centuries, of whom we shail have suf- 
 ficient opportunity to speak in the progress of this work. 
 
 This multitud@ of saints, almost all of them monks, that Ire- 
 land has produced, gave occasion to its being called the Island of 
 Saints; and, in short, there has been so great a number of them, 
 that Father Colgan, the franciscan observant, in his preface to the 
 Lives of the Saints, had reason to say, that what is reported of 
 them scarely appears creditable at present. ‘The foreign reader, 
 (says he,) who is but little acquainted with our history, will per- 
 haps wonder that so great a multitude of saints, as are mentioned 
 in the indexes, and so many apostles of nations, could be pro- 
 duced by one island and one nation; so many saints of the same 
 name, sO many very often living at the same time; so many. com- 
 panions in the same holy mission; so many brethren of the same 
 monastery, and very often the disciples of the same master, to be 
 reckoned among the blessed.”’ 
 
 And in reality Ireland could, at that time, boast of being to 
 the rest of Europe, as it were a seminary of sanctity, to which 
 the christians of other nations resorted in crowds, to learn to be 
 saints; and whence daily went abroad an infinite number of 
 holy men, to disperse themselves throughout all Europe, where 
 they founded famous monasteries, whereof there are glorious re- 
 mains to this day. So that Ireland was then like another The- 
 baida, in those primitive days of the spreading of the faith, to 
 use the words of an Irish historian. 
 
 The great St. Columba alone founded above an hundred abbeys 
 
28 WHEN MONASTERIES WERE INTRODUCED: a 
 
 im Ireland, England, Scotland, and other islands depending oni 
 them, for Swhieh reason he was surnamed Columbkill, that-is, . 
 builder of churehes. St. Bernard also observes, that a monk of 
 the abbey of Banchor, in Ulster, founded above an hundred 
 houses of regulars in several countries. 
 
 The Burgundians are beholden to the holy monks of Ireland 
 for the abbey of Luxueil, the Italians for that of Bobio, the Lor- 
 rainers for that of St Mansn, at Toul, and the, Germans for that 
 of Wirtsbourg, nof to mention many others. In short, the- Irish 
 have founded so many churehes in Europe, that a monk of the 
 
 abbey of St. Gall, in Switzerland, has met with enough of them 
 
 to compose a large volume of their foundations. It was then thought 
 sufficient to be an Irishman, or to have been in Ireland, for any 
 one to be looked upon as a saint, and immediately become. the . 
 founder of some abbey; so true it is, that heaven seemed to 
 
 ’ have showered down its graces and blessings peculiarly wpon Ire- 
 
 land, whither other nations. resorted to partake of them, as to a » 
 
 plentiful and inexhaustible souree. Which Colgan ealls, an argu- 
 
 ment of the great opinion the Romans,’ and other European na- 
 tions, had formerly. conceived of the sanctity and learning of this ° 
 holy .island.. We: likewise find, im the hfe of St. Senan, that 
 being in his island of Cathay, a ship arrived there bringing some 
 monks; for there were expected fifty monks, Romans’ by birth, 
 who were drawn into Ireland by. the desire of a stricter life, or 
 skilfulness in the scriptures, which then much flourished. there. 
 “There were some names: among the Irish, (says Stephems,,) to 
 which sanctity seemed to be inherent; for we fead in the life of 
 St. Albeus, that at his return from Rome he was attended by 
 
 ; ‘many Irish saints, 12 whereof were ealled Colmans, 12 Coem- 
 
 genes, and 12 Fintans. Colgan assures us, that there have been ~ 
 10 Saints Gobbans, 1] Saints-Lasereans, 12 Saints Bridgets, 12 _ 
 Caimans, Dichuls, Maidoes, and Odrans; 13 Comans and. Di- 
 
 mans; 14 Brendans, Mochumiuses, Finans and Romans; 15 - 
 
 Canals, Cormacks, Diarmits and Lugadiuses; 16 Mochuans La- 
 frans; 17 Saranes; 18 Ernizis and Failbees: 19 Cuminees, : Foi- 
 
 - Jans and Sillans ; 20Kierans and Ultans ; 22. Kilians; 23 Aiduses ;. 
 
 .24 Columbs, or Columbans; 25 Senans;, 27 Fintans; 28 Aidans; 
 
 - 30 Cronans; and what is most extraordinary, 120 Colmans. 
 
 Nor isit Colgan alone thathas advanced a matter so surprising, 
 
 . for St. AEngussius Keledeus, who was an Irish bishop, and lived 
 
 in the eighth century, likewise | assures us, that there had been 
 in thatisland sixty two classes of saints, who bore the same name, 
 among whom were remarkable, 34 Mochumiuses, 37 Moluans, 
 43 Molaisses, or Lasereans, 58 Moclmans, and to conclude,. 200 . 
 Colmans; which much exceed what Colgan has said. é 
 
 But let us proceed from the number of Irish saints to that of 
 
 -their regular houses, which is not less numerous; for besides, 
 
 that in the Reign of Henry VIII of England who suppressed the 
 Irish monasteries in the sixteenth century, there were then ae. 
 400 of several orders. If we credit what Colgan says, there is 
 
INTO IRELAND. 29 
 
 scarcely a parish, or secular benefice at that time in Ireland, 
 which was not at its first institution a regular community. He 
 adds, ‘‘that there was a great number of abbeys and monasteries, 
 of which there are not the least remains at this time; but where, 
 says he, were so many episcopal sees in a small kingdom, where- 
 in there are not forty at this time ?”? ‘I answer, (says he) that 
 the said kingdom formerly was much more flourishing, abounded 
 muchmore in cities, towns, villages and wealth; and that almosteve- 
 ry town had noted monasteries, and villages, and sometimes their 
 peculiar bishops, as plainly appears to such as read the acts of our 
 saints, and more especially of St. Patrick, who with his own hand 
 ordained 150 bishops, 5000 priests, and founded 700 churches.” 
 Although there may be here some exaggeration, yet, it is certain, 
 that keeping within the bounds of probability, Ireland, consider- 
 ing its extent, had infallibly more saints, more monasteries, and 
 more monks, and ecclesiastics of all orders, than other much 
 larger countries. 
 
 But that which drew many foreign monks into Ireland, was 
 chiefly the reputation it had gained, not only of having many 
 saints, but also of possessing a great number of learned divines, 
 insomuch that there were many abbeys, which at that time 
 exceeded some of our modern famous universities, either for the 
 number of scholars, not only Irish, but of all European nations, 
 or for the extraordinary learning of their holy professors, whose 
 sanctity of life, and profound knowledge are admired to this day : 
 Which gave occasion to Colgan to say: “I can scarcely decide, 
 whether it acquired more honor on account of its having produced, 
 and sent abroad, almost an infinite number of doctors and apos- 
 tles; or for that by reason of the continual resort of Italians, 
 French, Germans, Britons, Pict:, Saxons, English, and other 
 nations repairing to it, through the desire of being instructed in 
 a stricter course of life, their residence, and being here buried, 
 it may be deservedly called the common store-house of literature 
 for Europe, and the general sanctuary of religious persons. ”’ 
 
 
 
 OF WHAT ORDER MONKS IN IRELAND WERE. 
 
 It is in the first place to be observed, that at the time to which 
 we assign the origin of the Irish monks, in the fourth and fifth ecn- 
 turies, the two most ancient orders that now flourish in christcn- 
 dom, those of St. Benedict, and the regular canons of St. Augus- 
 tin, in their present state, were not then known And therefore, 
 it is likely that those Irish monks made choice of particular rules, 
 contrived by themselves, or rather that they had brought from 
 the eastern countries the rules of St. Anthony, St. Pacomius, and 
 St. Basil; or those of the famous Anchorites of Mount Carmel, 
 or of Thebaida, which is not at all unlikely; for St. Albeus, and 
 the latter went into the islands of the Archipelago, where it is 
 
 C 2 
 
30 ORDERS 
 
 certain that several of those rules were used, notonly at that time, 
 but long before. 
 
 It is also probable, that the rules of our Irish monks were the 
 same, or nearly similar to those of St. Benedict, and St. Augus- 
 tin, which were established some time after, and which prospered 
 so much throughout all the west, that those peculiar rules in Ire- 
 land were obliged in process of time to give way to, and be in- 
 corporated into them; so that some of them followed the rule of 
 St. Benedict, and the others being much the greater number, (1 
 speak only of those in Ireland) embraced that of the regular 
 canons of St. Augustin. But for better understanding of those 
 particular rules in Ireland, before the union above spoken of, it 
 is requisite to observe, that Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, in his 
 ‘* History of the antiquities of the British churches,’’? mentions an 
 authentic manuscript, wherein it appears, that the first saints were 
 from the beginning divided into three regular orders. “‘That the 
 first order was called most holy, and was of St. Patrick’s time, 
 who was looked upon as the head of it; that this order was com- 
 posed of three hundred and fifty bishops, all of them saints, who 
 used the same tonsure and liturgy; that they agreed in the time 
 of celebrating Easter; that they spoke to women, and did not 
 shun the sight of them, as the Carthusians still do; and, in short, 
 that this order, which was composed of persons of several nations, 
 but particularly Irish, continued during four reigns of Irish 
 monarchs. 
 
 “That the second order was not so holy as the first, yet more 
 holy than the last; that the monks who belonged to it were almost 
 all of them priests, being about three hundred, for it is well known 
 that formerly few monks took the degree of priesthood. There 
 were few bishops in this order, and they had some slight 
 differences in reciting the divine office; that is, they were of 
 several congregations, though they all belonged to one order 
 in, general; and, thus among the regular canons of St. Augustin, 
 and in the orders of St. Benedict, end the Cistercians, there 
 are so many different congregations, which in their office and 
 habit are several distinct orders. 
 
 “However, this second order agreed so far with the first, as to 
 celebrate Easter exactly in the same manner, that is, on the 
 fourteenth day of the moon, like the Jews. They all used the 
 same tonsure, they never spoke to women; and this also conti- 
 nued during four reigns. 
 
 “ The two Saints Brendans, the Saints Congal, Coemgene, Ciaran. 
 or Kiaran, Columb, Canic, Lasereans, or Eugenius, Lugeus, Lu- 
 deus, Moditeus, Cormac, Colman, Nessan, Lofread, Barindeus, 
 Coeman, Conan, Endzus, Byrchin, and many more, were of 
 this order 7 
 
 “Tt only remains tospeak of the third and last order, which was 
 also holy, but not so holy as the othertwo. It contained many holy 
 monks, being about one hundred, who were almost all of them 
 priests, and some of them bishops. Thcir monasteries were built 
 
IN IRELAND, 31 
 
 in woods and deserts, where they drank nothing but water, and 
 fed on nothing but herbs of their own cultivation, somewhat like 
 the famous monks of La Trappe: these also were divided 
 into several congregations, each of which had its particular li- 
 turgy and tonsure; for some wore crowns, others permitted their 
 hair to grow. They likewise differed in the time of aster, for 
 some of them kept it on the fourteenth day of the moon, others on 
 the thirteenth, and others on the sixteenth; besides some of them 
 kept it in sadness, like the jews, others in joy. This order also 
 continued during four reigns. The principal bishops of it were 
 these, the Saints Petran, Ultan, Colman, Margeus, Aidun, Se- 
 nagh, Loman, or Lomprian, and perhaps some others. The 
 most noted of the priests were the Saints Fechin, Airedan, Fal- 
 lan, Coman, Commian, Colman, Ernan, Cronan, &c.’’ 
 
 In fine, that manuscript informs us, that the first order was 
 most holy, the second holier, the third holy; the first like the ris- 
 ing sun, the second like the moon, the third like the stars. All 
 the time the saints of these three orders lived, during those twelve 
 reigns, was from 433 till 664, being above two centuries. 
 
 On the Liturgies, the Tonsures, and the Celebration ‘of 
 Easter, we refer our readers to the cttadunces and unanswera- 
 ble work of Dr. Lanigan, or to its epitome by Dr. Carew 
 
 
 
 THE PARTICULAR ORDERS IN IRELAND, 
 
 Stephens, in his. introduction to Alemande, thus enumerates 
 them :--- 
 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint Seana or Collumkill 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint eee, 
 
 The Order, or Rule of Sint eee 
 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint heal 
 
 The Order,.or Rule of Saint aes or Mochusay 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint aren or Lugidus, 
 The Order, or Rule of gee Miciaus, 
 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint Finan. 
 
 The Order or Rule of Saint Paitin. 
 
 x. 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint Columban 
 
32 PARTICULAR ORDERS 
 
 XI. 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint Kiaran. 
 xi. 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint Brendan. 
 R101 
 The Order, or Rule of Saint Bridget, of Nuns. 
 
 All these Rules differed from one another, not only on account 
 of the diversity of the habits, the tonsures, their diet and solitude, 
 but also, as appears by the several founders who instituted them, 
 and the abbeys and monasteries that depended on them. But 
 the union of all these particular orders with those of St. Benedict 
 and St. Augustin being very ancient, no author has been able pre- 
 cisely to decide to what particular order each monastery in Ire- 
 land belonged ; so that we must rest satisfied with knowing which 
 was the first and principal house of each of those orders, after 
 which we will, at length, shew the dependence of the monasteries 
 which’ were in Ireland, after the union and suppression of the 
 former. 
 
 It isnot agreed that Saint Patrick was the founder of a par- 
 ticular order, though he was of several monasteries ; but the rea- 
 son, perhaps, why some have given him that title, is, on account 
 of that manuscript quoted by Usher, wherein he is styled head of 
 that most holy order above mentioned. Alemand thinks he was 
 the founder of a particular order, the principal abbey whereof was 
 at Sabal. Bulteau seems to be of the same opinion, when he says 
 that “‘he founded several monasteries besides Sabal, and settled 
 holy observances in them; that he brought up among them the 
 Roman tonsure, round; that he wore a white scapular ; and that, 
 after his example, the other Irish religious men wore a woollen 
 garment of the natural colour, without dying; and, that, at last 
 he died in his monastery at Sabal, about the year 460.” Dr. La- 
 nigan contends that St. Patrick died at Saul, in Louth, anno 465. 
 
 The Order of St. Columba, or Columkille, was one of the 
 most extensive, for it had above an hundred monasteries or ab- 
 beys belonging to itin all the British islands. ‘The principal house, 
 or head of the order, was according to some at Armagh, aceord- 
 ing to others at Derry, now Londonderry, and according to the 
 most received opinion in the island of Hu, Hij, or Jona, which 
 is now called Collumbkil, seated to the northward of Ireland, at 
 a small distance from Scotland. That saint having preached the 
 faith to the Picts, converted great numbers of them, and built 
 éhurches ; he was so much honored as the apostle of that country, 
 that in the time of Bede, about 731, by a very extraordinary sort 
 of discipline, all the bishops of the province of the Picts were sub- 
 ject to the jurisdiction of the priest who was abbot of Collumbkil, 
 because St. Columba the apostle of the nation, had been only a 
 priest and religious man. His death happened, according to La- 
 nigan, on the 9th of June, in 597 ~=—‘ There is still a Rule in Irish 
 verse, which he dictated, and which was practised, not only in 
 the isle of Hij, but in all other monasteries in Scotland, founded 
 
MSG IRELAND, 2 eS ee 
 
 “by him or by his disciples. St. Columba wore a white tunic, and 
 
 his tonsure was half round. This order was comprised in that 
 which they called more holy, already spoken of; but the number - 
 of the monks of St. Colamba’s orders exceeded that of the se- 
 cond order; for it is observed in the aforesaid manuscript, that 
 
 the number of the monks of that second order was but three _ 
 
 hundred, almost all of them priests. There were above one hun- 
 dred monasteries of the order of St. Columba, and we shall find 
 
 above three thousand monks, under the direction-of St. Comgal. | - bes 
 
 Usher, Colgan, and other Irish historians; have not made’ out 
 
 this difficulty, in speaking of this order, It may be said, that. ¥ : ? 
 
 the aforesaid manuscript by that number of three hundred, only... 
 designed the abbots and superiors of the monasteriess, that com-’ 
 posed that second order, which it calls more holy, Se 
 
 Next to the particular order of St, Columba, follows that of St. 
 Ailbe, at least according as it is ranked by Usher and Alemand,. — 
 where they speak of these orders, though St. Ailbe is reckoned » 
 among the first saints'in Ireland, that is, inthe first order called - 
 most holy, as well as St. Declan, St. Moctee, and St. Kiernan,, 
 of whom we shall speak hereafter. Be that as it may, the Order 
 of St. Ailbe, though one of the most ancient, was the least ex- 
 tensive. Its principal abbey was that of Emly, in the eounty 
 of Tipperary, in the province of Munster, and that abbey was 
 made a bishopric, which is united to the archbishopric of 
 Cashel. Usher mentions a rule St. Ailbe composed in Inish verse - 
 for his disciples. é 
 
 St. Declan also, according to Colgan, founded a particular or- 
 der, whose principal abbey was at Ardimore, on the coast of 
 Munster; but it was of small extent. Dr. Lanigan contends 
 that St. Declan was not a bishop in 402, nor any time before the — 
 mission of St. Patrick, and that he succeded St. Ailbe, who died. 
 in 527. See vol.i. p. 27. 
 
 The order of St. Comgal, or Coemgal, was more considerable. 
 That saint led such an austere life with his disciples, that seven ~ 
 of them died through hunger and cold. He was advised to mo- 
 derate that austerity, and took the advice, permitting his disci- 
 ples to live like the rest of the religious men, but as to himself 
 he did not abate his penitential rigour. He built the famous con- 
 vent of Benchor (or Bangor), in the county of Down, and is said. 
 to have had three thousand religious men under his direction.--- 
 
 _He died in that abbey in the year 601, or according to Lanigan, | 
 about the end of the seventh century, and composed a rule for his 
 disciples, which is in Irish verse, 
 
 St. Mochude, who was ealled Carthage, excelled in sanctity, 
 and built the monastery of Rathen in the county of Westmeath, 
 where he had above eight hundred religious men, who lived in 
 great austerity. He also founded the church of Lismore in Mun- 
 ster, and was the first bishop of that see, and died in 637. His 
 rule is also still extant in very ancient Irish. One custom prac- 
 tised by these religious men was, that when they had been sent out 
 of the monastery, at their return they knelt down before the ab- 
 
34 PARTICULAR ORDERS 
 
 bot, and acquainted him, that they had done their endeavours to 
 fulfil his orders. 
 
 St. Ligudus, or, as some call him, St. Molua, had been a disci- 
 ple of St. Comgal of Bangor. He was so exact in observing the 
 duties of obedience, that the same was often honoured with mira- 
 cles, to shew the worth of that holy man; for, that he might the 
 more readily obey some orders he had received from St. Comgal, 
 he handled a red-hot iron, without being burnt, and having laid 
 himself prostrate along the sea shore, because he had been re- 
 proved for a fault, the water rising with the flood did not cover 
 the place where he lay! He founded many monasteries, to the 
 number of one hundred, as St. Bernard reports he was told by 
 the Irish. The chief of them was that of Cluainfert in Leinster, 
 or, according to others, Clonfert in the county of Galway, in the 
 province of Connaught, which at present is a bishopric. It is re- 
 ported, that the abbot Dagon going to Rome, laid the rule he had 
 given to his disciples, before Pope Gregory, and that the holy 
 pope having read it, declared in public, that the holy abbot who 
 composed it had enclosed his community with an hedge that ran 
 up to heaven. He suffered no woman to enter his monastery, 
 Drawing near to his death, he exhorted his disciples to persevere 
 in the service of God, recommending to them among other things, 
 steadiness and silence, and having received the Holy Commu- 
 nion at the hands of St. Cronan, who came to see him, he died 
 _ near the cell of his disciple St. Stellan, in the year 622, or ac- 
 cording to Ware, in 609. 
 
 The order of St. Moctee, or Moctheus, was not inconsiderable, 
 as Colgan reports. That saint founded several abbeys, the chiet 
 whereof was that of Ferns, where he resided, and where he was 
 afterwards bishop, when Ferns was made a bishopric. 
 
 St. Finian, or Finnen, was born in Leinster, and was baptised 
 by St. Alban. When he was of age to follow his studies, he re- 
 tired to St. Forchene, abbot of Roscur, who taught him the duties 
 of a religious state. At thirty years of age he went over into 
 France, and proceeded to Tours to continue his studies: return- 
 ing thence into Ireland, he taught divinity in one of the houses 
 whereof he was founder, and afterwards in the abbey of Clonard, 
 which is reputed to have been of the order of his famous school in 
 Clonard. See particulars in Lanigan’s History. He had several 
 disciples, who were afterwards famous for virtue. His common 
 food was only bread, herbs and water ; on festival days he eat a 
 little fish, and drank whey, or beer. The ground was his bed, 
 and a stone his pillow. At last, a contagious distemper, which 
 infested the country, according to Lanigan, in 552, carried him 
 off among many others, and translated him to the glory of the 
 blessed. 
 
 St. Kieran, or Keran, had been instructed in literature by St. 
 Finian. Usher says his order was approved by several popes.--- 
 The two principal houses of this order were, Seir-Keiran in East 
 Meath, and Cluan-Macnois, Clunes, or Kiloom, in Westmeath, 
 
. IN IRELAND. 39 
 which was afterwards made a bishopric, and is now united to 
 that of Meath. Colgan says this abbey had great benefactions 
 from the princes of Ireland, and had many other churches or 
 priories subject toit. This saint died about 549, being but thirty 
 three years of age. He is not the same as St. Kiernan, bishop of 
 Sagir, who died about the year 520, as Ware erroneously states. 
 
 To conclude, the order of St. Brendan had for its principal 
 house the abbey of Portpur, in the town of Clonfert, in the coun- 
 ty of Galway, in Connaught, which afterwards became a cathedral. 
 It is reported, that an angel dictated to him the rule which he 
 prescribed to his disciples, and that he had two or three thousand 
 monks under his direction. He died very old, according to some 
 about 577. Others place his death ten years later. 
 
 Of all the thirteen orders, only that of St. Columban submitted 
 tothe order of St. Benedict; nine others were incorporated into the 
 Regular Canons of St. Augustin, which was the most considera- 
 ble of all others in Ireland. Pennotus considers it was St. Pa- 
 trick that first settled them in Ireland, others says it was Palla- 
 dius, his predecessor; but be that as it may, certain it is, that 
 those Canons were very numerous in Ireland, and much more 
 than the Benedictines, who were notnumerous there, especially 
 at the time of the suppression of monasteries in that kingdom; for 
 ** I know (says Stephens) they had some few more houses during 
 the first ages, after their coming thither. They came not into 
 Ireland till the seventh century, as Colgan observes, and they lost 
 some houses in the following ages. ”’ 
 
 As for the general suppression of monasteries in Ireland, the 
 method and motives of it were the same as in England, whereof 
 enough may be seen in the several volumes of the Monastican 
 Anglicanum. Those who desire to see the means adopted for car- 
 rying on this sacrilegious work, will find ample details in the 
 ‘* Historical Collections”’ taken from protestant writers. At the end 
 of the second volume of the Monastican Anglicanum, there is an 
 account of about thirty five regular houses in Ireland, with some 
 ef their foundation charters, which I also quote as they occur. 
 But as those additions are not very considerable, and only a smal! 
 part of the whole work, and, as Ware has made an imperfect 
 essay towards the Irish Monasticon, in his little Monastereologia, 
 “I have (says Stephens) undertaken to collect all that relatcs to 
 the Monastical History of Ireland and Scotland, believing such a 
 work may be acceptable to the public, at a time when antiquities 
 are so much sought after, as that the like has scarcely ever been 
 known in any age whatsoever; and Ireland being so great an or- 
 nament of the imperial crown of England, every part of its history 
 and antiquities is as proper reading for the English, as for the na- 
 tives of that country.’’ I will only add in this place, what Hanmer 
 says in his Chronicle of Ireland : 
 
. 36 FOUNDING OF MONASTERIES IN IREDAND 
 _ OF THE FIRST FOUNDING OF MONASTERIES IN IRELAND. 
 
 “‘ There were four bishops in Ireland before the coming thither 
 of St.-Patrick, and many of. the people had been converted, 
 though the said St. , Patrick afterwards converted the great men, 
 &c., and is therefore reckoned the apostle of Ireland. The first 
 christian in that nation was Colmannus, a reverend priest, who 
 baptised one Declanus, who afterwards going to Rome was con- 
 secrated a bishop by Pope Celestin, and returned into his native 
 country. The other three bishops were Albeus, Kyaranus, or 
 Kieran, alias Piran, and Ybarus. This Ybarus baptised Abba- 
 nus, and brought him up im learning. ‘They then went together 
 to Rome, and after their return conversed in Ireland with St. 
 Patrick, 
 
 ** Abbanus aforesaid, is renowned in Ireland for building cells 
 and religious houses ; besides three monasteries in Connaught, he 
 built in Munster, Ceal-Achard-Conchun, alias Kill-Achard, where 
 St. Finian, whom he baptized, after his death was made abbot, 
 
 “Tn the borders of Muskerry he built the nunnery of Husneaeh, 
 and left it to St. Gobnaid and her virgins; another monastery 
 also by Kilcullen. In Nandesi, as I take it now called Decies, 
 by the town of Briogoban, he founded Kill-na-Marban, and at 
 the foot of the Cross in Muskerry, ithe famous monastery called 
 Cluain Ardmobecoc, where St. Becanus was abbot ; which 
 afterwards, because of Becanus’s devout lamentation, as it is 
 written, for his sins, was called Ceal Nander, Cella Lachri- 
 marum, the Cell of Tears. He founded also Cluain Findglaise, 
 and Cluain Conbrum. He built amonastery upon the river Ber- 
 ba, called Ross-mac-Treoin, where the Abbot St. Emenus rests ; 
 also in Meath, Ceall-Ailbe, and committed the charge thereof to 
 the holy nun Segnith and her associates ; and in the north part of 
 that country a nunnery Ceall-Abbuin, where he made an end of 
 his course, and slept with his fathers. (p. 37.) Note St. Patrick 
 was sent by Pope Celestin, to convert Ireland, about the year 
 431, whence may be gathered the time of the foundations above 
 mentioned, there being no exact date to them.’’ 
 
 I shall not insist on our early literary glories, which mainly - 
 were found in Irish monasteries; though I might summon a 
 whole line of English writers to bear testimony to the early soli- 
 citude of Ireland for instruction. Bede, in the eighth century, 
 notices the number of Saxons, who came over, in crowds, to 
 Ireland, and who, as William of Malmesbury observes, were 
 not only most willingly received, but maintained at the public 
 charge, supplied with books, and taught without fee or reward.”’ 
 Spencer admits that Ireland had the use of letters long before 
 England. “To Ireland” according to Littleton, ‘‘ England chiefly 
 owed her knowledge.’’ Many Saxons out of England resorted 
 thither for instruction, and brought back the use of letters to 
 their ignorant countrymen.’ Camden says, (Brit. de Hib. p. 730) 
 “that the English Saxons anciently flocked to Ireland as to the . 
 
MONASTIC AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS, Rid 
 
 mart of Sacred learning.’”? “ Ireland,’’ says Bayle, “ has given 
 the most distinguished professors to the most famous Universities 
 in Europe.’’ He might have added, in many cases, it had given 
 their founder. ‘“ It was,’’ he continues, “as the historians of the 
 time declare, the most civilized country in Europe; the nursery 
 of the sciences, &c., &c.’’ Nor are these eulogies unsupported 
 by fact. The monastery of Lindisfarne, the College of Lismore, 
 the great College of Mayo,---‘‘the Mayo’’ as it was called “ of 
 the Saxons,’’ dedicated to the exclusive use of English students, 
 who at one time amounted to no fewer than 2000, but which, on 
 its rebuilding in 1380, by the English, was prohibited from re- 
 ceiving Irishmen; Borrishole, surrounded with forty literary 
 institutions,---are all so many illustrative evidences of the early 
 intellectual activity and literary munificence of Ireland. 
 
 The numbers of foreign Universities foundéd by Irishmen, as 
 given by Ware, Colgan, Geoghegan, and others, afford standing 
 monuments of past learning in Ireland. 
 
 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF THE MONASTIC AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 
 
 Upon this subject we could say much. One who knows their 
 history well, and who is imbued with their heaven-born spirit, 
 thus delivers himself : 
 
 “Every relic of monastic antiquity claims our veneration, and 
 awakens a train of splendid as well as melancholy associations, 
 by reminding us of the triumphs and the sufferings of the Catholic 
 religion in these countries. What a solemn interest attaches to 
 the ruins of the abbeys, which strew the land with a mournful 
 but magnificent desolation! Whenever we visit these moulder- 
 ing sanctuaries of the most distinguished piety, learning, and be- 
 nevolence of former times, we are insensibly drawn into a deep, 
 pensive, thoughtful seriousness. We inhale the spirit of 
 
 ‘‘ These deep solitudes and awful cells 
 W hete heavenly pensive contemplation dwells, 
 And eve1-musitg melancholy reigns.” 
 
 ** Whilst taking the elevation of the tottering spire, mantled 
 ever withivy, sketching a crumbling arch, or decyphering a mu- 
 tilated and worn inscription on a tombstone or mural slab, we 
 feel that we are breathing an unearthly atmosphere---that it were 
 a kind of profanation to tread too rudely on the earth which en- 
 shrines the illustrious remains of princes and warriors, as well as 
 the consecrated ashes of priests and sages. The mind runs through 
 the various links in the chain of its historical reminiscences, and 
 endeavours to trace on the scattered fragments of the holy place 
 the shadows of the glorious past. 
 
 “The temple, now a desecrated ruin, once resounded day and 
 night with the praises of that God who is almost forgetten and 
 
 D 
 
38 THE ADVANTAGES OF THE MONASTIC 
 
 unworshipped in this worldly-minded age. On that dilapidated 
 altar, on which sculls and bones are piled up, the sacrifice was 
 offered from the rising of the sun for the living and the dead. Frony 
 that truncated column, on which the pulpit rested, the principles 
 of faith and morals were assidiously taught and fearlessly incul- 
 cated. In these archways, filled up with broken coffins and. 
 weeds, the seats of mercy were placed, where the tears of 
 penance flowed and were dried up. On this floor, now covered 
 with head stones and graves, which was once a tessellated pave- 
 ment, a multitude of devout worshippers, ‘from matin light till 
 yesper close,’ adored before the holy of holies. How deso- 
 late, now, are the cloisters which have been trodden by recluses, 
 who, by their experiments in science, and their writings on theo- 
 logy, extended ihe boundaries of physical and religious know- 
 ledge, and who, by their manuscript labours, before the invention 
 of the art of printing, rescued fromthe ravages of time and bar- 
 barism every early monument of inspired wisdom and ancient li- 
 terature. Ifthe good monks of those days had not preserved and 
 multiplied copies of the scriptures and classics, where would the bi- 
 blicaland accomplished scholar find, in our times, the sacred wri- 
 tings, or the productions of Grecian and Roman genius ? These 
 unroofed cells, through which the sparrows of the housetop are 
 flying, were once the dwelling places of saints and scholars, peni- 
 tents and pilgrims, and the adjoining spacious halls, where the 
 owlets nestle and the foxes have hiding holes, wereschools for the 
 education of the rich and poor, strangers and natives; or were 
 libraries, enriched with various stores of sacred and profane 
 learning, and containing the archives of national and local, as well 
 as of conventual and ecclesiastical records and deeds. At the 
 church-porch, the proud and oppressive baron was tamed by the 
 minister of peace (some aged man of God,) intoa sense of justice 
 and humanity; and within this threshold, now overgrown with 
 nettles and briars, the poor, the stranger, and the defenceléss 
 found an inviolable sanctuary from the sensual, vindictive, or 
 avaricious temper of the feudal despot. These gates, with their 
 ponderous hinges now consumed with rust, were ever thrown 
 epen to the children of infirmity and want: crowds of widows 
 and orphans, the aged, and the sick poor, daily thronged around 
 these portals of charity for their portion of the common table, and 
 temporal goods of the monastery---it was the suppression of con 
 vents that made it imperative on the state to enact laws for the 
 provision of the poor. The bold knight, as he passed this Gothic 
 door-way in all the pomp of chivalry, bowed his crested plume in 
 reverence, and invoked on his perilous adventure the blessing of 
 the good father who served as porter at the gate, or the benison 
 of the charitable monk who was dispensing among the needy mul- 
 titude the means of existence. Alas! how different now is the 
 aspect and condition of this consecrated enclosure from what it 
 was in aucient days, when it sent apostolic preachers to enlighten 
 with claistianity and civilization barbarous kmgdoms, which now 
 
AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 39 
 
 yank high in the scale of nations---when it gave bishops to the 
 church, and divines to councils, and doctors to universities, and 
 statesmen and ambassadors to kings and popes, and confessors 
 and martyrs to heaven ! 
 
 * Shall the history of such pious and enlightening establish- 
 ments be allowed to perish? Sha!lno pen be employed to record 
 their deeds of religion, charity, and usefulness? If the philoso- 
 pher linger amongst-these monastic ruins, these fragments of sa- 
 ered antiquity, to speculate on the instability and nothingness of 
 human institutions, the power, the wisdom, the ranks of this 
 -world all levelled in the dust; if the modern poet, painter, and 
 novelist, visit these ancient abbeys and churches, as places of in- 
 spiration, whence genius may draw its richest materials of facts 
 and illustrations, to attract public interest and purchase popular 
 support---is it not strange that some Catholic writer does not 
 claim this sacred ground of monastic antiquity, as the legitimate 
 province of the christian historian; and, whilst other authors seek 
 amidst these ruins and scenes of the olden time for the fountains of 
 fiction, that he does not look for the inexhaustible resources of 
 historical information, religious truth, and literary entertainment, 
 
 with which the neglected subject of monastic antiquities abounds ! 2”? 
 
 The admirable statements of Mr. Cobbett, in his History of the 
 Monasteries, we omit, as his works are almost in every hand. 
 We cannot however pass over his pithy description :--- 
 
 “* A Monastery was the centre of a circle in the country, natu- 
 rally drawing to it all that were in need of relief, advice and pro- 
 tection; and containing a body of men, or of women, having no 
 cares of their own, and having wisdom to guide the inexperienced, 
 and wealth to relieve the distressed.”’ : 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Nightingale, the learned Protestant minister, in 
 his “ Portraiture of Catholicism,” thus speaks on the benefit of 
 monastic institutes :--- 
 
 ‘The introduction of monastic institutions and establishments, 
 devoted to the service of God, and for the purpose of humanity 
 and public utility in the various charitable offices of religious and 
 literary instruction, both at home and in barbarous and infidel 
 countries, is also peculiar to the Catholic Church. <A great pro- 
 portion of the mcnks dedicate their attention to the relief and 
 support of the imfirm and indigent, in hospitals and charitable 
 houses, solely erected by their pious zeal and ‘benevolent exer- 
 tions. ‘These people, the more effectually to accomplish their en- 
 gagements, and perpetuate and secure to succeeding generations 
 such spiritual and temporal advantages, bind themselves down by 
 
 solemn vows of celibacy, obedience to their regular superiors, and 
 abjuration of all priv ate or separate property: hence their irre- 
 vocable and perpetual obligation to perform the duties of their 
 station, and religious vocation, Much good has been efiected by 
 the persevering endeavours of those exemplary and laborious 
 men. After the convulsion of the civilized world, occasioned by 
 the universal dominion of the Roman emperors, ‘the spas 
 abuse of despotism and arbitrary power, the monks rendered the 
 
40 THE ADVANTAGES OF THE MONASTIC 
 
 most essential services to the cause of humanity, religion, and 
 science, by forming themselves into societies, or associations, 
 which enabled them, by mutually administering to each other’s 
 wants, and leading a single life, entirely devoted to the service of 
 the community, to keep alive the seeds of learning and religion ; 
 whilst the generality of mankind, in consequence of the lawless 
 and unsettled state of the world, were immersed in ignorance, 
 barbarity, vice, and their concomitant evils. 
 
 ‘“These men, separated from the people, and therefore not so 
 much exposed to the general contagion, chiefly occupied their time 
 in, discharging the religious duties peculiar to the monastic profes- 
 sion, and m cultivating the ground; that they might be in a condi- 
 tion not only to maintain themselves, but also to perform the 
 rights of hospitality, and other acts of beneficence, calculated to 
 relieve the distresses and calamities incident to those unhappy 
 times. Some portion of it however was dedicated to study, and 
 copying the best originals, both sacred and profane, which, with- 
 out their exertions, would have been lost to the literary world. 
 They, moreover, afforded an asylum to secular men, disposed to 
 pursue the career of knowledge, as well as to youth, whom they 
 instructed in learning, religion, and morals, within the precincts 
 of the cloister. ‘ Is it matter of wonder, then, that a body of men, 
 so eminently useful, so attentive to cultivate and preserve the 
 sciences, to promote the arts by the erection of superb and mag- 
 nificent buildings, and to convert, by their labour and perseve- 
 rance, immense tracts of waste and desert land, into fertile and 
 highly cultivated districts, should, in a short time, acquire un- 
 common influence; and, that, at a season when the virtues of 
 economy, application, and industry, were little known? Cer- 
 tainly not; and accordingly, their prosperity and success were 
 prodigiously rapid. This naturally resulted from these exertions, 
 aided by the munificence of princes, and the liberal piety of 
 wealthy individuals, who made over to these institutions conside- 
 rable possessions, sometimes for the support of the monks them- 
 selves, to enable them to discharge certain religious functions, but 
 more generally for the mstruction and edification of mankind, and 
 for the benefit and assistance of the poor. In all these cases, the 
 property was to be rigidly and scrupulously applied, according 
 to the will and intention of the donors, who reasonably presumed 
 that a society formed by its constitution and profession to survive 
 the shock of ages, was better entitled to this trust than indivi- 
 dual executors, who could not ensure, after death, the fulfilment 
 of their pious intentions, 
 
 ‘“‘ At length, when by all these means, the monastic establish- 
 ments had accumulated immense wealth, they were marked out 
 as a prey, for the eupidity and rapacity of the great, who began to 
 seize on their estates} sometimes under the specious pretence of 
 defending their rights, at other times by downright plunder. 
 Kings and princes remunerated their favourites and minions out 
 of these funds, and laid their sacrilegious hands. on possessions 
 
AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS. Ai 
 
 destined for the support of the poor---patrimonio pauperum,---for 
 the erection of christian temples, and for the purchase of books 
 and sacred utensils for religious worship. 
 
 “* When the monks first settled, and cultivated a piece of waste 
 land, which they rendered extremely productive by continual ja- 
 bour, they did not foresee that their labour, and rigid economy, 
 would expose them to the brutal cupidity of the great and power- 
 ful; from whom, in addition to their own private acquisitions, 
 they received daily accessions to their original stock. 
 
 ** Whoever takes the trouble to review the annals of past times, 
 will be easily convinced of the services rendered by those learned 
 and indefatigable monks, not only to religion; but to the cause of 
 general literature, particularly im history; notwithstanding the 
 calumnies and unprincipled aggressions of modern scholiasts, who 
 would refuse to that society, not only the merit of learning, but 
 even the attributes of men. ‘The works of the venerable Bede, 
 St. Bernard, and St. Thomas, though written in times confessed- 
 ly reputed the most unenlightened of any former or subsequent. 
 period, are written in a clear and intelligible style, not devoid of 
 elegance, solidity, or depth of judgment. Yet these are the men 
 whom some pretenders to superior refinement, brand with infa- 
 my, and every opprobrious epithet. In this, as in many other 
 cases, we haye a most striking instance of ingratitude: persons 
 who have rendered signal benefits to learning and the fine arts, 
 are accused of having disgraced them by their ignorance and go- 
 thic taste; yet, had it not been for the exertions of the Roman. 
 monks, St. Augustine and his companions, this country would 
 certainly have been a long time destitute of the blessings of sci- 
 ence and true religion. Those learned monks introduced into 
 this island (England) the christian faith; and the Latin language 
 as connected with it, together with the principles of civilization 
 and moral refinement. Shortly after their introduction, seats 
 of learning, religious houses, and temples for divine worship, 
 were erected to secure the advantages of religious and literary in- 
 struction. If this had not happened, there would have been nei- 
 ther laws nor any other salutary institution. The great Alfred, 
 the legislator, instructor, and deliver of his country, would, per- 
 haps, be little known, had not his intercourse with enlightened 
 monks, both in Rome and this country, enabled him to contrive 
 and execute his plans of justice and beneficence. When the coun- 
 try was harassed and despoiled by the Danes, and other barba- 
 rians ; when every vestige of learning and the arts was almost 
 exterminated in many parts of the country, by the periodical in- 
 roads of these marauders, some of those repositories of science es- 
 caped, and preserved the sacred deposit; yet, in our days, there 
 is nothing so common as loud outcries against monks.---But of 
 this enough.” 
 
 The Rey. Richard Hart, another Protestant minister, in his 
 “ Ecclesiastical Records,”’ BRE Spat ing all his anti- catholic 
 prejudices, thus speaks :-- 
 
 D2 
 
42 MONKS THE 'PRESERVERS OF LITERATURE 
 
 “Utter seclusion from the world, a truly apostolic poverty, 
 and a mortification of the lusts of the fiesh, were anciently sup- 
 posed to distinguish monks from the rest of mankind; and this 
 reputation for superior sanctity was the chief source of that amaz- 
 ing power and influence, which the monastic orders once enjoyed, 
 especially the Benedictines, of whom all the chapters in England. 
 were composed, except that of Carlisle. Corbpy!, who flourished 
 A.D. 1126, was the first archbishop of Canterbury who never 
 had been a monk, and nine Anglo-Saxon kings had assumed the 
 cowl; not to mention several queens and others of the blood 
 royal. 
 
 ‘** Protestants are but too apt to contemplate the gloomy side 
 of the picture, and being familiar with the disgraceful facts 
 brought to light at the period of their dissolution, [he should have 
 said, falsely urged by profligate harpies, see ‘‘ Historical Collec- 
 tions,’’| look upon monasteries only as recepticles of infamy and 
 vice: ‘sed audi alteram partem.’’ Monachism was a system 
 which could turn the most opposite talenis to account. The se- 
 clusion which it afforded was extremely favourable to study: 
 their architects designed those splendid structures which are now 
 the admiration of the world; their scribes have preserved to us 
 the precious works of the ancients, which must else have utterly 
 perished during the dark ages; their chroniclers rescued history 
 from utter oblivion; and, in a word, to men who lived and died 
 within the walls of a convent, art, literature, and science were 
 all deeply indebted. Before the introduction of rates, alms re- 
 ceived from monasteries were almost the only resources of the 
 poor; there also the weary traveller was hospitably received, 
 when inns were almost unknown ; and in times of war and blood- 
 shed their sanctuaries afforded a sure refuge to the oppressed.”’ 
 
 Gibbon says, “‘ A single Benedictine monastery has produced 
 more valuable works than both our universities. Notwithstand- 
 ing the Codex of Dr. Kipling, and the Septuagentof Dr. Holmes; 
 notwithstanding Bampton Lectures, and Seaton Prize Poems ; 
 notwithstanding even the Strabo with which the Clarendon has 
 30 been years parturient, the assertions of Gibbon remain true.’’ 
 Aikin’s Annual Rev. 1802, vol. 1, p. 1579 
 
 MONKS THE PRESERVERS AND PROMOTERS OF GENERAL 
 LITERATURE DURING THE MIDDLE AGEs. 
 
 No class of men have ever been more wantonly misrepresented, 
 nor more cruelly persecuted, than the monks of the middle ages. 
 The world owes them, however, a debt of gratitude which will 
 never be fully paid. In candour and justice, we should ascribe 
 to the patience and industry of these humble and secluded men, 
 the progress which, within the two or three last centuries, science 
 and literature have made. They plautcd the seeds of modern 
 improvement; and whilst we enjoy its blessings, we ought not 
 
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. 4% 
 
 to forget the superior merit of those who prepared the rich 
 harvest, The immortal Faust, who discovered the art of print- 
 ing, is justly ranked with the benefactors of mankind; but for 
 many ages previous to his discovery, the provident mdustry of 
 the monks had preserved the treasures of Roman literature, 
 which gave to the art of printing, at its very birth, a value and 
 degree of importance which, otherwise, it would have not pos- 
 sessed. If the works of the ancients had totally perished, and 
 every link of the literary tradition had been broken and lost, 
 who can tell how many centuries would have elapsed before the 
 human mind would have awakened from its long lethargy, and 
 sufficiently revived its powers to create the masterly works 
 which it has only imitated ? For the light of science -and 
 literature which shines in our eyes, we may well thank the pious 
 solitaries of the middle, or, as the cant goes, ‘“‘dark” ages. By 
 their hands, the poets, orators, and historians of Rome have been 
 saved from the ravages of time, ignorance and barbarism. 
 
 Briefly to show the nature and merit ofthe labors of the monks, 
 in the preservation of Roman literature, is the object of the 
 following lines. 
 
 Cassiodorus, who lived in the sixth century, was the first who 
 made the transcription of manuscripts one of the professional 
 employments of the cloister. After having passed fifty years 
 amidst the noisy and glittering scenes of the world, this former 
 minister of heodoric, suddenly withdrew from the theatre, 
 in which he had been so long a conspicuous actor. In Calabria, 
 his country, he sought for peace and solitude; and that their 
 united blessings might be shared in by others, erected a mo- 
 nastery on one of his estates. The two principal rules, which he 
 gave to his associate monks, may be reduced to these: Istly, 
 ‘They were required to apply in a special manner to the study of 
 the Holy Scriptures, and all the sciences connected with the in- 
 terpretation of the sacred volume. 2ndly. The transcription, 
 collation and correction of manuscripts were enjoined upon them, 
 as an occupation highly acceptable to God and most beneficial to 
 mankind. Orthography, a science of most difficult attaiment, 
 before the discovery of the art of printing, was recommended to 
 their attention; and Cassiodorus himself, at the age of ninety- 
 three, composed a treatise on the subject. To show the’ spirit in 
 which monasteries in general were founded, we may add, that 
 agriculture, gardening and the study of medicine occupied a part 
 of the time of the happy recluses. 
 
 In the chroniclers of the seventh and eighth centuries, we find 
 few facts directly connected with the preservation of the Latin 
 Classics. But they tell us that science and literature were cul- 
 tivated in the cloister. Their own pages furnish abundant proofs 
 of their acquaintance with ancient works. Virgil, Cicero, Livy 
 and Sallust are frequently quoted by them. They felt the beau- 
 ties of these great writers: “The world grows old,” says the 
 historian Fredegarin; “the edge of our mind is blunted No 
 
44 MONES THE PRESERVERS OF LITERATURE 
 
 man of the present time equals the writers of past ages. No one 
 dares to cope with them.”’ 
 
 Louis le Debonnaire and Charles the Bald, successors of Char- 
 lemagne, continued to extend to science and literature, the pro- 
 tection which they had received from this great man. In the 
 years immediately succeeding his death, profane writers were 
 more generally read than they had been before, and the ninth 
 century bestowed considerable care on the preservation of their 
 works. The celebrated Abbot of Ferrieres, Lupus, discovered 
 in the monasteries of France and Italy the works of Suetonius, 
 Sallust, Cicero and Livy, and had them. copied by his monks.. 
 From Pope Benedict IIL. he obtained the Treatise “de Oratore,”’ 
 by the Roman Orator, with twelve books of Quintilian’s Institutions,. 
 anda valuable commentary on Terence. ‘These also he caused 
 to be transcribed. Virgil, Cicero, Pliny, Probus and Priscian, 
 are mentioned in the catalogue of St. Riquier’s library. The 
 Church of Rheims possessed and carefully preserved the works 
 of Lucian, Livy, Virgiland Julius Cesar. 
 
 Whilst the monks of the ninth century thus applied themselves 
 to the study and preservation of ancient works, the Northmen, 
 the Bulgares and the Saracens, repeatedly poured their savage 
 and ruthless bands over the fairest and richest parts of Europe. 
 The wealth of monasteries attracted the rapacious barbarians.. 
 The peaceful inmates of the cloister fell under the sword; their 
 buildings were laid in ruins, and their libraries, collected with. 
 immense labour and expense, were devoured by the flames. 
 
 In the tenth century these invasions. were still more frequent, 
 and consequently more fatal to {science and literature. How 
 many manuscripts must have been mutilated or totally destroyed 
 by the ferocious conquerers? The difficulty of preserving, in 
 those turbulent times, the precious remains of antiquity, enhances. 
 the merit of the monks of the tenth century, who, like their 
 predecessors, proved themselves the friends of letters. In the 
 reign of Robert, King of France, the monastery of St. Benignus 
 boasted of a copy of Horace, and one of Priscian. ‘The con- 
 vent of Monterender, in the diocess of Chalons on the Marne, 
 bought the Rhetoric of Cicero, the Eclogues and Georgics of: 
 Virgil, and two copies of Terence. The cathedral of Mete 
 counted among its books one copy of Virgil, another of Horace, 
 eight or nime hundred years old; whilst Persius and. Juvenal 
 had found an asylum. in the Church of Autun. In Italy the 
 manual labour of the monks, during lent, consisted in transcribing 
 the manuscripts of sacred or profane writers. The same rule 
 prevailed in France, especially in the monastery of Fleuri, where 
 profane writers were assiduously perused, and deeply studied.. 
 ‘f'wo copies of an ancient or modern work were required of each. 
 pupil, during his residence in the establishment, or at his depar- 
 ture. In the writings of Abbo, abbot of Fleuri, we find Sallust,. 
 
 ‘Terence, Horace and Virgil quoted almost in every page. His 
 zeal in seeking for manuscripts and haying them. transcribed, 
 
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. 45 
 
 was equally untiring and enlightened. Through his care the 
 library of his convent became one of the richest in Europe. 
 
 The successive invasions of the barbarians had interrupted the 
 pious and literary avocations of the inmates of monasteries, 
 This caused a scarcity of manuscripts, and considerably aug- 
 mented their value. The following fact may enable the reader 
 to form some idea of the price of books, at the beginning of the 
 eleventh century. Fora collection of Homilies, Grecie, Count 
 of Anjou, gave two hundred sheep, five quarters of wheat, of 
 rye and millet, and a considerable quantity of martin skins. 
 
 This enormous price did not however last long. The industry 
 of the monks soon multiplied the manuscripts, which their pre- 
 decessors had rescued from the savage ignorance of the North- 
 men. In the first years of the eleventh century, the learned 
 Abbot Gerbert was seen traversing France, Italy, and Germany, 
 in search of manuscripts, To discover and purchase them he 
 spared neither labour nor money. All the works, or fragments 
 of works, which he obtained, he caused to be transcribed, and 
 also several which he was not able to buy, such as the rich col- 
 lection of the monasteries of Orbais and St. Basil, J. Cesar’s 
 Commentaries, the works of Pliny, Siatius’ Achilleides, and 
 fragments of Cicero, Suetonius, and Quintus Curtius. Of the 
 two last he sent a few copies to Rome. The Abbey of Fleuri 
 possessed, at that period, the treatise of Cicero de Republica. 
 Subsequently, it was lost, and for eight centuries no trace of it 
 could be found. A few years ago it was discovered and restored 
 to the literary world, by Monsignor Angelo Mai, formerly libra- 
 rian of the Vatican, and at present secretary of the Propaganda 
 College in Rome. To him the friends of: letters are also indebted 
 for the discovery and publication of divers fragments of Corne- 
 lius Nepos, Tacitus, and Sallust. 
 
 Among the monasteries of the eleventh century, whore inmates 
 applied to the transeription of manuscripts, the most distinguished 
 were those of St. Benignus, Jumiege, St. Evroul in Normandy, 
 and St. Hubert. Whatever tended to the preservation of ancient 
 works acquired dignity and importance in the eyes of the monks 
 and their superiors. The chroniclers have remarked, with their 
 usual simplicity, that Osburn, Abbot of St. Evroul, made ink- 
 stands for the amanuenses of his and adjoining communities. 
 
 Several monasteries destroyed in the tenth were rebuilt in the 
 eleventh century. Under the government of Abbot Odo, the 
 convent of St. Martin, near Tournai, soon regained its former 
 fame. Twelve from among the younger brethren were conti- 
 nually employed in transcribing ancient and modern works. 
 Such was the esteem in which their labours were held by their 
 cotemporaries, that the manuscripts of other convents were 
 frequently corrected by those of St. Martin. History has re- 
 corded the admirable order established in the monastery of 
 Jumiege, for the transcription of manuscripts. Some \of the 
 monks transcribed, others revised the copies, which they carefully 
 
A6 MONKS THE PRESERVERS OF LITERATURE 
 
 punctuated and divided into chapters and paragraphs. ‘The 
 transcription of manuscripts was considered, in every mouastery, 
 as a godly work. Days were set apart in which prayers were 
 offered up to God for those who transcribed books. Science 
 and religion were blended in beautiful harmony. The walks of 
 literature had become the paths of virtue and Heaven. 
 
 It ishighly probable, and we might say, absolutely certain, 
 that the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries possessed 
 all the Latin Classics in their integrity. Such portions of them 
 as no longer exist, were lost in the thirteenth or fourteenth cen- 
 turies, when the light of moral civilization is said to have dawned 
 upon Europe. ‘‘Tothe dark ages,’’ therefore, we are, in reality, 
 indebted for, the preservation of Roman literature, which more 
 enlightened ages knew not how to value, or cared not to transmit 
 to posterity. 
 
 A general ardor in the acquisition of science and the pursuits 
 of literature animated Europe during the twelfth century. 
 Schools were founded, in which every branch of human know- 
 ledge was successfully cultivated. Whilst the nations and kings 
 of Kurope marched against the barbarians of the East, for the 
 recovery of the Holy Land, countless monasteries were erected 
 in the forests of the West. As in preceding.ages, every cloister 
 became a sanctuary, where the sacred fire of science was reli- 
 giously fed by faithful worshippers. 
 
 The monks of Cluni, those of Grammont, of Citeaux, of 
 Clairvaux, and especially the Carthusians, displayed new energy 
 and zeal in the study and preservation of ancient works. The 
 Clunists cast off former prejudices against profane writers. The 
 miraculous visions, in which the Virgin or patron Saints were 
 said to have interdicted the perusal of Horace and Virgil, were 
 forgotten, and the admiration of the monks for the poetry of 
 Rome, was carried so far, that even their ascetic writings present 
 frequent allusion to mythology. 
 
 Guigue, fifth prior of the Grand Chartreuse, remarks, in his 
 statutes, that copyists deserve immortal fame, and that lettered 
 nionks should deem no occupation so well suited to their profes- 
 sion, as the transcription of manuscripts. ‘‘We teach writing,” 
 says this remarkable man, ‘to all those whom we receive in our 
 community. We desire and endeavour to preserve books, be- 
 cause they contain the food of our souls.’”? Guibert, abbot of 
 Nogent, relates that a convent of Carthusians preferred skins 
 and parchment to the silver plate which the Count of Nevers 
 had offered to send them. 
 
 St. Bernard, in a letter to Rainaud, abbot of Foigny, quotes 
 a line from Ovid. The manner in which the quotation is intro- 
 duced, shows that the poet had a place in the library of the two 
 abbots. “Juxta tuum Ovidium,” (according to thy Ovid) says 
 St. Bernard. Thus the lyre of the exile of ‘Tomos sometimes 
 cheered the solitary hours of the cloister, and the refined taste 
 
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES 47 
 
 ef the Cenobite contributed to preserve the effusions of the 
 Roman muse. 
 
 Peter the Venerable, writing to Nicholas, Secretary of Saint 
 Bernard, requests him to bring back with him the history of 
 Alexander the Great, the Treatise of St. Augustin against Julian, 
 and all the good books which he will be able to obtain by pur- 
 chase or otherwise. The same abbot, in a letter to Guigue, 
 prior of the Grand Chartreuse, asks for a collection of St. Augus- 
 un’s letters, as the copy belonging to Cluni had been lately torn 
 to pieces by a bear which had entered one of the cells. A cru- 
 cifix and books were sent to the prior of the Chartreuse, to in- 
 duce him to part with the copy of St. Augustine’s letters, 
 
 For their zeal in preserving the master-pieces of Roman liter- 
 ature, the monks of St. Victor, in Paris, were as celebrated in 
 the twelfth century, as their brethren of Cluni and Grand Char- 
 treuse. We read in the annalsof St. Victor: ‘“ There are in 
 our monastery religious, on whom devolves the duty of tran- 
 scribing books. The librarian gives them, regular, both the 
 books to be copied and all necessary materials. They have the 
 exclusive use of a spacious room, called ‘‘Scriptorium,”’ or 
 writing room. Each monstery had one, that they may enjoy 
 perfect tranquillity, and far from noise and free from interruption, 
 seriously apply to their important task. There the copyists are 
 seated, each one in the place assigned him. Strict silence is 
 enjoyed by the rules of the convent. The copyists are not per- 
 mitted to walk across the room without necessity. No visitors 
 are received but the abbot, superior, and librarian. 
 
 It were easy to add many other instances of the solicitude of 
 the monks for the preservation of ancient and valuable works. 
 Arnaud, abbot of St. Columba, in the diocess of Sens, caused a 
 considerable number of historical works to be transcribed, A 
 hundred and forty volumes were copied by order of Robert, 
 abbot of Mount St. Michael. A monk who lived in the convent 
 of Anderne, and of whom chroniclers have remarked that he had 
 but one arm, transcribed almost all the ancient works known to 
 his superiors. 
 
 it may be proper to say one word concerning the regulations 
 established, to form and enrich convent libraries. 
 
 The first statute on the subject was published by Abbot Udo, 
 in 1145, with the consent and approbation of the religious of the 
 monastery over which he presided. The statute provided, that a 
 yearly tax should be levied on all the priories'and chaplaincies of 
 the order, and deposited in the hands of the librarian, to be em- 
 ployed by him in the purchase of books. By his own example, 
 Udo stimulated his brethren to a compliance with this wise 
 enactment. He regularly paid his tax every year, and compelled 
 the officers of his household to do the same. 
 
 In 1446 or 1447, Macarius, abbot of Fleuri, adopted Udo’s sta- 
 tuie. wshorily after, they were imitated by Robert of Vendome, 
 Hiugh of Corbie, and several other superiors of monasteries. 
 
48 MONKS THE PRESERVERS OF LITERATURE 
 
 The interests of science and literature were neglected during the 
 thirteenth century. Perhaps the fanatics and ignorant sectaries, 
 who disgraced the thirteenth century, exercised a fatal influence on 
 theage. They were, by profession, the declared enemies of letters. 
 Works of ancient literature they destroyed, like the Northmen 
 of the tenth century, and on the learned themselves they heaped 
 abuse and contumely. 
 
 Still, the thirteenth century may boast of afew friends of 
 Roman literature. Emo, abbot of Werum, in the Low Coun- 
 tries, copied, with the assistance of his brother, all the sacred 
 and profane writers in his possession. So great was his desire to 
 enrich the library of this convent, that he employed not only two 
 monks, but also nuns in the transcription of manuscripts. The 
 latter, however, he confined to the copying of the Holy Scripture 
 and the Fathers. The library of Glastonbury, in England, was 
 probably the richest of that period. It contained four hundred 
 volumes, among which were the works of Livy, Sallust, Virgil, 
 Caludian and other Latin writers. 
 
 During the fourteenth century the same scarcity prevailed. 
 The monuments of Roman genius seem destined to perish. 
 Petrarchand a few great men devoted their life, time, and fortune, 
 to rescue them from oblivion and ruin. Gerard the Great founded 
 the order of ‘‘the brethren of the common life,” (fratres vite 
 communis) and assigned to them the copying of manuscripts as 
 their chief occupation. The Popes, and many of the Catholic 
 clergy, were conspicuous for their solicitude in the collec- 
 tion and preservation of Roman literature. Still, its doom 
 seems to be sealed. Classical works appear for a short time, 
 like flitting meteors, and are again lost in the surrounding night. 
 Perhaps they would have perished for ever—but three humble 
 mechanics, Guttemburgh, Faust and Schoeffer, discovered the 
 artof printing, and imparted immortality tothe eloquence, poetry, 
 and philosophy of ancient Rome, which the monks of the middle 
 ages had saved from the ravages of time and barbarism. 
 
 And these men shall be called ignorant and superstitious! 
 Shame on their calumniators. To vindicate the illustrious soli- 
 taries and cenobites of the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth 
 centuries, no declamation has beenindulged in. Facts have been 
 adduced—as conclusive as they are unquestionable. All lovers 
 of truth will readily acquiesce in the inferences clearly deducible 
 from these facts. Glory, then, and gratitude to the monks of the 
 dark ages; let justice, as full as it is tardy, be done to their 
 merit in the cause of classical literature. Let every candid and 
 equitable man spurn away former prejudices, whether they be of 
 short or long duration, whether they rest upon the contemptible 
 authority of petty scribblers, who retail slander, or the more 
 imposing testimony of popular and distinguished writers, who deal 
 in wholesale calumny, who corrupt the sources of historical in- 
 formation, and whom, so far as their views of the middle ages 
 are concerned, we do not hesitate to pronounce either ignorant 
 and snperficial, or bigoted and unprincipled. 
 
MONASTICON. HIBERNICUM : 
 MONASTICAL HISTORY 
 
 KINGDOM OF IRELAND. 
 
 ABBEYS, PRIORITIES. AND MONASTERIES OF REGULAR CANONS 
 OF ST. AUGUSTIN. 
 
 I give this Order, (says Alemand, p.i.) the preference, before 
 all the others that were in Ireland, for several reasons. Firstly, 
 because it is deemed the most ancient of all Regular Orders in 
 general, derives its origin from the Apostles themselves, and al- 
 lows St. Augustin, afterwards Bishop of Hippo, only to have 
 formed one particular congregation, which was subsequently di- 
 vided into many others; and, though there be many objections 
 against this antiquity, it is still asserted, and, because it cannot 
 be denied, that the Regular Canons were of the first introduced 
 into Europe, and that scarely any but the Benedictine monks 
 preceded them. Dr. Lanigan, carrying his criticisms too far, (vol. 
 i. p. 187) contends, that “‘ there were no Canons Regular of St. 
 Augustin until the eleventh century, at which time some commu- 
 nities of clergymen adopted a sort.of monastic rule, vulgarly at- 
 tributed to St. Augustin, who, however, has left no rule except 
 certain regulations, which he had drawn up for the direction of 
 a nunnery under the superintendence of his sister, and, which 
 have, with some necessary alterations, been applied to communi- 
 ties of men, under the title of the. Rule of St. Augustin.’ To 
 assert that there were no-Canons Regular of St. Augustin before 
 the reformed congregation in 1532, or the union of several con- 
 gregations of the order under Pope Alexander IV., in 1254, is 
 much the same ‘as to say, that there were no Carmelites before 
 St. Teresa. All men of sound information, who have written 
 upon the order, agree, that St. Augustin founded an order of 
 
oz MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 monks, called, afterwards, the ‘“‘ Hermits of St. Augustin,’? who 
 lived apart from cities or public places; and another branch, 
 called Canons, who formed, in his own house, a kind of religious 
 community. Hence the learned Alban Butler, in his Life of 
 this renowned Father says: 
 
 “St. Austin made avery short stay at Carthage, making all 
 possible haste to retire to his house in the country, with certain 
 devout friends. There he lived almost three years, entirely disen- 
 gaged from all temporal concerns, serying God in fasting, prayer, 
 good works, meditating upon his law day and night, and instruct- 
 ing others by his discourses and books. He settled his paternal 
 estate on the church of Tagaste, only on condition, that the bishop 
 should furnish him a yearly stipend out of it, for his, and his 
 son’s maintenance, among their religious brethren. All things 
 were in common in their house, and were distributed according 
 to every one’s necessities, no one among them having the least 
 thing at his own disposal. St. Austin reserved nothing, which he 
 could call his own, having alienated the very house in which he 
 lived. The religious Order of the Hermits of St. Austin, dates 
 its foundation from this epoch, in 388. This monastic institute 
 soon spread over Africa, but was extinguished there by the inva- 
 sion of the Vandals. It was revived in Europe in several congre- 
 gations, which were all united in one Order by Pope Alexander 
 IV., in 1254, andits present constitutions were compiled in 1278. 
 The Order of the Hermits of St. Austin at present consists of for- 
 ty-two provinces, besides those called the Disealeeated, who go 
 barefoot, and live in great austerity and recollection. The pro- 
 ject of this reformed Congregation was set on foot in 1532, by F. 
 Thomas of Jesus, a native of Lisbon, and a great servant of God, 
 author of that excellent book, entitled: ‘The Sufferings of 
 Christ,” which he composed whilst he was confined in a dungeon 
 in Morocco. Having spent four years in captivity, in the con- 
 stant exercise of the most heroic virtues, especially charity, pray- 
 er, patience, penance, and mortification, he died the death of 
 the saints, on the 17th of April, 1582. He had suffered great 
 contradiction in his own Order, by endeavouring to introduce his 
 reformation ; but this got ground upon his plan after this happy 
 death. (See F. Alleaume, Helyot, and the last edition of 
 Morery.) 
 
 “Of the reformed Austin Friars, or Hermits, there are, at pre- 
 sent, five provinces in Spain, and three in France and Italy. 
 The institute of the hermits is more severe than the other; they 
 are governed by different vicars general: Pope Pius V. in 1587, 
 declared the Austin Friars one of the Mendicant Orders. Itcan- 
 not be doubted but St. Austin instituted manual labour, in his 
 monastery, since about the year 400; he wrote a work on the 
 Labour of Monks. to prove this obligation in a penitential monas~ 
 tic state. (T. 6. p. 475. See Fleury, 1. 20. c. 34.) But he 
 allowed useful studies, and spiritual functions, instead of manual 
 labour in those, who are qualified for them, or called to the 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 53 
 
 ministry of the altar, as is evident from his own studies, and 
 those of many of his colleagues, whilst he lived according to his 
 first institute, before he was advanced to the episcopal dignity, 
 or established the regular canons, who were applied solely to the 
 spiritual functions of the ministry. The regular canons and ca- 
 nonesses of St. Austin had, in England, before the suppression of 
 monasteries, one hundred and fifteen monasteries; the Austin 
 friars thirty-two. See Bishop Tanner’s Notitia Monastica in 
 Pref. 
 
 “ When St. Austin was ordained priest, and removed to Hip- 
 po, many of his religious brethren followed him thither, and with 
 the assistance of his bishop, Valerius, he founded there anew mo- 
 nastery, the monks of which St. Paulinus saluted when he wrote 
 to our saint in 384. Out of it cameforth nine eminent bishops, 
 who by their learning and the sanctity of manners, were so many 
 bright ornaments of the chureh of Africa, namely, St. Alipius of 
 Tagaste, St. Evodius of Uzalis, St. Possidius, of Calama, Profu- 
 turus and Fortunatus of Cirtha, Severus of Milevis, Urbanus 
 of Sicca, Boniface and Pereginus. St. Austin was no sooner 
 consecrated bishop, than being obliged to live with his clergy in 
 the city, he formed them into a regular community, in which 
 every one was obliged to give what he was possessed of to the 
 poor, or to throw it into the common stock of the house, out of 
 which the provost, who was chosen yearly, distributed to every 
 one that was necessary. St. Austin always refused legacies leit 
 to his church, to the prejudice of children or heirs; though he 
 exhorted all persons to reckon Christ as one among their children, 
 and to reserve a portion for himin his poor, If any one deserted 
 this state after he had embraced it, he was punished as an apos- 
 tate, and guilty of breaking his vow. (See St. Austin, Serm. 
 355, 396, two discourses; onthe Life and Manner of the Clerks, 
 T. 5. also Possidius.) This is the original of the Regular Canons 
 of St. Austin, a distinct order from that of his Hermits. Consult 
 on this order of St. Austin the Maurist Monks, in the excellent 
 new ‘‘ Gallia Christiana,’ T. 7, p. 778, 787, 790. 
 
 ‘“* St. Austin instituted a nunnery of this order after he was pro- 
 moted to the episcopal dignity; and his sister, who renounced 
 the world in her widowhood, was chosen the first abbess. After 
 her death, Felicitas, the oldest among the nuns, was pitched upon 
 to succeed her; but some demanding another person for their su- 
 perior, a division happened among them, which St. Austin stifled 
 in its birth, by two letters addressed to Felicitas, Rusticus, (the 
 priest who attended the community). and all the nuns, (Ep. 210 
 and 211,) whom he strongly exhorted to union, perfect regularity, 
 fasting, public prayer, strict religious poverty, and ready obe- 
 dience to the abbess and to the priest. In the second letter 
 (Ep. 109, or Ed Ben. 211,) he laid down a regular body of mo- 
 nastic rules, adopted also by the men, who regard him as the 
 of under of their orders,—the Hermits and the Regular Ca- 
 nons, though each haye added to it many particular constitutions. 
 
 E 2 
 
~ 
 
 od MONASTICON HIBERNICUM 
 
 That it was received also by other religious men soon after 
 the death of St. Austin, appears by the rule of Tarnate, and by 
 that of St. Cesarius, in both which it is inserted, and by a ma- 
 nuscript copy at Corbie, about a thousand years old, 
 
 ‘The holy founder lays down the strictest rules of poverty, obe- 
 dience, and modesty ; he orders, that no one ever stedfastly fix 
 her eyes upon another, even of the same sex, this beg a mark 
 of immodesty and impudence; and he will have this fault to be 
 always severely chastised, though with more mildness, when.the 
 person guilty is her own voluntary accuser. He recommends, 
 above all things, perfect humility: ‘for,’? as he says, “pride 
 lies in wait about our good works, to destroy them.’? And what 
 does it avail to give our riches to the poor, and become poor 
 _ ourselves, if the miserable soul become prouder by contemning 
 wealth, than she was before by possessing it ?”’ 
 
 Secondly, it is certain, that those who observed the particular 
 rules in Ireland, in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries, were 
 monks, who were Regular Canons, or something so like them, 
 that at the time when those ruies were incorporated into the Rule 
 of St. Benedict, or in that of the Regular Canons of St. Augustin, 
 they all made choice of the latter as bemg much more agreeable 
 fo them than that of St. Benedict. 
 
 The Regular Canons of St. Augustin were so early, or consi- 
 derable in Ireland, before the general suppression of monasteries, 
 that the number of houses they are said to have had seems incre- 
 ditable; so that neither the Order of St. Benedict, nor that of 
 the Cistercians, which is a branch of it, canin, that particular, 
 stand in competition with that of the Regular Canons, who were, 
 in all respects, as great in Ireland, as the Benedictines were in 
 England. It was requisite to be a Regular Canon, in order to be 
 promoted to a bishopric in Ireland; almost all the parish 
 churches and other secular benefices, were possessed by that order. 
 To which, if we add, that they alone possessed, or had been mas- 
 ters of, as many housés as all the other orders together, and, that 
 almost all the chapters of the cathedral, and collegiate churches in 
 Treland were made of Regular Canons; it must be admitted 
 that there was no order in Ireland which could compete with 
 this, especially if we add, that it had this noble perogative of 
 having two abbots, and eight priors, who were spiritual peers of 
 the realm, and as such took their seats in the house of lords. ‘“‘I 
 _am not ignorant,’ (says Alemande) that the Orders of the Cis- 
 tercians had more, for twelve of their abbots, and one Bene-~ 
 dictine, enjoyed the same pre-eminence, as weshall see hereafter ; 
 but so many other particulars concur towards the exaltation of 
 this order of Regular Canons, that the other Orders will easily 
 excuse us for giving this the tirst place.”’ 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 5) 
 
 THE NAMES OF THE ABBOTS AND PRIORS OF REGULAR CA- 
 NONS, WHO HAD SEATS IN THE UPPER HOUSES OF PAR- 
 LIAMENT, 
 
 The Abbot of St. Thomas, at Dublin, Province of Leinster, of 
 the Congregration of St. Victor. 
 
 The Abbot of Rathoy, Co. Kerry, P. Munster. 
 
 The Prior of the Most Holy Trinity, now called Christ Church, 
 Dublin. 
 
 The Prior of St. Peter and St. Paul, New Town, near Trim, 
 Co. Meath, P. Leinster. . 
 
 The Prior of the B. V. Mary and St. David, at Conal, Co. 
 Kildare, P. Leinster. 
 
 The Prior of the B. V. Mary, at Kells, Co. Kilkenny, P. 
 Leinster. 
 
 The Prior of All-Saints, where Trinity College now stands, at 
 Dublin, 
 
 The Prior of St. Edmund at Athassel, Co. Tipperary, P. 
 Munster. 
 
 The Prior of the Holy Cross at Killiegh, King’s Co., P. 
 Leinster. 
 
 The Prior of the B. V. Mary at Louth, P. Leinster. 
 
 So far Allemand. 
 
 It is right to notice, that Allemand, Ware Harris, and others, 
 place Co, Louth in the P. Leinster, although it was considered, 
 in former times, in that of Ulster. 
 
 The following Abbots of St. Thomas, in Dublin, were Lord 
 Chancellors of Ireland: 
 
 Thomas Scurlock in 1366, and 
 
 Thomas Fitzgerald in 1448. 
 
 We now proceed to set down the names of the houses belong- 
 ing to the Canons Regular, in the four provinces of the Kingdom 
 of Ireland. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF LEINSTER, CO. OF DUBLIN, 
 HOLM-PATRICK MONASTERY, OF REGULAR CANONS. 
 
 Near Skerries, Co. Dublin, at Holm-Patrick, or Harbour of 
 St. Patrick, who landed there in 432, when he came out of Uls- 
 ter, was an abbey founded by Sitricus Mac Murrough O’Cava- 
 nagh, king of Leinster, who was an Ostman, that is, of a family 
 that came from the east, with respect to Ireland; so they called 
 the Danes who had settled among them. This house was founded 
 before the invasion of the English, in the twelfth century, in the 
 island of St. Patrick, or Inis Patrick, which is near the coast. 
 It is said that Moel Finian, prince of the Bregii, resigning his 
 throne, became a monk here, was afterwards abbot, and died in 
 898. But Henry London, archbishop of Dublin, removed the 
 
56 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM, 
 
 institute to Holm-Patrick, on the continent, in the year 1220. 
 Ware says, it was but a priory, however, several other Irish 
 writers affirm it was an abbey. Granted 20th Elizabeth to 
 Thomas Fitzwllliam; value not stated. 
 
 
 
 HOLY TRINITY REGULAR CANONS, DUBLIN, 
 
 The cathedral church of the Holy Trinity in Dublin, (for 
 there are two cathedrals in this city,), commonly called Christ 
 Church, belonged to the regular canons of St. Augustin, of the 
 congregation of Arroasia, an abbey in the diocess of Arras, head 
 of this congregation now extinct, having been united to the great 
 order of regular canons, (as Pennot observes in his Tripartite 
 History,) for which reason we give to this order all the houses 
 that belonged to those of Arroasia. King Sitricus, and Donatus, 
 (or Dunan,) bishop of Dublin, then but a bishopric, in 1058* 
 placed secular canons in this cathedral, whom, in 1163, St. 
 Lawrence, archbishop of Dublin, obliged to become regulars, 
 Their prior, or abbot, from that time, were among the spiritual 
 lords, sitting in the parliament of Ireland, and when Henry 
 VIII. suppressed the monasteries and regular communities, he 
 changed this into a dean and chapter, in 1541, and it has been 
 ever since in the nature of a royal chapel. The whole was 
 granted (34thof Henry VIII.) to Walter Tyrrell, at a yearly rent 
 of 6s. 1d., now worth £6 Is 8d. The cathedral of St. Patrick 
 has a dean, chancellor, treasurer, two archdeacons, and two 
 and twenty prebendaries, whose revenues are considerable, 
 besides all other offices. 
 
 It is fit to observe, that the cathedral of the Holy-Trinity is 
 so ancient, that all authors agree it was built under ground by 
 the Ostmans, or Danes, before the arrival of St. Patrick in 
 Ireland. According to the Black Book, quoted by Ussher, and 
 our ancient annalists, the same saint celebrated mass in one of 
 its subterraneous vaults. Afterwards a church was built upon 
 that which was under ground, similar to the cathedral of Char- 
 tres, the church of St. Victor at Marseilles, and some others. 
 In England St. Faith’s church was under St. Paul’s, and at 
 @anterbury there is another church under the-cathedral. 
 
 It may be proper to observe, this church was famous for hav- 
 ing numerous relics deposited in it, among which the following 
 were not the least remarkable :— 
 
 1. A large Crucifix, reputed miraculous. . 
 
 2. St. Patrick’s Staff, his altar stone, and the text of the 
 
 *(Lanigan considers that this church was built about 1040, or, as Ware. 
 says, 1038 :), it may, however, be correct. to say the canons were placed 
 in it in. 1055.. ; 
 
CANONS: REGULAR. 57 
 
 Gospels used byhim. These relics were translated from Armagh 
 to Dublin in 1178, by William Fitzadelm de Burgo. 
 
 3. A Thorn of our Saviour’s Crown. 
 
 4. A portion of the B. V. Mary’s Girdle. 
 
 5. Some of the bones of St. Peter and St. Andrew, apostles. 
 
 6. Relics of St. Clement, pope and martyr; of St. Oswald, 
 bishop; St. Faith, V.; St. Brendon, abbot; St. Thomas a 
 Becket, archbishop of Canterbury; St. Wolstan, bishop of 
 Worcester; St. Lawrence O’Toole, archbishop of Dublin; and 
 the shrine of St. Cubius, carried over from Wales in June, 1405. 
 
 
 
 REGULAR CANONS AT THE GATE OF DUBLIN. 
 
 At Lucan, about 6 miles from Dublin, on the banks of the river 
 Liffey whichruns through the city, a priory of regular canons of St. 
 Augustin was founded in 1219, by Varisius de Pech, an English 
 nobleman. Ware observes, that this house was afterwards uni- 
 ted to 
 
 THE ABBEY OF ST. THOMAS AT DUBLIN, 
 
 In 1323, which was of regular canons of St. Victor., (See more 
 of it under the head of that congregation.) 
 
 ALL-SAINTS PRIORY AT DUBLIN. 
 
 There was also in Dublin the priory of All-Saints, the prior 
 of which was a spiritual lord, and accordingly sat in Parliament. 
 It particularly belonged to regular canons of the congregation 
 of Arroasia. Dermot, or Dermitius, king of Leinster, founded 
 this house in 1166. The foundation charter begins thus :--- 
 
 “In nomine Sancte et Individue Trinitatis, Patris et Filit 
 et Spiritus Sancti, Ego Diarmitius, Rex Lageniensium, pro 
 Dei amore et anime mee salute donavi et tradidi spiritualt 
 Patri et Confessori meo Edani Lugdunensi Episcopo, ad opus 
 Canonicorum Ecclesie filie Zole, et successorum eorum, 
 terram quandam que dicitur Ballidabgoil, cum hominibus suis, 
 &e.”’ See the rest of it in the Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. 2, 
 p- 1039, where is also the charter of king Henry II. reciting 
 and confirming the possession of this monastery. 
 
 By this it appears that this king gave this donation at the 
 request of a bishop of Louth, his confessor. An archbishop of 
 Dublin, and an abbot of Glandelough, were present at granting 
 the charter and subscribed it. Ware says ‘it will admit of no 
 doubt, that John Lech, Archbishop of Dublin, procured a bull 
 from Pope Clement V. dated the 13th July, in the seventh year 
 of his pontificate (1311,) for the foundation of an University 
 for Scholars at Dublin. But the archbishop dying 10th of 
 August, 1313, nothing was dcne init. In the year 13820, Alex- 
 
38 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 ander de Bicknor, who succeeded in the archbishopric, renewed 
 this foundation, and procured a confirmation of it by the au- 
 thority of Pope John XXII. And then William de Hardite, 
 a Dominican friar; Henry Gogry, of Friars Minors, and Ed- 
 ward de Karmardin, another Dominican, were created Doctors 
 of Divinity; and William Rodiart, Dean of St. Patrick’s, 
 Dublin, was promoted to the degree of Doctor of the Canon 
 Law, and made the first Chancellor of that university. There, 
 was afterwards a divinity lecture instituted by Edward III. 
 as appears by the register of John Allan, archbishop of Dublin. 
 But, notwithstanding these encouragements, for want of a suffi- 
 cient fund to maintain the students, the university by degrees 
 dwindled to nothing. However, there remained some footsteps 
 of it in the reign of Henry VII. For in a provincial synod, 
 held in Christ Church, Dublin, before Walter Fitzsimons, then 
 archbishop of Dublin, certain annual pensions were granted, for 
 seven years, to the lecturers of the university, by the Archbishop, 
 Suffragans, and Clergy of the province of Dublin.’’ Ware’s 
 Antiquities of Ireland, c. 15. The first stone of what is now 
 called Trinity College, on the site of the ancient priory, was 
 laid by Thomas Smyth, Mayor of Dublin, 13th March, 1591, 
 in which year it was founded by queen Elizabeth. Dublin had 
 before been made an University in the reign of king Edward II. 
 in the year 1320, by the authority of Pope John XXII. 
 
 In the Dublin University Calendar for 1834, (p. 25,) it is said 
 —‘ At the dissolution of the monasteries in Ireland under Henry 
 VIII, the mayor and citizens of Dublin were granted the site, 
 ambit, or precinct of the dissolved Augustinian monastery of 
 All Saints, lying within the suburbs of that city. Archbishop 
 Loftus judging this a convenient situation for the intended 
 College, applied to the mayor and citizens, and in elaborate 
 speeches, in which he laid before them the queen’s intention of 
 founding a university in Ireland, and the great advantages of 
 such a society to the city, he prevailed on them to grant the said 
 monastery of All-Hallows, with the adjoming land, for the pur- 
 pose. The Archbishop having thus far succeeded, employed 
 Henry Usher, then Archdeacon of Dublin, and afterwards 
 Arcbishop of Armagh, to petition the queen for her Royal 
 Charter, and for a mortmain tenure for the land granted by the 
 city. The queen received the petition favourably, and by a 
 warrant dated Dec. 29, 1591, ordered a licence of mortmain 
 to pass the seal for the grant of the said Abbey, (which is stated 
 to be of the yearly value of £20) and for the foundation of a 
 College, incorporated with the power to accept as much lands 
 and contributions for its maintenance, as any of her subjects 
 should be charitably moved to bestow, to the value of £300 
 a-year. On the third of March following, being the thirty-fourth 
 year of Her Majesty’s reign letters patent passed in due form, 
 pursuant to the said warrant, which are printed on all copies of 
 the college statutes now in circulation among the students.” In 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 59 
 
 the old book, it is stated that the yearly rent of this University 
 was £4 3 03, row worth £83 0 10. j 
 
 DRUIM-MAC-UBLA ABBEY. 
 
 According to Colgan, there was an abbey of Regular Canons 
 at Druim-mac-ubla, near the Mountain Brack, where the pro- 
 vinces of Leinster and Ulster meet; which abbey was founded 
 by St. Sidonius, in the 7th century: he died, according to Lani- 
 gan, in 677. 
 
 CLUAIN-DOLCHAIN ABBEY. 
 
 At Cluain-Dolchain, now called Clondalkin, 5 miles from Dub- 
 lin, near the present Carmelite monastery, was a famous abbey, the 
 firstabbot of which, acccording to Colgan, was St. Mochua, inthe 
 seventh century. Now, (says Ware,) a protestant parish church. 
 
 IRELAND'S EYE ABBEY. 
 
 St. Inns-Patrick on the north side of the Bay of Dublin, off 
 Howth, liesa small island called Ireland’s Eye, where, it is 
 said, St. Nessan, in 570, founded an abbey, and there spent his 
 life in fasting and prayer. Lanigan, however, thinks St. Nes- 
 san was never on this island; but that three holy sons of Nessan, 
 cf the royal house of Leinster, were there in the seventh century. 
 Colgan speaks of them on the fifteenth of March. There was 
 kept the book of the four Gospels called Kerkowre, of which 
 Allan, Archbishop of Dublin, says: 
 
 “That book is held m so much esteem and veneration, that 
 upright men dare scarcely take an oath on it, for fear of God’s 
 judgments shewn on men who had forsworn themselves on it.” 
 Ware takes no notice of this house, but Usher mentions it. 
 
 TEAGH-SACRA ABBEY. 
 
 Teagh-Sacra, near Tallagh, was an abbey about five miles from 
 Dublin, founded in 652, by St. Sacre, or Mossacre, as Colgan 
 says. The name Teagh-Sacre signifies a sacred or holy house. On 
 the site is now a protestant church. 
 
 
 
 SWORDS ABBEY. 
 
 At Swords, seven miles from Dublin, there was an abbey founded 
 by the great St. Columbkill, in 512, and was called Monasterium 
 Surdense, or Surdum Sancti Columbe. Colgan, who makes 
 mention of this house, observes, that at the time of the founda- 
 tion, that saint gave the government thereof to St. Finan, sur- 
 named Lobhar, er the Leper, who lived in the sixth century, 
 Some say this house belonged to the order of St. Benedict. 
 
60 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 FINGLASS, 
 
 The abbey here, about two miles from Dublin, is supposed to 
 have been founded by St. Patrick, as Harris thinks. (Vol. IL., 
 p. 262.) At Finglass the parochial church was dedicated to St. 
 Kenny. The monastery was on the site of the present protes- 
 tant church. 
 
 LUSK. 
 
 At Lusk, in the barony of Balrothery, Co. Dublin, about 
 eleven miles from the metropolis, an abbey was founded by St. 
 Colga, about 695, who was its first abbot, and who assisted, as 
 Lanigan says (vol. III, p. 140,) at the Synod of Flan-Febhla, 
 about 697. In 825, the abbey was pillaged. In 854, itself and 
 the town were destroyed by fire; in 1135, after it was rebuilt, it 
 was again burnt. In 1190, an Nunnery of the order of Arroasia 
 was founded here. (See particulars under Nunneries ). 
 
 
 
 CASTLEKNOCK. 
 
 At Castleknock, about three miles from Dublin, near where 
 St. Vincent’s Catholic College now stands, an abbey was founded 
 by Richard Tyrrell, in the 13th century, dedicated to St. Briged, 
 for Regular Canons of the order of St. Augustin. It subse- 
 quently became the parish protestant church. 
 
 
 
 TALLAGHT. 
 
 At Tallaght, or Tallagh, a village in the barony of Newcastle, 
 county Dublin, about five miles from the city, and three from 
 Cromlin, an abbey was founded by St. Molruane, in the 7th 
 century. Nowa protestant place of worship. 
 
 
 
 AT GRACE DIEU, 
 
 About three miles north of Swords, in the barony of Balrothery, 
 an Augustinian abbey was founded, according to Archdal, in 
 1190. (See particulars under Nunneries.) 
 
 
 
 THE ABBEY OF ST. OLAVE, AND THE CONVENT IN 
 CROW-ST., DUBLIN. 
 
 Formerly an abbey stood, according to Archdall, in Castle-st. 
 in the city of Dublin, about the spot called Cole-alley. 
 
 Whitlaw and Walsh, appear, to have been somewhat contra- 
 dictory upon this subject. In p. 74, of their History of Dublin, 
 4to, 1818, speaking of the small gate “that gave an entrance into 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 61 
 
 the city from Sheep (Ship) street to Castle-street, called St. 
 Austin’s Gate, (add with Harris,) not as some have imagined, 
 (among whom they quote Ware,) as it opened a passage toa 
 monastery of Augustine friars, which support their notion, they 
 erroneously placed in Castle-street, for that religious house did 
 notlie within the city, but without the (old) walls, northward of 
 Dame-street, almost opposite to the end of George’s-lane, where 
 some footsteps of the ruins were lately to be seen at the bottom 
 of Crow-street, (where the late theatre was.) But this gate 
 took the name of Austin’s Gate after, as it was dedicated to that 
 saint; or, as it afforded.a passage to the friars of that order to 
 attend to the citizens in their nightly confessions and other duties, 
 when the principal gates of the city were kept close shut, and 
 guarded.”’ But, in page 371, of the same work, they say: ‘‘ King 
 Henry lI. having granted the city of Dublin to a colony from 
 Bristol, they built the monastery (or abbey of St. Olave,) for 
 such of their countrymen as should be inclined to embrace the 
 order of St. Augustine, and called it from the abbey of the same 
 order and name in their native town. It stood in Castle-street, 
 on the ground whereon Sir James Ware’s house was afterwards 
 erected, and where the building called Cole Alley, but now de- 
 molished, lately stood; the passage to it was from Ship-street, 
 where a few years since was to be seen in the town wall, the mark 
 of the gate called St. Augustine’s Gate.”? They quote Archdall’s 
 Monasticon, p. 174. Although Harris, in his “ History of Dublin,” 
 controverts this account; yet the fact (stated in the chief Re- 
 membrancer’s Oflice,) that in 1605, a grant was made of part of 
 the possessions of this monastery in Castle-sreet, to Edward 
 Darey of Jordanstown, at the annual rent of £1 5s. Od. Irish 
 appears to afiord proof that there was not only an Augustinian, 
 convent in Crow-street, and in Thomas-street, but also in Casile- 
 street, and more so, if we credit Ware, who lived so shortly 
 afterwards in the house on the site of its ruins. 
 
 
 
 THE PRIORY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, : 
 
 Which Archdall places under the Canons Regular, was, ae- 
 cording to Ware, a priory, or hospital of crouched friars, under 
 the rule of St. Augustine, situated at the top of John-street, in 
 Thomas-street, (a part of which was on the site of the present 
 Augustinian convent,) formerly without the West, or New, 
 gate of the city. It was founded in the 12th century, by Ailred 
 de Palmer. ‘To this was attached an infirmary, which contained 
 fifty beds, for the relief of a hundred and fifteen sick poor who 
 were therein supported In 1316, the church of St. John, with 
 the chapel of St. Magdalen, were consumed by fire; but in a few 
 years afterwards rebuilt, under a grant of Edward II. The 
 house-site and possessions, were granted to James Segrave of 
 Dublin, for £1,078 15s. 8d., now worth £21,575; and the yearly 
 rent of 2s. 6d., now worth £2 10s. The old steeple remained 
 until 1800, when it was taken down. 
 
 F 
 
62 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 COUNTY LOUTH, 
 SAINT MARY’S PRIORY. 
 
 At Louth, a leading town of this county, forty miles from 
 Dublin, and once a bishopric, was the priory of St. Mary. The 
 prior was a spiritual lord, who sat in parliament. This house was 
 founded by Donagh-o-Caroll, king of Orgiel, or Oriel, which, as 
 Lanigan says, (vol. i. p. 398,) comprised the counties of Louth 
 and Monaghan, and other districts, and by Edan O’ Kelly, bishop 
 of Clogher, who was buried there about 1180. Some say this 
 priory was the same as the deanery (which Ussher calls) of Lugu- 
 dum, or Louth, because that town wascalled Lugudunum, and by 
 abbreviation Lugudum; so written in the registers of the apostolic 
 chambers. But it is likely they were two distinct benefices, the 
 former being regular, and the other secular. For Ussher also 
 observes, that in 1252, the deaneries of Lugudum, or Louth, of 
 Drogheda, and of Ardee, were put under the jurisdiction of the 
 archbishop of Armagh, whereof the bishop of Clogher highly com- 
 plained, contending that since the suppression of the bishopric of 
 Louth, the county of that name, which was also formerly called 
 Oriel, had belonged to his diocese. Itis probable (as Lanigan says, 
 iv. p. 131,) that they might have been but one and the same, and 
 that the regular house might be secularised; so that this contro- 
 yersy must. remain undecided. 
 
 LOUTH ABBEY. : 
 
 In the town of Louth was avery ancient abbcy, built by St, 
 Mocteus, bishop of Louth. Colgan says it was called Lugma- 
 dense Monasterium, which some believe was afterwards the 
 deanery of Louth above spoken of; but Ware thinks the pricry 
 of St. Mary, last mentioned, was built on the ruins of this abbey 
 St. Mocteus, the founder, was a man of much learning, and it is 
 said, that about one hundred bishops, and three hundred priests, 
 ~ were his disciples, which is not be wondered at, for St. Brendan, 
 St. Colgal, and St. Finian, who taught in Ireland, had a much 
 greater number. It is also affirmed, that this St. Moctee formed 
 a particular rule, but there is some reason to questicn this. This 
 house and immense possessions were granted, 33rdof Henry VIIL., 
 to Sir Oliver Plunket. (See Lismore in the county Armagh. ) 
 
 
 
 ST. PETER AND ST, PAUL'S PRIORY, AT KNOCK. 
 
 The abbey, or priory of St. Peter and St. Paul at Knock, near 
 Louth, built on the Mountain of the Apostles, and the foundation 
 of it given to the same king of Orgiel, or Oriel, according to 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 63 
 
 Camden, whom we mentioned above, and to the Bishop of 
 Clogher, about 1148. Ware says that this place was formerly 
 called Knockna-sengan, or Hill of Ants; for knock signifies 
 an hill or mountain; and that it was afterwards called the 
 Island of theApostles, on account of its priory being dedicated to 
 St. Peterand St. Paul. Colgan wisely reproves Franciossus, an 
 Italian, for saying in his Book of the Saints of the city of Luca, 
 that Orgiel was a city in Ireland, whereas it included but Louth, 
 Monaghan anda few other districts. Granted (31st Henry VIII) 
 to Sir John King at a yearly rent of £16 5s. 4d., now worth £325 
 6s. 8d. 
 
 
 
 AT DRUIN-INIS-GLUIN, 
 
 It is said, an abbey was founded by St. Patrick. 
 
 DROGHEDA HOSPITAL Of REGULAR CANONS. 
 
 Ware: thinks that a religious house at Drogheda, which was 
 called of the Bear, because Ursus de Swemele, an English 
 nobleman, founded it in the year 1206, was an hospital or priory 
 of the order of the Crouched Friars; but Allemande believes 
 it was a wardenship and hospital belonging to the Regular Ca- 
 nons of St. Augustin, for the foundation charter has these words: 
 
 Przterea volo et firmiter obsecroin Domino ut qui post obitum 
 meum Custos fuerit predicte domus illius, per electionem pro- 
 borum hominum de Drogueda eligatur, et ut dum legalem 
 custodiam predicte domui adhibebit. vocetur cognomine Custos 
 et non Prior, &c. There are some things in the sequel of the 
 charter, which show, that this house was given to the Regular 
 Canons of St. Augustin; but it would be tedious to insert the 
 whole. It may be seen in the additions to Dugdale’s Monas- 
 ticon Anglicanum, vol. 3, p. 107. The house was seized, 31 
 Henry VIII., of sixty acres of land in Glaspistell, rent 13s. 4d. ; 
 two messuages in Dundalk, rent 6s.; two acres in Stabane, 
 rent 2s.; besides some other rectories, lands, &c. Granted to 
 a mayor of Drogheda: rent £1 14s. 4d., now worth £34 13s, 
 4d, 
 
 
 
 AN AUGUSTINIAN FRIARY, 
 
 Founded under Richard I., granted to the mayor of Louth, 
 ibid. 
 
 
 
 A PRIORY: OF CANONS, 
 
 Built in the early ages—now the site of the Protestant 
 Church. Mr Cobbett (after others,) says: this was a priory 
 
64 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 of Regular Canons, celebrated for the synod held there by Car- 
 dinal Papiro, in 1152. Neither the sequestration, nor value 
 is given. 
 
 
 
 ARDEE, 
 
 Ten miles from’ Dundalk, and thirty-four from Dublin. A 
 Crouched Friary, founded by Roger, Lord Ardee, for the sal- 
 vation of his own ‘soul, and the souls of his wife Alicia, his 
 father William, his mother Joan, his brethren Gilbert and 
 Peter, in the year 1207, for the Augustinians. The founder, for 
 the better support of this house, and to enable the friars to exer- 
 cise more liberally their works of mercy and charity, granted 
 them the carucate of land which Osmond Doubleday held; also 
 full liberty to bring water for the use of the house, and a suffi- 
 cient cart-way, This house was considerably endowed, bygrants 
 and donations from several other pious catholics. In the year 
 1612, James I. granted the house and possessions to Sir Garrett 
 More, at the yearly rent of £115 5s. 8d, now worth £2,305 
 13s. 4d. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF WICKLOW. 
 GLENDALOGH OR GLANDELOURE ABBEY, 
 
 We find in the life of St. Kevin, or Coegen, that is, beautiful 
 born, that he founded an abbey in the bottom of a valley, which was 
 once in the Scottish: called Clandee, but at present Glendalogh 
 that is, the vale of the two loughs, or lakes, about twenty-four 
 miles from Dublin, and ten N. W. of Wicklow, and in the same, 
 place a famous and religious city grew up in honour of St. 
 Coegen, which from the name of the vale wherein it’stands, is’ 
 called Glendalogh. This abbey was made a bishopric in the 
 seventh century, and was united to Dublin in the twelfth cen- 
 tury. The cathedral was served by Regular Canons, where 
 there was a bishop and an abbot, who was chief of the Canons, 
 in the nature of the deans and prebendaries. For, as has been 
 well observed by the famous Benedictin, F. Mabillon, in several 
 cathedrals in Europe in which there were Regulars, there was 
 at the same time a bishop and an abbot. Ware takes no notice 
 of this abbey, likely because it was afterwards made a bishopric. 
 But as the abbey might continue, although it was made a 
 bishopric, as dignities of bishop and abbot were distinct in one 
 and the same church, Ussher has been more correet in placing it 
 among the rest. 
 
 THE PRIORY OF OUR SAVIOUR, 
 
 Most authors say was, also, at Glendalogh, on the north side. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 65 
 DRUIMH-CHAOIN-CELLAIGH ABBEY, 
 
 According to Colgan, was: founded in the seventh ceniury, by 
 St. Abban, who also founded several others, of which Ware 
 seemed ignorant. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF WEXFORD. 
 WEXFORD. 
 
 A sea-port town, and a borough, seventy-four English miles 
 from Dublin. Priory of Regular Canons. . It was richly endowed 
 by several noblemen. There was an inquisition held on it 31st 
 Henry VIII., another lst Edward VI., when it was granted for 
 ever to John Parker at the annual rent of 15s. 0id., now worth 
 £15 10s.; but a third inquisition was held, 26 Elizabeth, when 
 the house and possessions were found in the hands of Philip Deve- 
 reux of Wexford. This church still remains with a large tower 
 in the middle. 
 
 
 
 THE AUGUSTINIAN FRIARY, AT WEXFORD. 
 
 Built in the reign of Edward III.; this house had some va- 
 luable possessions, though granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Richard 
 Butler, at the yearly rent of 17d. Irish, now worth £1 8s. 4d. 
 
 SELSKER: OR ST. PETER AND S&T. PAUL, 
 
 ‘Near the town of Wexford, was the priory of St. Peter and 
 St. Paul, called Selsker, founded in the twelfth century, by the 
 Routs, or Roches, noblemen of English extraction, who settled 
 in Ireland since the invasion. The Vicounts Fermoy are of this 
 family. ‘The old priory was the site-of the present church. The 
 tower and some ruins remain. 
 
 
 
 FERNS ABBEY. 
 
 At Ferns, about fifty-six miles from Dublin, wasa small abbey, 
 founded in 1158, by the famous Dermot, king of Leinster, who was 
 buriedin itin 1171. Thefoundation charter and donations are at 
 length in the Monasticon Anglicanum. A bishop and an abbot of 
 Glendalogh subscribed the charter; which proves that the abbey of 
 Glendalogh continued after it was erected into a bishopric, and that 
 therefore, Ware ought to have taken notice of the abbey of 
 Glendalogh. 
 
 If we believe Colgan, Ferns was an abbey since the sixth 
 century; for he affirms that St. Maidoc was first abbot there, 
 and then bishop, and afterward$ archbishop. Be that as it may, 
 this church of Ferns was almost at first erected into a cathedral. 
 King Dermot founded another abbcy in this town in the twelfth. 
 
 F 2 
 
66 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM 
 
 century, unless it be urged that ancient authors have often 
 confounded the qualities of abbots and bishops, which cannot be 
 denied. 
 
 
 
 AT FERNS. 
 
 In same county, another abbey was formed by St. Edan, or 
 Aiden, in the seventh century. It was endowed by Brandub, 
 king of Kinsellagh, a part of this county. Granted with posses- 
 sions, 26 Elizabeth, for 60 years, to Thomas Masterson. Rent 
 £16 4s, now worth £320 Is, 6d. 
 
 ee 
 
 CLUAIN-MORE ABBEY. 
 
 Cluain-more was an abbey anciently called Cluendichola-guir- 
 che, because it was founded by St. Dichulle in the sixth century, 
 or, according to Colgan, by St. Maidoc, who was bishop of Ferns. 
 One of the St. Maidocs was abbot of it, but was not the same, 
 says Colgan, as the great St. Maidoc, above mentioned, who was 
 bishop of Ferns. Allemande mentions three abbeys in Cluain- 
 more, (see pages 14, 15 and 30); bunt there appears not sufficient 
 ground to say there was more than one of this name and order in 
 this county. 
 
 
 
 INBHER-DAGAN ABBEY. 
 
 At Inberdaoile, or Inbher-dagan, on the sea shore, there was 
 an abbey, which, according to Colgan, was founded by St. Dagan, 
 who was afterwards made bishop of Achade Dagain, in the 
 seventh century. 
 
 SEANBOTHA MONASTERY. 
 
 At Seanbotha, according to Colgan, there was an abbey or . 
 monastery, founded by St. Colman O’Fiaghragh, in the sixth 
 century. 
 
 
 
 DUNE MONASTERY. 
 
 At Dune, (or Downing,) a small town on the river Derriby, 
 which falls into Slane River, there was an ancient house of Re- 
 gular Canons, built by the Oustmans or Danes long before the 
 invasion. 
 
 
 
 ARDLABRAN MONASTERY. 
 
 At Ardlabran, or Ardladran, St. Maidoc founded another 
 abbey, not far from Cluain-more, according to Colgan. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 67 
 ROSS ABBEY. 
 
 At New Ross, a town on the river Barrow, about seventy En- 
 glish miles from Dublin, wasan ancient abbey or priory, founded in 
 the 7th century by St. Evin, or Emin, or, as some say, by Abban. 
 This house was called Rosmactreon, or Rossglass. Allemande says 
 it is certain that this house was afterwards made an abbey of the 
 Cistercian Order. ‘This house was a sanctuary, where male- 
 factors remained in safety; and St. Evin, or Emin, having , 
 brought monks from Munster to place in it, the same was called 
 Rossglass of the Munsterians. Here (say Allemande and 
 Stephens,) was the bell of that Saint, which wrought miracles 
 against perjured persons. Ware places this house in the county 
 of Kildare, for it is partly in that of Kildare and that of Wex- 
 ford. Colgan thinks that this abbey of Ross is really that of 
 Rosmactreon, or Rossglass, which was very famous, and that 
 St. Abban was the founder, and St. Evin or Emin only his suc- 
 cessor, Allemande says he does not know whether it was not 
 the abbey of Rossimbhir, which the same Colgan owns to have 
 been founded by St. Maidoc, in the county of Werford, and the 
 cuocese of Ferns. 
 
 
 
 BEG-ERIN, OR BEG-ERI ABBEY. 
 
 On the coast of Wexford, two and a half miles from it, %s & 
 small Island called Begeri, or Begerin, or little Ireland, in which 
 there was an abbey founded by St. Ibar, who died in 500. It is 
 mentioned in the life of that Sait that he founded a famous monas- 
 tery, and instructed a number of Irishmen and foreigners in sacred 
 literature and other excellent sciences, in the seminary attached. 
 By which it appears that St. Ibar, whom they also called Ivor, was 
 not only a most holy man, but also very learned, so much so that 
 some authors call him Doctor Begerensis. Nor was this abbey less 
 renowned on account of the college, or university he there 
 established, which produced many great scholars, than for the 
 holy’ persons who proceeded from it. Ware forgot to mention 
 this house in his Monastereologia ; but Ussher speaks of it in his 
 Antiquities of the British Churches. 
 
 (CSR eee 
 
 FION MAGH-ABBEY. 
 
 Pion-Magh, i. e. Whitefield, says Colgan, was an abbey in 
 Regione Forthardorum, in the province of Leinster, founded by 
 St. Mossacre, or Sacre, in the 7th century. 
 
 
 
 CAMROS ABBEY. 
 
 _ Camros, according to Colgan, was another abbey, founded by 
 St. Abban, who died in 630, and by the abbot St Mossacre, whu 
 died in 650. 
 
68 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM,. 
 MAGHERE-NUIDHE ABBEY. 
 
 Maghere-Nuidhe was another abbey founded by St. Abban. 
 Perhaps Ware had no knowledge of either of them. This saint 
 generally resided in this abbey, though he had founded ten or 
 twelve others which were considerable. 
 
 
 
 FETHARD ABBEY. 
 
 In this third place, the same saint likewise founded the abbey 
 of Fethard, in the county of Wexford, about fifteen miles from 
 New Ross, and eighty-one from Dublin. F. Colgan’s account 
 of the abbeys built by St. Abban, appears increditable. 
 
 AT CLONMINES, NEAR FETHARD, 
 
 An Augustine monastery was founded by the family of Cava- 
 nagh, before the year 1385; granted, with the possessions, 35 
 Henry VIII., to John Parker; rent 2s. 6d.. now worth £2 10s. 
 
 AT DISART CHENAN, 
 
 An abbey was founded by St. Abban in the seventh century. 
 
 4 WE 
 AT TAGHMON, 
 
 About seventy miles from Dublin, and seven from Wexford, 
 an abbey was founded by St. Monnu in the sixth century. 
 
 AT ACHAD ABLA, 
 An abbey, founded by St. Finan in the fifth century. 
 
 AT ENNISCORTHY, 
 
 About sixty-two miles from Dublin, and twelve from Wexford, 
 the priory of St. John the Evangelist, founded by Gerald de Pren- 
 degrast, lord of Enniscorthy, and John, of St. John, bishop of 
 Ferns, in 1240. Grantedin 1581, to Edward Spenser ; rent £13 
 5s., now worth £265. Cobbett says there was a cell here be- 
 longing to the abbey of St. Thomas in Dublin. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF KILKENNY. 
 KILKENNY PRIORY AND HOSPITAL. 
 
 At Kilkenny, on the river Nore, the capitalof this county, and 
 a bishop’s see, fifty-seven miles from Dublin, there were a priory 
 and hospital of this order, founded by William Mareshal, Earl of 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 69 
 
 Pembroke, an English nobleman, famous in the first introduction 
 of the English into Ireland. in the year of 1211, if we believe 
 Ware; for the compilers of the Monasticon Anglicanum, who have 
 given us the foundation charter entire in their additions, vol. 2, p. 
 1042, alledge that this house was under the invocation of St. John 
 the Evangelist, was not founded until the year 1220. Mr. Cobbett 
 says it was founded in the year 1211, for the relief of the indi- 
 gent poor, by William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke; and 
 richly endowed by him with several lands. Richard Cantwell, 
 the last prior, surrendered this house with all the possessions, 
 31 Henry VIII ; granted to the mayor and citizens of Kilkenny, 
 with 100 acres of land, 40 gardens, a water-mill in Magdalen-st., 
 
 a wood called Channons- grove in the liberties of tow n, W ith 200) 
 acres of land adjoining, ten messuages and 200 acres in Drake- 
 land, in the county, and another messuage in the town. 
 
 KILKENNY (COUNTY.) 
 AT CALLAN, 
 
 Eight miles from Kilkenny, and sixty-five from Dublin, 
 an Augustine friary, founded, as some persons say, by Hugh 
 de Mapilton, bishop of Ossory, in the year 1251, or, as others 
 think, by the Ormonds; granted, together with the abbey of 
 Athassel, to Thomas, Earl of Ormond, in the year 1557. 
 
 James Butler, says Ware, founded a convent at Callan of Au- 
 gustine Hermits, in whose church he was buried in the year 1487 ; 
 he was father of Peter, Earl of Ormonde, under Henry VIII. 
 This convent, before its suppression, was richly endowed, and 
 was noted for its learned community, its library rich in manu- 
 scripts; holding a duplicate of all the rare works in the Library 
 of the celebrated Abbey of Jerpoint, also for the richness of its 
 church utensils, &c., but, above all, for its care of the poor. 
 
 The present catholic church and convent of St. Augustine, 
 Callan, commencedin the year 1810, by the Very Rev. John Rice, 
 though whose indefatigable exertions it was finished in afew 
 years, at an expense of £4000. It isan oblong square, 90 feet 
 by 40,,a remarkably neat gothic structure, built of cut stone. 
 The groined ceiling 1s considered a model of perfection. The 
 altar-peice, a copy of Dominichino by an Italian artist, is confess- 
 edly one of the best paintings in Ireland. The two marblestatutes 
 are now being made in Rome by Mr. Hogan, the celebrated 
 Irish artist, and are to be placed in two niches each side of the 
 great altar. This church is an ornament to religion, and all who 
 have seen it, consider it the neatest in Ireland, in point of chaste 
 style, and perfect unision of interior and exterior: the tower has , 
 a venerable appearance, and is 90 feet in height, and has a large 
 clock with four dials, the only public clock in the town. ‘The 
 Tabernacle, Vestments, &c., are rich and beautiful. The cler- 
 gymen have apartments under the building. 
 
 From the position of the ground, the church (being built along 
 
70 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 the declivity of a hill,) shews on one side only; the apartments 
 being so contrived as not to take from the gothic and unique 
 appearance of the church. The small lawn bounded by King’s- 
 ‘iver is environed by fine gravel walks, enclosed between two 
 elm hedges, which serves as a healthful walk for the laity on 
 Sundays; a neat wooden bridge connects this lawn with the ab- 
 bey-field, where the ancient abbey stands. 
 
 
 
 KELL’S PRIORY. 
 
 At Kells, or Kenlis, asmall town in Co. Kilkenny, six miles from 
 it, was a rich priory of the invocation of the B. V. Mary, the prior 
 whereof was a lord spiritual, and as such sat in the parliaments 
 - of Ireland. Ware says this house was founded under king Ri- 
 chard I., surnamed Ceeur de Lion, towards the latter end of the 
 twelfth century, by Geoffrey Fitz-Robert, seneschal of Leins- 
 ter; but Dugdale and Dodsworth, in their additions to the Mo- 
 nasticon, producing the foundation charter, and the donations 
 to this house, show, in the first place, that it was called St. 
 Keran of Kenlis, and that it was built by the said Geoffry, who, 
 coming out of England into Ireland with the Earl of Pembroke, 
 purchased the barony of Kenlis in Ossory, being the upper 
 county of Kilkenny, and founded this priory in the town of 
 Kenlis, in the year 1183, (Cobbett has it 1193,) and the bishop 
 of Ossory, who lived at that time, confirmed the same. | And for 
 as much as there were not then any Regular Canons of St. Au- 
 gustin, of the English nation, in Ireland, and that nobleman 
 avould ‘not admit of Irish, he caused the church to be served by 
 four secular priests, till such time as he could bring Regular 
 Canons out of England. Them he took out of the priory of 
 Bodmin in Cornwal.- One of them was called Reginald Acloind, 
 and another Hugh Rufus. Reginald was the first prior, and 
 Rufus succeeded him, and was afterwards the first bishop of 
 Ossory, or of Kilkenny, for they are now the same; the see 
 of the bishop of Ossory, which was moving and unfixed, being 
 settled in the town of Kilkenny. It farther appears by the foun- 
 dation charter, that the aforesaid seneschal of Leinster made 
 great donations to this house. Hugh and Walter Lacy, English 
 noblemen, added to them; and king John, brother and successor 
 to Richard, was not satisfied with confirming the foundation, and 
 Hugh’s donation, for that of Walter was later, but gave himself 
 very considerable to this priory, which was one of the richest 
 in the kingdom. Granted by Henry VIII. to James, earl of 
 Ormond. 
 
 ee een 
 
 FEDHDUIN ABBEY, 
 
 According to Colgan, at Fedhduin, or Fiddion, there was an 
 abbey, founded by St. Maidoc, or Momoedoc, son to the holy 
 queen Ragedundis, in 590, Now (says Cobbett) a protestan 
 parochial place of worship. 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 71 
 TICK, OR  INISTIOGUE. 
 
 At Tick, or Inistiogue, thirteen miles Kilkenny, and sixty- 
 three from Dublin, on the Noire, according to Camden, 
 who assures us it was the fourth considerable place in the county 
 of Kilkenny, there is a priory of the invocation of St. Columb, 
 founded, as Ware says, in the year 1206, (Cobbett has it 1210,) 
 by Thomas, seneschal of Leinster, by persuasion of the above- 
 mentioned Hugh Rufus, bishop of Ossory. This Thomas, the 
 founder, desired the prior of Kenlis to send him two canons, to 
 form and govern his new priory, and one of those canons, whose 
 name was Allured, became the first prior of Inistigue. Granted, 
 with all the possessions, to James Butler and his heirs, at, the 
 rent of £28 12s., now worth £572. <A rectory granted by Eliza- 
 beth 31, in Whitechurch, to earl of Ormond. 
 
 
 
 KILLACHADE-DRUMFODA, OR KILLAGHY ABBEY. 
 
 Killachade-Drumfoda, now called Killaghy, was an ancient 
 bishopric and an abbey, where, as Colgan informs us, St. Si- 
 nelle, or St. Sinchello, was bishop and abbot in the sixth cen- 
 tury, who was intered here. 
 
 EADCRUIM, OR ENAGH-TRUIM ABBEY. 
 
 Eadcruim, or Enagh-Truim, a good town at the foot of mount 
 Badin, where St. Coeman, or Coman, according to Ussher, in 
 the sixth century, founded an abbey. Ware takes no notice 
 either of the saint, or of the abbey, unless it be the same St. Co- 
 man who built Roscommon, which is likely enough, because- 
 they lived in the same century. Ussher seems to be of opinion, 
 that they were two different saints. Colgan agrees with Ware, 
 and adds, that this Coman only finished the structure, which St. 
 Pulcherius, or Mochoemoc had before begun, and that it is now 
 only a parish. If we believe some authors, this abbey belonged 
 to the Benedictines. 
 
 FERT-NE.GEROCH, OR FERTAGH ABBEY. 
 
 / 
 AtFert-ne-geroch, or Fertagh, eight miles from Durrow, in this 
 county, was a priory of Regular Canons of St. Augustin, founded 
 in the thirteenth century, by the Blanchfields, Englishmen of qua- 
 lity, whe settled in Ireland. Granted 9th Elizabeth to James 
 iutler, jun. Rent £12 13s, 3d., now worth £253 5s! 
 
 KIL-MANAGH ABBEY. 
 
 af 
 Kkil-Managh, or Monks Church, four miles fram Dublin, an 
 abbey, where, according to Colgan, St. Natalis was abtot in 563. 
 There is another of this name, founded by St. Fechin, in the coun- 
 ty of Shgo, in Connaught. 
 
 — 
 
72 MONASTICON HIBERNICON 
 
 COUNTY OF CATERLOGH, OR CARLOW. 
 LEIGHLIN ABBEY. 
 
 At Leighlin, an episcopal see, there was an ancient abbey, 
 founded by St. Gobban, who gave it St. Laserean, who was at the 
 same time bishop and abbot of Leighlin. Only Ussher speaks of 
 this abbey of Leighlin. Itis strange Ware does not mention it. He 
 was not unacquainted with the famous assembly of the clergy, 
 which was held in that abbey, in the year 630, about the controver- 
 sy concerning the celebration of Easter. Ussher seems mistaken, 
 when he tells us that St. Laserean was the founder of this abbey, 
 for that saint’s life makes it appear, that St. Gobban was abbot 
 of Leighlin before St. Laserean came to settle there, as has been 
 well observed by F. Colgan. ‘True it is, that St. Laserean 
 raised the abbey of Leighlin to such reputation, that he passed 
 for the founder, having 1500 monks under him, It was but in- 
 considerable under St. Gobban. ‘There is, however, reason to 
 question whether this house belonged originally to the Regular 
 Canons of St. Augustin, or to the Monks of St. Benedict. 
 
 
 
 PRIORY OF ST. STEPHEN, AT, LEIGHLIN, 
 
 Founded by Burchard, a Norwegian, in the ninth century. 
 
 AGHA-CAINID, OR TEGH-MOLLING, 
 
 Or St. Mullins, an abbey, near the Barrow, founded by St. 
 Moling, abbot about 622. 
 
 
 
 Most authers, by mistake, place the three following monaste- 
 ries in Carlow County. 
 
 LAIGER, OR LEIR KIARAN, 
 
 In the King’s County, a priory, founded by St. Kiaran, the 
 elder, in the fifth century, and plundered and burnt about 1130. 
 
 
 
 ABBEY OF BIRR, 
 
 Dedicated to St. Brendon, senior, founded in the sixth cen- 
 tury, in this county, see King’s County. 
 
 
 
 ABBEY OF ST. COLMAN, AT DAIRMORE, 
 
 Or Linalli, founded by St. Colman, in the same century. See 
 King’s County. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 73 
 CLUAN-MAC-NOIS, 
 
 An abbey, founded by St. Kieran, junior, in 548. This once 
 famous monastery, the burial place of many of the Milesian 
 kings, suffered under the sacrilegious hand of the Anglo-Saxon, 
 long before the time of the ‘‘ Reformation.’’—Meyler Fitzhenry, 
 whom we have seen founding a monastery at Conall, for English 
 monks, did not scruple to enter the town of Cluan-Mac- -nois,. at 
 the head of his banditti, and plunder the- houses, churches and 
 monasteries, not sparing even the sacred vessels.—But they 
 were “mere Irish !” 
 
 
 
 AT ATHADDY, 
 
 An Augustinian Nunnery, founded in 1151, by Dermod, the 
 son of Murchad, king ef Leinster, (See Nunneries..) 
 
 
 
 AT TULLOW, 
 
 An abbey, built in the reign of Edward II, on a grant of land 
 made by Simon Lumbard, and Hugh Fallon. Granted in 1557, 
 by Elizabeth, to Thomas earl of Ormond. The ruims are at the 
 foot of the Bridge, seven miles from Carlow, and OPES from 
 Dublin. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF KILDARE. 
 KILDARE ABBEY. 
 
 The annals of Donegal assure us, that St. Aidus, (or. Aed,) 
 who lived in 630, was first king of Leinster, and afterwards ab- 
 bot and bishop of Kildare. ‘Thus it appears that there was once 
 an abbey in that town, with the episcopal see, as was in many 
 other towns in Ireland. Nine miles from Naas, and twenty-five 
 from Dublin. 
 
 
 
 NAAS: PRIORY. 
 
 Near Naas, fifteen miles from Dublin, there was a priory of 
 Regular Canons of St. Augustin, under the invocation of St. 
 Julin Baptist, founded by a baron of Naas in 1200. Colgan ob- 
 serves, that this town was once the residence of the kings of 
 Leinster. Granted to Richard Mannering in 1553, at £35 18s. 
 2d, now worth £718 12s. 4d. 
 
 THE AUGUSTINIAN FRIARY AT NAAS, 
 
 (According to Archdall, p. 336,) was founded in 1484, for 
 friar hermits, the ruins of which may be seen at the foot of the 
 mountain, or end of the town. Granted, 25th Elizabeth, ona 
 lease of fifty years, to Nicholas Aylmer, at £6 12s. 8d., now 
 worth £132 13s. 4d. G4 
 
 
 
74 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 ". 
 AT: K1L-AUXILLE. 
 
 ¥ The abbey of Auxille was founded, says Allemande, by St. 
 Patrick in the fifth century. 
 
 
 
 AT GLASFAIDHEN, 
 
 . An abbey was founded by St. Mobhius Clairinech, or Berchan, 
 who was its first abbot in 544. Lanigan (i. p. 223) considers 
 that he was the same as St. Byrchinus, who was contemporary 
 with St. Coemgen, and who flourished, according to Ussher, 
 (p. 263) in 570. 
 
 74 
 f ews emereere 
 
 AT TUDACH TOBHAIR, 
 
 St Fechin (of Fore) founded a priory in the seventh century. 
 He died, according to Ussher and Lanigan, in 665. 
 
 
 
 THE PRIORY OF ST. WOLSTAN, 
 . Commonly called Scala Coeli, was founded by Richard and 
 Adam.de Hereford, for English monks, in 1205. Richard was 
 its first prior. It was founded in honor of St. Wolstan, A.B., 
 of Worcester. Granted 28th Henry VIII. to Allen, of Norfolk, 
 at the rent of two knights’ fees. 
 
 
 
 AT. CASTLEDERNCOLL. 
 
 An abbey was founded (says Archdall. p. 310,) in 500, by St. 
 Diermit, whose feast is kept 21st June. (See Castledermott.) 
 
 AT CLANE, 
 
 Says the same author, (p. 312) St. Ailbe founded an abbey, 
 and made St. Sinell, the elder, abbot of it, who died 548. La- 
 nigan (1. p. 441) thinks the time of this donation was about 500; 
 and that there wasno permanent monastery at Clane. See an ac- 
 
 ‘count of the Franciscan priory here, under that order. ‘Gelasius, 
 archbishop of Armagh, with twenty-five other prelates, and a 
 great number of abbots, held a celebrated synod here in 1162, 
 near where the present college of Clongowes is, about fifteen 
 miles from Dublin. 
 
 AT TIMOLIN;,; 
 
 About thirteen miles from Naas, and twenty-eight from Dub- 
 lin, was a monastery founded ina very early age. Lanigan (iv. 
 338,) says that Robert, son of Richard, lord of Norreagh, 
 
 founded here the convent of Sts Mary about 1200. 
 
=T 
 or 
 
 CANONS REGULAR. 
 CONAL PRIORY, 
 
 Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. David, founded by 
 Meyler Fitzhenry,. (a natural son of Henry II.) lord justice, A. 
 D. 1202. This priory was dependant on the abbey of 
 Lanthony in England; the original act of its foundation is in 
 the Bodlean Library. This was the cradle and grave of learned 
 and great men; granted 3rd of Elizabeth for 61 years to Sir N. 
 White. Rent £26 19s. 5d., now worth £539 8s. 4d. 
 
 AT CASTLEDERMOTT, 
 
 Seven miles from Athy, and thirty-four from Dublin, (likely 
 that which Archdal confounds with Castlederncoll above,) St. 
 Diermit, or Dermott, founded a priory about 500. It was plun- 
 dered in the ninth century by the Danes, at which time there 
 was a celebrated school there, in which Cormal, bishop of Cashel, 
 was educated and interred. 
 
 
 
 OUEN ABBEY, OR PRIORY. 
 
 Near the port of Kilcullen, on the river Liffey, was the abbey, 
 or priory of Ouen, founded in the fifteenth century, by Rowland 
 Eustace, an Englishman, Viscount Baltinglass, Lord of Castle-~ 
 martin, and Baron of Portlesterin Ireland. He was buried here 
 in the year 1496. Colgan says this abbey is much more ancient. 
 
 AT KILCOLMAN, epee 2 
 ame 
 
 ~ out 
 
 
 
 Formerly called Ifalgia, founded by St. Coman, as Colgan says 
 It is now only a parish of the diocess of Kildare, called Gesille: 
 He farther observes, that there were two other churches, bu 
 not monasteries, of this name of Kilchoemin, the ones in thet © 
 isles of Arran, dioce:s of Tuam, and the other in the county 
 of Antrim, and diocess of Down and Connor. 
 
 eS ED 
 
 CLUAIN-DAIMH ABBEY, 
 
 At Cluain-Daimh, or Oxen’s Meadow, on the banks of the 
 river Liffey, was an abbey, founded by St. Sinchelle, or Sinelle, 
 abbot there, as Colgan informs us; others say it was founded by 
 St. Ailbhe. It is to be observed, that there were several abbeys 
 im Ireland. called Cluain, with another name by way of distine- 
 tion, because the abbeys were generally seated in fine meadows, 
 which the word Cluain imports. Those that were in woods were 
 called Doire, as we shall see hereafter. 
 
 ———— 
 
 AT MONASTEREVAN. 
 
 A sumptuous abbey, built by St. Alban, in the seventh cen- 
 tury. St. Emin, or Evin, of the Eogonacht’s family in south 
 
76 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM 
 
 Munster, brought a number of monks from thence to this house ; 
 his festival is held on 22d December. At the suppression it fell 
 into the hands of the Earl of Drogheda, and is now the mansion 
 of that family, under the name of Moore Abbey; fourteen miles 
 from Naas, and thirty from Dublin. 
 
 KILRUSH CELL, OR ABBEY. 
 
 At Kilrush, six miles from Kilcullen, was a cell, or, abbey, 
 dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, belonging to the Regular 
 Canons of St. Augustin, founded by the famous William Mare- 
 shall, earl of Pembroke, in the twelfth century, which subsisted 
 till the deformation. This cell, says Allemande, was depending 
 on the priory of Carihmel, in the county of Lancaster in England. 
 
 KING’S COUNTY. 
 SEIRG, OR SAIGER-KYRAN ABBEY, — 
 
 In that part of the ancient Offalia, now called King’s County, 
 there is a territory called Elia Carolina, from the name of the 
 emperor Charles V., father-in-law to Mary, queen of England, 
 who called this the King’s County with respect to king Philip her 
 consort, as she did another, the Queen’s County, on her own 
 account. In the aforesaid territory of Elia Carolina was a small 
 town called Seirg, or Saiger-Kyran, where the great St. Kieran, 
 or Ciaran, built an abbey in the sixth century, and was himself 
 the first abbot. He did not die there; but at Caerdiff in Wales, 
 as Ussher observes, who contradicts himself in some measure, 
 when he tells us, that this saint was. born in the year 352, in the 
 isle of Clare, near the famous Cape Clare m Munster; though 
 in other parts of the same history he assures us this saint was.a 
 native of Saiger, in the King’s County, for which reason this place 
 is called Saiger-Kieran, that is Keiran’s Saiger, because theve 
 were other Saigers in Ireland, and the saint himself was surnamed. 
 Saigrus, on account of being born there. However this passage 
 in Ussher may in measure bereconciled, by saying that St. Kieran 
 was called Saigrius, because Saiger was the place of his resi- 
 dence, and as almost allauthors agree that the saint was born at 
 Clare, or Clere, importing as much as the island of Clerks, be- 
 cause it was inhabited by many ecclesiastics; and the bishops of 
 
 _Ossory have also been stiled Sairgrienses, or Sagirenses, from 
 the bishopric of Saiger, because they sometimes resided in, that 
 place, where St. Kiaran erected a bishopric, not in the year 402, 
 according to Colgan, but according to Lanigan, (vol. i. p. 31,) 
 in the sixth century. This St. Kieran died, according to the 
 same critic, towards the end of the same century. This monas- 
 tery, withall its properties, granted in 1568, to Sir Wim. Taaffe, 
 who assigned it to James, Earl of Roscommon. - 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 77 
 DOIRMORE ABBEY. 
 
 Ussher says that St. Colman, in thé’sixth century, built an 
 abbey in the aforesaid territory of Elia ‘Carolina, which was 
 called Doirmore, (the great grove;) but Ware making no men- 
 tion of it, I am apt.to suspect, says Allemande, it may be the 
 same we shall speak of in the next place, and that Ussher mis- 
 took St. Columb for St. Colman. » Colgan is: of Ussher’s mind, 
 yet does not say the founder was the great Colman, but another 
 of the same name. Lanigan places the foundation of this monas- 
 tery probably before 620, and says: he died 3rd February, not 
 29th October, but on what year is not recorded, (vol. ii. p. 352.) 
 
 
 
 DURROW DERVAGH, OR DEARMAGH ABBEY OF THE B,V.M, 
 
 Ussher and Ware give it these three names, whereas Giraldus 
 Cambrensis in his topography of Ireland calls it Dernagh, or 
 Dervagh. Colgan gives it the name of Dermagh, or De Robo- 
 reto, that is of the Oak, and says it was on the borders of the 
 County of Meath, and’ Province of Leinster. Boecius calls it 
 Hermathia, which gave occasion to Capgrave and John of Tin- 
 mouth to callit Armagh. St. Adamannus, abbot of Jone, will 
 have it to be Themore, or Tarag in Meath; there is, however, 
 says Allemande, some likelihood that it was Doirmare spoken of. 
 It is a difficult point to speak of with any certainty, Camden has 
 been guilty of an errorin saying, that St. Columb in the year 610 
 founded an abbey at Armagh, the archiepiscopalsee of Ulster, 
 whereas it was at Dearmagh, in the King’s County ; besides it was 
 not at that time, but in the year 565, as Venerable Bede assures 
 us; or as Lanigan says, (vol. i. p. 118,) probably 550, or notlong 
 after. ‘ This monastery (says he) was not less famous than that 
 of Derry, and was, at least for a considerable time, | etter 
 known to foreigners.’”? Ussher observes, the great St. Co- 
 lumb did not live till 610, but St. Columban, who might have 
 founded the abbey at Armagh in Ulster, and Lanigan places his 
 death on 9th June, 597, (vol. ii. p. 245.) Ware and Ussher do 
 not agree about the time of the foundation of the abbey of Dear- 
 magh ; for Ussher places it in 546, the date of the foundation of 
 the monastery at Derry, and Ware has it in 550. 
 
 Some assert that this house was the principal abbey of St. Cc- 
 lumb’s Order in Ireland; others give that honor to another of 
 the same name, founded by that saint at Londonderry, formerly 
 called Derry; for both those abbeys bore the name of Dear- 
 magh, or the Field of Oaks. 
 
 Ware tells us, that in this abbey of Dearmagh, or Durrow 
 (about 23 miles from Tullamore, in the King’s County,) was pre- 
 served a version of the four Evangelists by St. Jerome, the cover 
 
 - whereof was adorned with large silver plates, and that the latin 
 
 ms ion was written with St. Columb’s ownhand; but Ussher 
 
 a that the version was St. Columb’s own, a that the 
 " 2 
 
78 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM, 
 
 abbey of Kell’s pretended to haveit. Granted 4th Elizabeth te 
 Nicholas Herbert, Esq., for twenty-one years, at £10, yearly 
 rent now worth £200. 
 
 
 
 LINALLY, COR LANDELO ABBEY. 
 
 At Linally, formerly ealled Landelo, five or six miles from 
 Dearmagh, in that part of Fergall, in the King’s County, on the 
 ‘borders of Meath, St. Colmanel, says Allemande, founded an 
 abbey in. the sixth century, as Ussher observes; for Ware knew 
 nothing of it. It is not to be supposed, says Allemande, that 
 Colmanell is a diminutive of Colman, and consequently sign ‘fies, 
 the little Colman, for there is another signification, according to 
 which it ought to be written Colman-ele, the reason of which is 
 taken from a life of that saint, where it is said, that there was 
 a great assembly in Ireland of the clergy and rich men of the 
 kingdom, where St. Columba making a speech said: “‘ give a good 
 piece of land to the holy Colman our brother, that he may there 
 build a monastery for his monks. They said, let him chose it 
 where he will within the borders of Neill. Then Eddus 
 Flan, duke of Meath, said, there isa great forest in the southern 
 part of our country, in the territory of Fergal, if he like it. St. 
 Colman said: there shall be my resurrection, and from this time 
 I will take my name from that place. From that day Elo is 
 added to his name, and he is by all mencalled Colman Elo. Af- 
 terwards St. Colman-Elo giving them his blessing, and receiving 
 the grant of that place from those great men, before many wit- 
 
 esses, Went away to that forest, and there founded a large and 
 
 famous monastery in a place well watered among beautiful fields, 
 in the midst of the wood, and the monastery is called Land-Elo, 
 where the most blessed Colman Hes, as he foretcld. Lanigan 
 contends that St. Colman was prior to St. Columbkille, and that 
 this may have reference to Colmanelo, (vol. i. p. 434.) 
 
 
 
 KIL-ABBAIN ABBEY, 
 
 According to Colgan, was founded in the sixth or seventh cen- 
 tury by St. Abban, who built ten or twelve others, all very con- 
 siderable, and who, according to Lanigan, (vol. iii. p 14,) was 
 born sometime in the sixth century, and died early in the seventh 
 century. 
 
 
 
 LAITHMORE, OR LIATHIN ELIA ABBEY, 
 
 Was founded, aecording to Lanigan, (vol. ii. p. 24,) about 
 280, by St. Puleherius, or Mochoemoc; who died, according to 
 Lanigan, about 656, and was succeeded by St. Congus, accord- 
 ing to Colgan. Daithmore was about four miles from t on- 
 vent of Doiremore—site of the present protestant chur 
 
~! 
 
 CANONS REGULAR. 
 CLUAIN-MORE ABBEY. 
 
 Was founded by the same saint, in the same territory of Elia, 
 seys Colgan; but Ware, in his Monasterologia, has nothing of 
 either of theseabbeys. Cluain-more is now onlya parish. ‘There 
 appears confusion in our former monasticons here, as the Cluain- 
 more Abbey of this order has been mentioned in the Co. Wcx- 
 ford, see p. 66. 
 
 
 
 AT DRUMCULLEN, FORMERLY CALLED DRUMCULLION, 
 
 A parish in the barony of Eglish, or Fercall, in the King’s 
 County, (placed by most monasticans in W. Meath,) five miles 
 from Frankford. According to Ussher there was an abbey 
 founded, not, as he says, in the seventh century ; but about 590, 
 by St. Barrindeus, (miscalled St. Barry.) 
 
 
 
 GALLEN, OR GALIN ABBEY. 
 
 At Gallen, or Galin on the river Brassinogh, in the territory 
 called Mac-Coglan, St. Conoc, or Mochonoc, according to Ware, 
 or Mogenoc, according to Ussher, was of those who came 
 into Ireland with St. Patrick; in the year 492, founded an abbey 
 or priory of Regular Canons, who afterwards submitted to 
 the rule of St. Augustin. According to Colgan he flourished 
 -about 492 ; but accoiding to Lanigan, not till the middle of the 
 sixth century, (vol. i. p. 425.) Granted with all the possessigns 
 4th June, 1612, to Sir George Moore, -atthe yearly rent of £15 
 7s lld, now worth £307 18s 4d. 
 
 
 
 ROSCREA MONASTERY. 
 
 Some place this in the King’s County, imstead of the County 
 Tipperary, to which it properly belongs, (see that Co.) 
 
 
 
 KILLEIGH HOLY CROSS PRIORY. 
 
 At Killeigh was the ancient priory of Holy Cross, founded 
 about 548, by St. Syncell, says Ware, or Synell, aceording to 
 Ussher. The prior of Killeigh was a spiritual lord, and hada 
 seat in the parliament of Ireland; but this abbey is not to be con- 
 founded with that of the Holy Cross in Tipperary, hereafter to 
 be spoken of. It is not, however, unlikely, that this house is 
 the same that Colgan calls Kil-alga, where he says St. Tyrien, or 
 Trienan was abbot, perhaps after St. Syncell the founder ; but 
 he places that pziory in the County of Meath, whereas this is on 
 the borders of the King’s County, and thatof East Meath. This 
 house, (18 Elizabeth,) with three messuages, 124 acres of arable 
 land, 24 of pasture, 3 of meadow, and 4 of wood, and three 
 messuages, six cottages, 54 acres ofarable land, and 7 of pasture 
 
SO MONASTICON HIBERNICUM, : 
 
 in the town of Donfeigh in this county,;with the tithes, &c., 
 were granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare, and his heirs, at the 
 yearly rent of £1 183 4d, now worth £33 6s 8d, with the 
 condition that he maintain besides one able horseman. 
 
 BIRR ABBEY. 
 
 About sixty miles from Dublin, and eighteen from Tullamore, 
 there was an abbey founded at Birr, according to Ussher, in the 
 sixth century; about 550, says Lanigan, (vol. ii. p. 39) by St. 
 Brendan, the founder of a particular order in Ireland. That 
 author, in another place says, that this saint was son, not of 
 Luaigene, as he mentioned elsewhere, but of Neirn, or Nemaind, 
 a famous Irish poet, who lived in that century; Archdall makes 
 St. Brendan himself the poet. It is to be observed, that most 
 authors only say tbat St. Brendan died at Birr; but not that he 
 was founder of the abbey ; besides that, this saint was not the 
 great St. Brendan, who founded the abbey of Clonfert, in the 
 County of Galway, in Connaught, and died at Enaghdoune, 
 which was his sister’s abbey in that same proyince.. To conclude, 
 St. Brendan of Birr, died there in the year 571, whereas the 
 great St. Brendan of Clonfert, born in 484, did not die till 577, 
 wherein all the writers of the lives of the Irish saints agree ; and, © 
 it is so certain that these two St.’ Brendans are distinct persons, 
 that they are both comprised in the number of the twelve apostles 
 of Ireland. It is further to be observed, that Ware had no know- 
 ledge of the abbey of Birr, though otherwise so very well known 
 in the affairs of Ireland ;.but this is not the only house that has 
 escaped him, as will appear in several parts of this work, so that 
 he has scarcely mentioned half the regular houses of Ireland in 
 his Monastereologia. But Colgan was of opinion, that this abbey 
 of Birr, of St. Brendan, was rather in the province of Munster, 
 on the borders of it next to Leinster, which might possibly be. 
 
 a) 
 
 CLON, OR CLUAIN-MAC-NOIS ABBEY. 
 
 At Clon, or Cluain-mac-nois, otherwise called Clunes, or 
 Kiloom, on the east bank of the Shannon, Barony of Garnycastle, 
 about four miles from Shannon Bridge, and.ten from Athlone, 
 there was an abbey, which the annals of Ulster call a most noble 
 monastery, founded in the sixth century, by St. Kieran, who 
 settled there until 548, says Lanigan, (vol. ii. p. 52,) after hay-. 
 ing left Clonard to St. Finian, and Angin to St. Adomnan, In 
 the life of this saint we have these words : ‘‘he founded his city at 
 Cluain-mac-nois, or Clunes, which is on the west side of the Co. . 
 of Meath, on the bank of the river Shannon, opposite the pro- 
 vince of Connaught.’’ He died, says Lanigan, in 559, Colgan 
 and Ussher rightly observe, that St. Kieran, who was not only 
 abbot, but also bishop of Clunes, is by some historians called 
 Episcopus Coloniensis, which has given some occasion to believe 
 
CANONS. REGULAR. 8] 
 
 that he had been bishop or archbishop of Cologne in Germany ; 
 but he was called Coloniensis through a mistake, instead of Clo- 
 niensis. However, this St Kieran is distinct.from the great St. 
 Kieran; but the latter, as well as the former, was of the number 
 of the twelve apostles of Ireland. That abbey afterwards be- 
 came a bishopric, and continues so still; but, as Colgan very well 
 observes, Clon-mac-nois is at present only a poor place, full of 
 stately ruins, among which are those of nine churches, and a round 
 tower, sixty feet in height, seven in diameter, and three in the 
 thickness of its walls. Allemande and others place this in the 
 Co. of E. Meath by mistake, it being so originally; on the es- 
 tablishment of the King’s Co. it was annexed io it. A celebrated 
 meeting of C. Bishops was held here in 1649. Some confound 
 this with Cluan-mac-nois Abbey in Co. Carlow, sce p. 73. 
 
 QUEEN’S COUNTY. 
 AGHAMACART PRIORY. 
 
 At Aghamacart, a small town in the Bar. of Upper Ossory, 
 four miles W. of Durrow, was a priory of Regular Canons of 
 St. Augustin, built by the family of O’Dempsy, (Irish noblemen, 
 predecessors to the Viscountess Glanmaleyr,) about 550. Giore 
 in his Antiquities says: that in 43d of Klizabeth, a grant was 
 made to Florence Fitzpatrick of this pricry and its appurte- 
 nances, as the rectory of Aghamacart, the titles of Cowlull, or 
 Cullanhill, the Dominican Monastery of Aghaboe, the rectories 
 of Aghenmaghe, Aghtort, Cirke and Kellina, or Killine; ail 
 these were part of the princely possessions of the Fitzpatricks, 
 long before the azrival of the English, and bestowed on the 
 church by them.” 
 
 ——— sme 
 
 CLONFERT MOLUA ALBBEY. 
 
 At Clonfert on the Shannon, one part of the town being in the 
 Queen’s County, there was an abbey founded by St. Lugidus, 
 otherwise called St. Moluain, of which more shall be said in the 
 County of Galway. 
 
 
 
 AT AGHABOR, 
 
 About sixty miles from Dublin, an abbey, founded by St. 
 Canice, towards the close of the sixth ceniury. Near the site of 
 this monastery a church was built in 1052, and the shrine of St. 
 Caniece placed in it. It is miscalled in several monasticcns 
 Aghavoe. It was originally Achadh-Bho, the field of an ox. 
 
 
 
 GLEANN-USSEN ABBEY, 
 
 Near Firbane, on the river Brunsa, was very famous, seated 
 in the western part of Leinster, in the tervitory of Hy-barche 
 
} 
 82 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 says Colgan, which answers to the Queen’s County, about 550. 
 St. Diermot was abbot thereof; or, as Lanigan says, (vol. ii. p. 
 79,) in the territory of Orgiel, or Oriel. Archdall, by mistake, 
 calls it Inniskin, in Co. Louth, and after him St. Comgan, to 
 whom some attribute the foundation. 
 
 
 
 CLONENAGH, OR CLUAIN-EDNAGH ABBEY. 
 
 At Cluain-Ednagh, or Ivy-lurking Place, was an abbey 
 founded in the sixth century, by St. Fintan, otherwise called St. 
 Mannu, who died there in the year 603,’ says Ussher, yet in his 
 Chronological Index he sets down his death in 634; Allemande 
 adheres to this latter date, because St. Mannu was present at 
 the famous assembly held at Leighlin in 630, upon the subject 
 of the celebration of Easter, for it was he that carried it against 
 St. Laserian, who defended the Roman rite. But the Chrono- 
 logy of Ireland is perhaps the most confused of any. Colgan 
 says that St. Enguss, who is also called Eneas, was also abbot 
 of Cluain-Ednagh in the eight century, and St. Sacre, or Mos- 
 sacre, alittle before him, that is, in the seventh century. It is 
 difficult to know whether this house belonged to the Benedictines, 
 a Augustinians, for some authors says St. Fintan was of the 
 ormer. 
 
 
 
 AT ANNATRIM,, OR ENACH-TRUIN, 
 
 An abbey, founded by St. Coleman, according to most writers 
 in the sixth century. Lanigan places his death on 3d November, 
 but cannot pecide the year. (Vol. ii. p. 222.) 
 
 
 
 AT ROSS-TIURCK, 
 
 An abbey, founded by St. Brecan, or Brocan, in the seventh 
 century. ‘ 
 
 
 
 AT ACHAD-ARDGLAIS8, 
 
 Called also Achad-Finglas, an abbey, founded by St. Abban 
 in the seventh century, ifit be true that he lived so late. (See 
 Lanigan, vol. iii. pp. 14, 16.) 
 
 
 
 AT ACHAD UR; 
 An abbey, founded by St. Lactin, in the seventh century. 
 
 eeecnest ome 
 
 CLUALN-IMURCHER, 
 
 An abbey, founded by St. Bess or Brocan, in the seventh 
 century. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. ° 83 
 AT MENEDROCHAID, 
 An abbey, founded by St. Manchene in the seventh century. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF E. MEATH. 
 TRIM ABBEY. 
 
 At Trim, about twenty-two miles from Dublin, seated on the 
 river Boyne, partly in Bar, of Navan, and in that partof L. Moyfen- 
 ragh, formerly an episcopal see, and noted for many parliaments 
 held there, was an abbey of Regular Canons of St. Augustin, built 
 by the Ostmens, or Danes, long before Ireland submitted to the 
 English, for we find in the annals of that country, that an abbot of 
 Trim died in the year 845, whereas the invasion of Ireland was 
 in the twelfth century. Some Irish authors say, tnat St. Patrick 
 founded this abbey in 435 for canons regular, under the invoca- 
 tion of the B.V.M., and built it upon a plot of ground granted by 
 Fethlemid, son of ‘Loaghaire, a grandson of Nial, (see D’Alton’s 
 Annals of Meath.) What perhaps, says Allemande, led them into 
 an error was finding in their annals that St. Patrick erected the 
 bishopric of Trim, one of the first in Ireland, and even before the 
 archbishopric of Armagh, his leaving St. Loman, his nephew, 
 bishop of Trim, and all this in the fifth century ; and, thatit was to- 
 tally destroyed under the tyrannicsway of Furgesin, the Dane, in 
 the tenth century. Still there is no occasion for confounding the 
 abbey and bishopric, for this latter is very ancient, whereas the 
 former was not founded till some years -after, as has been well 
 observed by Ware and Ussher I know not, says Allemande, 
 whether this be not the same abbey that Colgan and Dempster 
 call Trioit, where the latter says, that St. Failbe the elder was 
 abbot, which Colgan does notagree to, but that he was abbot at 
 Hu, one of the islands of Hibrides. Lanigan (i. p. 416) con- 
 tends that Trim was not an episcopal! see in the fifth ene y, and 
 that its first bishop, St. Loman, was in the seven The Rev. 
 "Mr. Butler, in his notice of Trim, (1837) protest against the. 
 Dr. degrading the church and bishop of Trim. The steeple of this 
 abbey, called the Yellow Tower, a view of which was in the Gentle- 
 men’s Magazine of 1784, was demolished by Cromwell, against 
 whom the inhabitants held out for a long time, with a small, but 
 brave garrison, under Owen Roe O’Neil, the last of a long line 
 of Irish’ chieftans of that name. The ruins are stiJl worthy the 
 attention of the antiquarian. House granted 34 Henry VIII 
 with all lands, &c., to Anthony St. Ledger, ‘knt. 
 
 eae ee 
 
 NEWTOWN PRIORY. 
 
 At Newtown, near Trim, on the east side of the river Boyne, 
 which parts. the two towns, ‘there was a beautiful and rich priory, 
 under the invocation of St. Peter and St. Paul, the priors 
 

 
 8i MONASTICON HIBERNICUM 
 
 whereof were ecclesiastical or spiritual peers who sat in parlia- 
 ment. Simon Rochfort, an Englishman, and bishop of. Meath, 
 founded it in the year 1206, and settled his residence there, after 
 quitting that of Clonard, from which they were sometimes called 
 Kpiscopi Cluanardenses; but upon this change they again reas- 
 sumed the ancient name of Trimenses, on account of the ancient 
 episcopal title of Trim, for it had been extinguished, and united 
 to two or three others, of which they formed the bishopric of 
 Meath, which took not its name from any town, but from the 
 country. There are some reasons for assigning this priory to the 
 congregation of St. Victor, and something shall be said of it 
 ‘when we come to that article. For interesting details touching. 
 the sees in the ancient diocess of Meath, not now under our con- 
 sideration, see Lanigan, vol. iv. p. 322, &c. This monastery, 
 with valuable lands and tenements, granted by parliament in 
 1536 to king Henry VIII. He granted, in 1550, a parcel of the 
 land to Henry Draycot, at £4 yearly rent, now worth £80. 
 
 NAVAN ABBEY, 
 
 In the town of Navan, one of the most considerable in the 
 country, about twenty-two miles from Dublin, gives title to a 
 baron, and stands just at the conflux of the Boyne and the little 
 Blackwater, on the site of the present horse barrack, was an 
 abbey, dedicated to the B. V. M.,. founded in the twelfth century 
 by Joselyne Nangle, (ancestor of the lords of Navan,) an En- 
 elishman of quality, settled in Ireland. Ware observes, that an 
 abbot of Navan was made archbishop of Armagh in the year 
 1457. Granted 31 Henry VIII., with all its possessions, to 
 some unknown tool of that diabolical! king. 
 
 ARDBRACCAN ABBEY. 
 
 At Ardbragcan, or Ardbrecain, three miles W. of Navan, and, 
 twenty-five 6F Dublin, which St. Patrick visited, and where the 
 bishops of Meath once resided, who are also sometimes called 
 Episcopi Ardbracanenses, was an abbey, where St. Tole, or 
 Toole was abbot, in the seventh century, says Colgan. 
 
 DOMNACH PATRICK ABBRY. 
 
 Domnach Patrick, or St. Patrick’s Church, about four miles 
 east of Kells, was, says Allemande, an abbey founded by_ St. 
 Patrick himself, in the fifth century. The author of the Tri- 
 parte History speaks thus of that saint: ‘“‘’The glorious Bishop 
 Patrick being at the general assembly of the petty kings, and, 
 great men of Ireland, called Toltan, (others ‘call it Tarag, or 
 Thenore,) in Hast Meath, applied himself to Cabra, one of the 
 sons of Neil, the brother of king Laogarius; but Cabra refusing 
 
: CANONS REGULAR 85 
 
 to believe, St. Patrick came to the other son of Neil, brother to 
 king Laogarius and Cabra, whose name was Conall, and who 
 received him with much joy, and Patrick baptised him, and then 
 Conall offered him all his castle, saying to him, build yourself 
 here a monastery and a city, and I will make myself another ha- 
 bitation near by. And St. Patrick made himself a monastery 
 there, and ordered the city, which is called Domnach-Phadraig. 
 St. Patrick also formed a castle for Conall near his monastery, 
 and called it Raith-Airthir, Lanigan (i. 234) considers that this 
 relation ‘‘merits no more attention than many other stories of 
 the same kind, fabricated in later times. The most that can be © 
 allowed is, that Conall gave him a spot of ground to build a 
 church on.”” Ware makes no mention of this house; I know 
 not, says Allemande, whether the cause may not be, for that the 
 Annotator on Jocelin, who has written St. Patrick’s life, places 
 this abbey in Tyrconnel; but, if that were so, Ware might have 
 placed it in that country, which is in, Ulster, but he places it in 
 neither. Colgan tells us, that Domnach-Patrick was also a bishop- 
 ric, where St. Patrick appointed St. Falarte bishop in his stead, 
 and that at present it is only a parish in the diocese of Tuam, in 
 the deanery of Enaghdown, and the County,of Galway, which 
 does not answer to the situation here given to Domnach-Patrick ; 
 but perhaps they might be two different houses. 
 
 DULEEK PRIORY. 
 
 At Duleek, otherwise called Daimhliagh, about four miles S. 
 of Drogheda, and twenty from Dublin, a little town, which 
 is one of the eighteen baronies in the county, and which was for- 
 merly an archbishopric, and sent representatives to parlia- 
 ment, was an house of Regular Canons of St. Augustin, founded 
 before the coming of the English into Ireland, ab uno Episcopo 
 Damliagensi, which I am apt to believe, says Allemande,, might 
 be Kienan, or Cainen, because he was bishop of Daimleag in the 
 fifth century, according to Colgan, and if so, this abbey would 
 be one of the most ancient in the kingdom. The b¥hopric of 
 Daimleagh was afterwards united to that of Meath. Archdall 
 foolishly considers that St. Patrick was the founder of the church at 
 Duleek, although all the documents Dr. Lanigan met with attri- 
 bute it to St. Kienan, who died about 489. Lanigan says (vol. 
 p. 252) that about the same year (1182) Hugh de Lacy, Lord of 
 Meath, erected two monasteries in that territory for Augustin 
 Canons; one at Duleek, which he madea cell to the priory of 
 Lanthony, near Gloucester, and the other at Colp, anciently 
 Invercolpa, near the mouth of the Boyne, which he made a cell 
 to Lanthony, in Monmouthshire. z 
 
 
 
 THE HOSPITAL AT DULEEK 
 
 For the sick, could not escape the rapacity of the first “reformers.” 
 The possessions granted 10th James to Sir Gerald Moore. 
 
86 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM, 
 
 CLONARD ABBEY. 
 
 At Clonard, formerly Cluainirard, for along time a bishop’s 
 see, on the left, bank of the Boyne, in the Barony of Moyfen- 
 rath, about twenty-five miles from Dublin, was a famous and | 
 rich abbey, founded about the beginning of the sixth century by 
 St. Finnian, says Ware, who died, according to Lanigan, in 
 592; but Ussher asserts, that St. Kiaran resided at Clonard 
 till the year 544, when he left that town to St. Finnian, to go set- 
 tle at Angine. Thus it would appear, says Allemande,th at St. 
 Kiaran was the first founder of the abbey of Clonard. But I 
 cannot understand why Ussher affirms that St. Finnian was ab- 
 bot of Clonard in the year 490, if he did not depart thence till 
 the year 544, that is fifty-four yearsafter. Colgan tells us, that St. 
 Finnian, when he came to Clonard, said, here is my rest for 
 ever, and that the place is on the borders of Leinster and Meath, 
 and in the County of West-Meath; yet most geographers place 
 it in East-Meath. He farther adds, itis at this day a little vil- 
 lage of small note, though it was formerly a flourishing town. and 
 most famous monastery. But if regard be had to the practice of 
 sanctity, andthe study of learning, it might, and ought to have 
 a principal place among the prime western monasteries; which 
 8 no small character. In short, St. Finnian was called the mas- 
 ter of most of the saints in Ireland, and in reality the most con- 
 siderable among them were his disciples. We have before ob- 
 served, that the bishops of Meath were once called Clonardenses, 
 because they resided some time at Clonard. This abbey, with 
 all. the possessions, were granted, 6 Edward VI., to Thomas 
 Cusack, at the yearly rent of £8, now worth £160; some of 
 the possessions were granted, 8 Elizabeth, to Richard Hayne, 
 rent £3 83 6d, how worth £68 10s; another parcel of the pos- 
 sessions was granted, 36 Elizabeth, to William Brown. 
 
 
 
 BALLYBOGAN PRIORY. 
 
 At Ballybggan, a town on the river Boyne, in the Barony of 
 Moyfenrath, there was a priory of the Invocation of the Holy 
 Trinity, otherwise called De laude Dei, of the praise of God, 
 said to have been founded in the thirteenth century, by Jordan 
 Comyn. This house was granted, 34 Henry VIIiL., to Lord 
 Carberry, at the yearly rent of £4 3s 4d, now worth £83 6s 8d. 
 Some of the possessions were granted, 4 Elizabeth, to Edward 
 Vitzgerald. Ca 
 
 CLUAINFOD, OR CLONFAD ABBEY, 
 
 In Ecra-Tulach, in the district of Ferabile, at Cluainfod, or 
 Clenfed, was an abbey, founded in the seventh century by St. 
 Libern, or Liberius, according to Colgan, who says, that there 
 being two places of that name, he knows not in which of them 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 87 
 
 that saint founded this abbey. He farther observes, that there 
 was a St. Libranus, abbot of the isle of Hu, whom Maguire, 
 the scholiast of St. Engustius, has confounded with St. Liberius. 
 
 
 
 KELLS ABBEY. 
 
 At Kells, about thirty miles from Dublin, a small town on the 
 Blackwater, which falls into the Boyne at Navan, and gave title 
 to a baron, who was a peer of parliament, and where there was 
 an ancient see, was an abbey founded in the sixth century, by 
 St. Columba; which, however, Lanigan (i p. 126) doubts. 
 Ware tells us, that Dermot, son to Cerval, monarch of Ireland, 
 gave the ground on which to build this abbey in the year 806. 
 Cellac, abbot of Ione, or Hu, one of the Hibrides, rebuilt this 
 house, which had almost been ruined by the civil wars between 
 the petty kings of the country. This place was formerly called 
 Kenan, which persuaded Allemande that St. Kenan was the 
 founder. He is the same that became a monk in the abbey of 
 St. Martin, at Tours, in the year 450; or, it may be said with 
 some authors, that the place was called Kenen, because St. Ke- 
 nan was born there. If it be so, Kells was fruitful in saints, for 
 St. Cuthbert was a native thereof, as Ware observes. Walter 
 De Lacy erected here an hospital for cross bearers, or crouched 
 friars, following the rule of St. Augustin, and there was a per- 
 petual chantry of three priests in the parish church of St. Columba 
 to celebrate mass daily; one in the rude chapel, one in St. Ma- 
 ry’s, and the third in the chapel of St. Catherine the virgin. The 
 priory of Drumlahan, in the County of Cavan, had a depen- 
 dance on this abbey, and the monks thereof said they had the 
 latin version of the four evangelists, made by St. Columba their 
 founder. I know not, says Allemande, whether the lord spiri- 
 tual who sat in parliament, as abbot, or prior of Kells, was not 
 rather the superior of this place, than of the other Kells, in the 
 County Kilkenny. It is acontroversy between authors, whether 
 Cardinal Paparo, legate of the holy seein Ireland, who gave the 
 pall to the four archbishops, assembled the clergy of Ireland in 
 the abbey of Mel, or in that of Kells. Colgan holds the latter 
 
 inion, and produces many arguments for it in the Life of St. 
 
 elasius; but several other grave authors are for Mel, or 
 Mellifont. Granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Gerald Fleming, and to 
 Sir Gerald Plunkett. 
 
 
 
 COLP CELL. 
 
 At Colp, a little town on the sea coast, at the mouth of the river 
 Boyne, two miles from Drogheda, there was a cell founded in ] 182, 
 by Hugh Lacy, an Englishman, Lord of Meath. Itdepended on 
 the priory of Lhanthony in Monmouthshire; in Wales. At Colp 
 St. Patrick arrived on his visit to Tarah in 433, when he came 
 
R8 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 out of Ulster to convert the, province of Leinster; upon which 
 occasion, the historians of that country, says Allemande, who - 
 are full of miracles, tell us, that St. Patrick having left St. Lu- 
 man at Colp, aboard the vessel that brought them, the latter re- 
 ceiving no news from St. Patrick, and growing very impatient, a 
 violent gust of wind in a moment drove them up as far as Trim, 
 which could not be done naturally, as Ussher affirms; for 
 although this river is not broad, it is very deep, extraordinarily 
 rapid, and not navigable, on account of the fords, banks, and 
 cataracts, or falls, which interrupt its course; but perhaps, says 
 Allemande, the wind was so boisterous, that it swelled the river, 
 so that there was nothing left to obstruct the vessel’s passage up 
 it. Lanigan, in vol. iv. p. 222, treats the above story as a mere 
 fable. At the suppression of monasteries, the prior was seized 
 of the following tithes in Meath: Colpe, eight couple of eorn; New- 
 town, one and half; St. James, one; Pylleston, one; Balling- 
 stone, four and half; Paynstone, two and half. 
 
 AT RATOATH, 
 
 About twelve miles from Dublin, an abbey, that possessed, 
 in the reign of Henry III., forty acres of land, value 6s 8d. 
 now £6 13s 4d.’ There was a chantry here for three priests, 
 In Henry VIII. time, they were considered as “ holding land 
 contrary to statue,” and were suppressed. 
 
 RATH-EDHA ABBEY. 
 
 Rath-Edha, which was an abbey of St. Aidus, now a smali 
 parish. 
 
 
 
 AT ROSS, 
 
 Near Tarah, an abbey, founded by St. Coeman Breae, whe 
 died in 614. 
 
 
 
 DULEEK CELL, 
 
 At Duleek, there was, besides the priory mentioned, a cell 
 founded by Hugh Lacy, in 1182, which depended on the priory 
 of Lhanthony in Wales. Someauthors say it was a bishopric; 
 and Colgan observes, that the ancients sometimes gave the name 
 of a cell to amonastery, and sometimes to a bishopric, especially 
 when such depended on another abbey or monastery. 
 
 AT SKREENE, OR SKRYNE, 
 
 
 
 About three miles from Dunshaughlin, an abbey of Regular 
 Canons. Granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Thomas Cusack, at the 
 rent of 5d, now worth 8s 4d, 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 89 
 AT SLANE, 
 
 About seven miles from Drogheda, and twenty-two from Dub- 
 lin, an.abbey of Canons Regular. Granted, with all its posses- 
 sions, 32 Henry VIII., to James Fleming, knt. Rent ld yearly, 
 now worth ls &d. 
 
 
 
 AT KILLEEN, 
 
 A priory of canons was founded by St. Eudeus in 540. The 
 same saint founded a nunnery here, (see Nunneries.) 
 
 
 
 COUNTY WEST MEATH. 
 MULLINGAR PRIORY. 
 
 About forty miles from Dublin, at Mullingar, an ancient town, 
 which sent a representative to parliament, was the priory of St. 
 Mary, called formerly the House of God, founded in 1227, by 
 Ralph Petit, Bishop of Meath, of the family of the English Petits, 
 settled in Ireland, who enjoyed the title of Barons of Mullin- 
 gar. The town of Mullingar took its name from St. Moling, 
 who was born there, and became the second archbishop of Ferns, 
 being successor to St. Moedog; for though Ferns is now cnly a 
 bishopric, it was formerly an ‘archbishopric. Granted, with all 
 its possessions, 34 Elizabeth, to Richard Tuite. Rent £16 5s 
 10d, now worth £325 16s 8d. 
 
 
 
 FORE ABBEY, 
 
 At Fore, or Foure, in Latin, Favoria, being one of the ancient 
 baronies of the kingdom, now half barony of Fore, two miles 
 from Castlepollard, eleven from Mullingar, five from Finew, and 
 four from Castletowndelvin, there was an abbey called Fova- 
 rense Monasterium, founded about the seventh century, by St. 
 Fechin, in a vale called Fobhar, or Fovar, and in the year 629 
 it contained about three hundred monks, and that saint died 
 there of the plague in the year 664, or 665, according to Colgan. 
 Some authors foolishly say St. Fechin erected a Franciscan Fri- 
 ary here, that is 600 years before the order was founded. The 
 ruins of St. Fechin monastery are still extant. Giraldus Cam- 
 brensis in his Topography of Ireland observes, that the women 
 durst not enter into the church of that abbey, or into the mill 
 near it, which St. Fechin himself had built; these are his words : 
 “At Fore, in Meath, isa mill, which St. Fechin miraculously 
 hewed out with his own hands on the side of a rock; into this . 
 place, as also into that saint’s church, women do not enter; nor 
 is the mill Jess respected by the natives than one of that saint’s 
 churches.”’ He also relates several miracles that were wrought 
 in defence of that place. Ware says this abbey of Fore was also 
 ealled of St. Taurin; but he may have been bs Lee and 
 
 2 
 
 ! 
 
90 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 whether that St. Taurin of Fore was not rather a cell there was 
 in Ireland, which depended on the abbey of St. Taurin, of the 
 Ordcr of St. Benedict in Normandy. ‘That cell was afterwards 
 united to this abbey of St. Fechin, by the Irish parliament under 
 king Henry VI, atthe beginning of the fifteenth century, be- 
 cause the kings of England, being no longer masters of Normandy, 
 did not think it convenient that the abbey of St. Taurin in Nor- 
 mandy should have the disposal of the cell of St. Taurin in Ire- 
 land. Colgan gives a catalogue of all the abbots of Fore who 
 succeeded St. Fechin, and takes notice of all the accidents that 
 befel the abbey during the several wars in Ireland. He also 
 tells us, that Fore was afterwards a bishopric, and that St. Suarl 
 was the first bishop there, and abbot at the same time, in the 
 eighth century. ‘lhose bishops were called Episcopi Favorienses. 
 With the usual piety of the first English invaders, Walter de 
 Lacy destroyed this priory, turned out the Canons Regular, and 
 rebuilt it for English Benedictine Monks. Any monastery, &c., 
 within the power of the English of those times, was as closely 
 shut against the native Irish, as the doors of parliament were, 
 until 1829, againt the Irish catholics. This policy of exclu- 
 sion was never changed for one hour since the year 1172. While 
 the English were catholics, the Irish were excluded for being 
 “mere Irish,”’ or “ the Irish enemy ;’”” when the invaders changed 
 their creed, the exclusion continued for being “Irish papists.”’ 
 This abbey and possessions made, according to the inquisition 
 held, 31 Henry VIII., £161 12s, now worth £3,232 yearly; 
 granted in the year 1588, for thirty-one years, to Christopher 
 Baron of Delvin, 
 
 
 
 TIBRAID-ULTAIN ABBEY. 
 
 At Tibrada, otherwise called Tibraid-Ultain, in the territory 
 of Maine, was another monastery or abbey, afew miles from 
 Fore, founded by the same St. Fechin. However, Colgan ques- 
 tions whether this abbey of Tibraid, which is now only a parish 
 church, is not in the province of Connaught, because there is 
 also a territory called Maine, and there is some reason to call 
 this in question. 
 
 
 
 RATHENIN ABBEY, 
 
 At Rathenin, a small town a few miles from Mullingar, in 
 that of W. Meath called Fercall, was a famous abbey, founded 
 in the year 59) by St. Carthage, or Mochud, wherein were nine 
 hundred monks at one time, without including the novices and 
 lay brothers, who made a thousand in all. ‘This saint was after- 
 wards expelled his abbey. Historians do not tell us the occasion, 
 but he went and settled at Lismore, whither he carried with him 
 about eight hundred and seventy-five monks, as Colgan says. 
 These monks lived much after the same manner as the Trappists, 
 
CANONS REGULAR. | 
 
 for they ate nothing but the herbs and roots, whicli they cultivated, 
 and wherewith they likewise fed a number of poor people, who 
 resorted thither from all parts. After the death of their holy 
 founder, most of them dispersed themselves throughout Ireland, 
 England and Scotland, where they founded several houses of St. 
 Carthage’s order, which afterwards was incorporated into that 
 of the Regular Canons of St. Augustin. The abbot or prior of 
 Rathenin was a spiritual peer, and as such sat in parliament. 
 (See what more is said of this house, which was reckoned the 
 head abbey of the Order of St. Carthage, under the abbey of 
 Rathoy, Co. Kerry.) Ware does not mention the abbey of Ra- 
 thenin, and it was scarcely known to any but Ussher. Colgan 
 has taken notice of it, andhe tells us, that St. Constantin, mar- 
 tyr, king of Cornwall and Wales, was a monk in this abbey, under 
 the abbot St. Carthage; but that author thought this house was 
 in the County Tyrconnell, because he says St. Finan was abbot 
 there, but that saint might have been abbot’ of Rathenin, in the 
 Co. W. Meath; besides, we find in the Life of St. Cormac, that 
 Rathenin was on the borders of Connaught, which is more suita- 
 ble to Rathenin near Brastinock, in W. Meath, than to Rathe- 
 nin in the northern part of Tyrconnel; the same position is also 
 found in the Life of St. Carthac, where the abbey of Rathene is 
 called Archicenobium, achiefmonastery. Allemande thinks that 
 the abbey of Drum Ratha, which Colgan says was so famous, 
 and in the Co. W. Meath, was the same with this we are speak- 
 ing of. 
 
 TRISTERNAGH PRIORY. 
 
 At Tristernagh, within two miles of Ballinacarrig, and six of 
 Mullingar, on the banks of Lough Iron, there was a priory of 
 the invocation of St. Mary, founded in the year 1200, by Geoffry 
 Constantine, an Englishman of note. The foundation charter is 
 at length in the Additions to the Monasticon Anglicanum, (Vol. 
 ii. p. 1036.) Granted, for twenty-one years, to Captain Wil- 
 liam Piers, 31 Henry VIII., at the yearly rent of £60, now 
 worth £120. 
 
 KILBEGGAN. 
 
 
 
 At Kilbecain, or Kilbeggan, a town seatedon theriver Broma, 
 in the barony of Moyashel, which sent representatives to parlia- 
 ment, about forty miles from Dublin, and eleven from Mullingar, 
 there was, as Colgan says, an abbey of Regular Canons, other-- 
 wise called Cluainaird-Mobhecoc, founded by St. Becan, son of 
 Murchade, of the royal blood of Munster. There was also, in 
 the same place, an abbey of the Cistercian Order, called De 
 fiumine Dei, or, of God’s River. There are some authors who 
 say this abbey of Kilbecain is in the province of Munster; but 
 I, says Allemande, find no place there that bears thisname ; there 
 
92 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 is only Kilgobam in the County of Cork, which is quite different 
 from Kilbecain, which signifies, the Church of St. Becan, or 
 Becain, whereas Kilgobam signifies the Church of St. Goban. 
 If St. Becan was a Benedictine it would be reasonable to give this 
 house to that order. This abbey, and all its extensive posses- 
 sions, were granted, after having undergone several inquisitions 
 in the reign of Henry VIII. and his son Edward VI., to be held 
 of the king and of the castle of Dublin, in free and common 
 soccage. 
 
 
 
 AT RATH-AODHA, OR RATH-EDHA, 
 
 Wasa monastery, founded by St. Aidus in the sixth century. 
 
 
 
 AT CLUAN-DACHRAN, 
 
 A monastery was founded by St. Mochna Mac Neil, its first 
 abbot in the seventh century. : 
 
 
 
 AT TOBER CORMAC, 
 
 Or the Well of Cormac, there was a monastery, founded in 
 the middle of the tenth century; Seward, in his Topographia 
 Hibernica, has it in 1488. Pope Innocent VIII. granted licence 
 to Edmond de Lantu Laici to build a monastery here for Domini- 
 cans; (see that order.) Granted, 31 Elizabeth, to Henry Matthews. 
 
 AT KIL-ABBAIN, 
 
 Says Colgan, an abbey was founded by St. Abban, in the 
 sixth century. He says that this Kil-Abbain is not the same as 
 that already mentioned in the King’s Co. 
 
 COUNTY LONGFORD, 
 FORMERLY CALLED TESSIA, AND BEFORE, ANGALLIA, OR ANALLY. 
 
 INNISBOFINDE, OR INNISBOFFIN ABBEY. 
 
 At Innisbofinde, or the Island of the White Cow, in the 
 Lough or Lake of Ree, parish of Noghaval, was an ancient ab- 
 bey, founded in the sixth century by St. Rioch, who was the 
 first abbot there. There have been three islands of the same name, 
 viz.: this, another on the coast of Co Mayo, and a third on the 
 coast of Tyrconnel. Authors have not been unanimous which of 
 the three St. Rioch’s abbey was ; but the most received opinion 
 is, that it was in the Lough or Lake of Ree. What gave occa- 
 sion to believe that it was on the coast of the Co. Mayo was, that 
 there was an island of Innisbofinde, famous for an abbey founded 
 in it by St. Colman, as we shall see hereafter; but that which 
 
CANONS REGULAR: 93 
 
 has still more occasioned it, is a passage in the Life of St. Patrick, 
 written by Jocelin, where speaking of St. Rioch, he says: ‘“‘ He 
 was by nation a Briton, of the degree of a deacon at that time, 
 kinsman to the holy prelate, more beautiful than any of the sons 
 of men living in those parts ; nevertheless he was a man of a most 
 holy life, so that he might justly say those words of the psalmist, 
 Lord in thy will thou hast given virtue to my comliness. He was 
 made bishop in a small island, which lies at a distance from the 
 western coast of Ireland, in the Scotiss (that is the Irish) tongue 
 ealled Innisbofinde, or the Island of the White Hieffer.” By 
 which it appears, that this island, at a distance from the western 
 coast of Ireland, more particularly points out the coasts of Mayo 
 and Tyrconnel, than the Lough of Ree, which is in the midst of 
 Ireland; besides, this saint having been made bishop of that is- 
 jand, and the bishopric of Innisbofinde having been only on the 
 coast of the Co. Mayo, according to that biographer, it looks as 
 if there conld be no farther doubt made of that abbey being in 
 the Co. Mayo. It may be observed that Jocelin was mistaken, 
 for St. Rioch lived in the sixth century, and St. Colman in part 
 of the seventh. Yet it was the latter saint who erected the bi- 
 shopric of Innisbofinde on the coast of the Co, Mayo; for being 
 bishop of the Isle of Farn, on the northern coast of England, and 
 having quitted that bishopric to settle in Ireland, he went to live in 
 the island of Inisbofinde, on the coast of the province of Con- 
 naught, and by reason of his residing there was called indifferent- 
 ly both bishop of Lindisfarne, and of Innisbofinde; and, by con- 
 sequence, he could not be bishop of that island, where St. Rioch 
 was pretate, because he was dead a century before that erection. 
 ‘Thus, supposing that St. Rioch had been really a bishop, it must 
 be said that he was so in the island of Inisbofinde, in the Lough 
 of Ree, where his abbey was, which, as Colgan observes, was 
 almost totally destroyed by the Danes, in the year 1089. What. 
 caused the confusion spoken of, is, that some authors have placed 
 this abbey of St. Rioch in the province of Connaught, because 
 the island is in the midst of the lough or lake of Ree, and 
 
 thus seems as much to belong to the province of Connaught, as 
 to the County of Longford. Besides the County of Longford 
 
 formerly belonged to the province of Connaught. ‘The island of 
 Inisbofinde has always been subordinate in spirituals to the bi- 
 
 shopric of Ardagh, in the County of Longford. Lanigan ridi- 
 
 cules the idea of those who say, that St. Rioch was brother to 
 
 St. Mel, or nephew of St. Patrick; but considers that he was 
 
 contemporary with St. Aidnies, who died in 589. (Vol. i. p. 
 
 419.) 
 
 
 
 INISAIGIN, OR HOLY ISLAND ABBEY. 
 
 In Holy Island, or the Island of All-Saints, which was also 
 in the same Lough of Ree, there was also a more ancient abbey 
 than than that last spoken of, for this was founded in 544, by St- 
 
 \ 
 
94 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM.- 
 
 Kieran; who in four years after procured a very large endow- 
 ment for the support of the poor. Colgan observes, that this 
 abbey was called Monasterium Inisense, or Insulense, and that 
 there was a Regular Canon of the same, whose name was Au- 
 gustin Macgraidin, who was one of the most famous Hagiogra- 
 phers, or Writer of Saints Lives, in Ireland. He also composed 
 a Chronicle of Ireland, down to the year 1405, when he died. 
 
 eee eee 
 
 ANGINE ABBEY, 
 
 At Angine, being another island in the same Lough, (which 
 by reason of the great number of monks living in its islands, hath 
 the sirname of Holy,) was likewise an abbey founded by the 
 same St. Kieran, in the sixth century; or, according to Lani- 
 gan, about 530, (vol. i. p. 465;) when he had resigned Clonard 
 to St. Finian. No sooner had he settled the abbey of Angin, 
 than he went to live at Clone, or Kiloom, otherwise called Clu- 
 ianmacnois, on the river Shannon, now a bishopric, above taken 
 notice of. Ussher, who speaks of this abbey, is guilty of a consi- 
 derable anachronism; for whilst he makes St. Kieran to found 
 it in 544, he says elsewhere, that St. Kieran was born in the 
 Isle of Clare, at the mouth of Baltimore Bay, in the year 352, 
 If St. Kieran built this abbey in 544, it would follow that he 
 lived above two centuries. However, no historian has taken 
 notice of so extraordinary an incident as this, except to condemn 
 it with Lanigan, (vol. i. p. 469) who contends, that St, Kieran 
 must have been born much later, and lived till the middle of the 
 sixth century, or to 549; since he also quitted the abbey of 
 
 Angine, and went to settle at Kiloom, where he lived some time 
 after. 
 
 
 
 INNISMORE ABBEY, OR PRIORY. 
 
 At Innismore, or the Great Island, which is in Lough Gaun, 
 an abbey or priory was founded by St. Columba, not in the mid- 
 die of the fifth century, according to Ware, but in the middle of 
 the sixth, as he died in 597. Ussher takes no notice of it, nor 
 of the abbey of Innismore, that was in the Lough of Ree, on 
 the coast of the County of Roscommon, which Allemande thinks 
 was the same with this, though they seem to be different Loughs, 
 and therefore it is likely that Ware made two of one. Accord- 
 ing to Colgan, St. Senan was also abbot of Innismore. In 1414 
 Edward Mac Findbaw, prior, died here. 
 
 
 
 KILMODAIN ABBEY. 
 
 At Kilmodain was an abbey, founded in the seventh century, 
 says Colgan, by St. Modan. This house belonged to the ancient 
 bishopric of Carnefurduibbe, formerly in the archbishopric of 
 
, CANONS REGULAR. 95 
 
 Tuam, in Connaught, whence it is that some authors have placed 
 the Co. Longford in the province of Connaught, whilst others say, 
 it was never any part of it, except in spirituals, but not in tem- 
 porals. Besides the bishopric of Carnefurduibbe having been 
 afterwards suppressed, and united to the bishopric of Ardagh, 
 that county has ceased to have any dependance on Connaught, 
 even in spirituals, and to this day is suffragan to the archbishop- 
 ric of Armagh. 
 
 
 
 AT DEIRG, 
 
 The Priory of St. Peter, founded by Gormgall O’Quinn in 
 the thirteenth century. . This must be distinguished from Derg, 
 or Skirts of Urney, in Co. Tyrone. Value at the suppression £2 
 yearly, now worth £40. Granted to Nicholas Aylmer. 
 
 
 
 INISCLOGHRAN ABBEY, 
 
 At Iniscloghran, according to Ware, or Inisclothran, accord- 
 ing Colgan, being an island in the river Shannon, or more pro- 
 perly in the Lough of Ree, there was an abbey founded in 540 
 by St. Diermit; Ware erroneously says fourth century; but 
 Colgan will have it to have been founded by that saint in the 
 sixth century. — 
 
 
 
 ARDAGH ABBEY. 
 
 Ardagh, in the barony of Moydow, four miles from Edge- 
 worthstown, a bishop’s see, was, according to Colgan, at first 
 an abbey, founded about 454, by St. Mel, nephew to the great 
 St. Patrick, who was also bishop there, and who died in 488. 
 He was one and the same with Melchus, or Melchu, as Lanigan 
 contends against Ware and others, who considered them distinct. 
 (See vol. i. p. 339, 418.) This abbey of Ardagh was one of the 
 richest in Ireland, and St. Ultan, in the third Life of St. Brigitt, 
 callsit a ‘‘ great monastery.” Cobbett by mistake places St 
 Patrick as the founder. 
 
 AT KILGLAS3, 
 
 _ A nunnery, where St. Echea, sister of Mell, was abbess. (ce 
 Nunneries.) 
 
 AT KILINMORE. 
 
 An abbey, fotnded by St. Palladius, who lived in the year 
 490; now the protestant place of worship. 
 
96 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 AT LERHA, OR LARAHBH, 
 
 Near Granard, a monastery, founded by St. Patrick, for St. 
 Guasacht, the son of his old master; another monastery, founded 
 in the year 1205, by Lord Richard Tuit, who was killed in Ath- 
 lone, in the year 1211, by the falling of a tower, and was buried 
 here. The possessions, at the surrender, valued at £8 13s 4d 
 yearly, now worth £173 6s 8d. 
 
 
 
 AT LONGFORD, 
 
 About twenty miles from Mullingar, and fifty-nine from Dublin, 
 an abbey, founded by St. Idus, a disciple of St. Patrick, 
 whose feast falls on the 14th July. In 1400 a fine monastery was 
 founded by O’Farrell, for the Dominicans; granted, together 
 with possessions, in the year 1615, by James I., to Francis, Vis- 
 count Valentia. The church of this priory is now the protestant 
 place of worship in the parish. 
 
 
 
 AT MOYDOW, 
 
 Three miles from Ardagh, St. Modan, whose feast falls on the 
 12th February, was abbot in 591. 
 
 
 
 AT ST. JOHN’S-TOWN, 
 
 There was a Grey Friary near this town, which had, of course, 
 been ingulfed in the general vortex of the reformation. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF MUNSTER, COUNTY WATERFORD. 
 LISMORE ABBEY. 
 
 At Lismore, which united to Waterford, is an episcopal see, 
 was an ancient abbey, built there by St. Carthage, after he had 
 ‘quitted Rathene, or, as now called, Rathyne, in. Fertulla, Co, 
 Westmeath, according to Lanigan, (vol. i. p. 353,) about 633, 
 and he died 14th May, 637. That saint being also called Mochuday, 
 this town had the name of Lismore Mochuda, which was also the 
 name of the great church, for there were ten others very emi- 
 nent, as Colgan observes, the town having been built in the year 
 630, These are his words, in the life of that saint: ‘‘ Less-mor, 
 or Lismore, is a renowned and holy city, the one half whereof 
 is a sanctuary into which no woman dare enter; but it is full of 
 cells and holy monasteries, and a multitude of holy men always 
 reside there, for religious men resort thither, not only from all 
 parts of Ireland, but from England and Britain, desiring to go 
 to Christ; and the city is seated on the south bank of the river 
 formerly called Nem, how Aben-more; that is the great river, 
 in the Nandesi part of the country.”’ Ware has made no men- 
 
CANONS REGULAR 97 
 
 tion of this abbey; perhaps because there was also a bishopric 
 at Lismore, which was afterwards united to that of Waterford ; 
 but Colgan justly observes, that the abbey and bishopric of Lis- 
 more were distinct since the time of St. Carthage, who was 
 both abbot and bishop of Lismore, as was one St. Colman, and 
 that there were eight hundred monks at one time in this abbey. 
 Ussher takes notice of St. Carthage’s departure from Rathene, 
 and his settling at Lismore, where he set up one of the most 
 famous universities, or schools in Ireland, which is quite demo- 
 lished. To this university not only resorted Irishmen from all 
 parts, but religious men from Britain and the continent. The 
 author of the life of St. Catald, an Irishman, bishop of Torento 
 in Italy, who lived in the second century, pretends that he was 
 both the founder of that school and the abbey at Lismore in the 
 second century, which is almost three centuries before St. Car- 
 thage could do it; which looks very improbable. It is proper 
 here to observe, that there is another abbey of Lismore in the 
 diocess of Armagh, of which we shall speak hereafter. Arch- 
 dall has a variety of errors touching this abbey, exposed by 
 Lanigan, (vol. ii. p. 356.) Corcran Cieirach, anchorite of all 
 Ireland, died at Lismore, in the year 1140. He was a celebra- 
 ted divine ; and so greatly excelled all those of the west of Europe 
 in religion and learning, that every contest throughout the kingdom 
 was referred to him. In 1127 Cormac M‘Carthy, king of Mun- 
 ster, being dethroned, he was compelled to go on a pilgrimage to 
 Lismore, where he erected two churches. In 1135 Daniel 
 O’Brien, king of Dublin, resigned his crown, and died a pro- 
 fessed monk in this house. 
 
 
 
 GLAISMORE, OR CLASHMORE ABBEY. 
 
 At Glaismore, now called Clashmore, fourteen miles from 
 Youghall, near Lismore, there was an abbey founded by St. 
 Cronan Mochua, who received the habit of a monk at the hands 
 of St. Carthage at Rathene. This St. Cronan was killed in his 
 abbey of Glaismore, with all his monks, by the Danish, or Nor- 
 wegian pirates, who made a descent there in the seventh century. 
 Colgan questions whether this abbey was on the coast of Leins- 
 ter, or on that of Munster. Allemande says he places it here, 
 because he finds that the other spoken of, in the province of 
 Leinster, had another founder. Some by mistake place St. Mo- 
 chua over a monastery at Glaismore, near Swords. Archdall is 
 
 equally mistaken. See Lanigan, (vol. ii. p. 358.). Granted to 
 Sir W. Raleigh. 
 
 MOLANA ABBEY. 
 
 At Molana, otherwise called St. Moelanfiaidh Island, formerly 
 Dar-inis, on the river Blackwater, coast of the County of Wa- 
 terford, about two miles from the city, there was an abbey 
 
 I 
 
98 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 founded in the sixth century, by St. Fachnan, who was the first 
 abbot thereof. Ware tells us, that St. Fachnan,. surnamed 
 Mongagh, or Hairy, because he was born with hair, succeeded 
 him, and that afterwards Raimund the Gross, the English gene- 
 ral, who contributed so much to the reduction of Ireland, was 
 buried there; but Ussher mentions nothing of this. Granted, 
 by Elizabeth, to Sir W. Raleigh, who assigned it over to the 
 Karl of Cork. 
 
 a ee 
 
 - ARDNE-DARINIS ABBRY. 
 
 At Ardne-Darinis, near Lismore, was an abbey, where St. 
 Gobban was abbot. Colgan questions whether this house was 
 where in reality there is a Dar-Inis, or in the province of Leins- 
 ier, where there is another, or else in the isles of Arran on the 
 coast of the County of Galway. Allemande makes no difficulty 
 to place it here, because the abbeys of Darinis in Leinster, and 
 in the Isles of Arran, had other founders, as we shall see in its 
 proper place: This abbey may have been confounded with the 
 last named. 
 
 AT DUNGARVAN, OR ACHAD-GARVAN, 
 
 About twenty-two miles from Waterford, and 97% from Dub- 
 lin, there was a priory of canons, founded, in the seventh cen- 
 tury, by St. Garvan, a disciple of St. Finbar. 
 
 An Augustinian Friary, founded by Thomas, Lord Offaley ; 
 the O’Briens were benefactors. Granted, with sundry lands, 
 37 Elizabeth, for twenty-one years, to Roger Dalton; rent £40 
 10s, now worth £810. ‘There wasan hospital here also under the 
 invocation of St. Brigit. 
 
 MOTHIL, 
 
 Two miles south of Carrick, an Augustinian Monastery, built 
 by St. Brogan, and was succeeded by St. Coan in the sixth cen- 
 tury. Granted, 33 Henry VIII., with all the possessions, to 
 — Butler and Power; rent £6 4s, now worth £128, 
 
 rs 
 
 WATERFORD, 
 
 Near Waterford Priory of St. Catherine, confirmed by Pope 
 Innocent IITI., 1210, founded by Thomas, a commercial sea port, 
 an Augustinian Priory, founded by the Ostmen; it was richly 
 endowed by different persons in the course of time. Granted, 
 with several other possessions, 31 Elizabeth, to Elizabeth But- 
 ler, alias Sherlock, for twenty-one years; rent £47 5s Sd, now 
 worth £2,345 13s 4d. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 99 
 ARDMORE ABBEY. 
 
 At Ardmore, on the sea coast, about five miles from Youghal, 
 these was an abbey, where St. Declan, about 448, was abbot, 
 as Colgan alone informs us. St. Ultan succeeded St. Declan in 
 that abbey in the sixth century. It is said that St. Declan 
 founded there a particular rule. The splendid round tower, and 
 stately ruins of many churches; the Adam and Eve, with the 
 tree and serpent; the judgment of Solomon, all in alto relievo, 
 strike the traveller’s mind with awe, as well in regret for its 
 fallen degraded state as for its ancient wealth and piety. 
 
 Sse cere 
 
 COUNTY CORK. 
 
 CORK ABBEY. 
 
 At Cork, fifty-one English miles from Waterford, and one 
 hundred and twenty-six from Dublin, the capital of the county, 
 an episcopal see, and which sends members to parliament, there 
 was an abbey of St. Barr, or Finbarr, about 606, and who died 
 about 623, (see Lanigan, vol. ii. p. 318, who agrees with Arch- 
 dall.) According to Allemande it was afterwards Gileda, be- 
 cause there was’ a famons abbot thereof called Giles. Cormac, 
 king of Desmond, who was afterwards reduced to an earl, 
 founded this abbey in the year 1134, in honour of St. John Bap- 
 tist, says Ware.’ Allemande is of the same opinion with Colgan, 
 that St. Barr was the founder of this house, as he was also the 
 first bishop of Cork. Ware also believes that this house is the 
 Monasterium Ibrancense, which St, Bernard speaks of; but Al- 
 lemande thinks it was the abbey of Beg-eri spoken of in the 
 County of Wexford, because having been founded by St. [bar, 
 that gave occasion for calling it Monasterium Ibrancense, where 
 that saint was not only abbot, but also professor of all sciences ; 
 and, itis much more natural to have made Ibracene from St. 
 Ibar, than from Barri, which would have made Barricense. 
 Allemande says St. Barr was a native of Cork, and was called 
 Finbarr and Barroc, whence came the name of Barricourt, and 
 that title has been given to the Lord Barri, or Barricourt, of 
 English extraction, but settled in Ireland several ages after, 
 where that family are Earls of Barrimore, and Viscounts Butte- 
 vant. Itis recorded, that in the eighth century seven hundred 
 monks, and seventeen bishops were living there a contemplative 
 life. The possessions were granted, 33 Elizabeth, to Cormac 
 M‘Carthy andto Sir Richard Grenyille; a protestant place of 
 worship was erected on the site. . 
 
 AN AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY, 
 Founded, in the reign of Henry IV., by Lord Kinsale, 
 
100 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 granted, 19 Elizabeth, to Cormac M‘Carthy, at £13 163 Sd 
 yearly rent, now worth £276 13s 4d; ; it is converted into a su- 
 gar-house now called the Red Abbey. 
 
 
 
 AT KIL-ACHAD-CONCHEAN, 
 An abbey, founded by St. Abban 
 
 AT. KINSALE, 
 
 A great sea-port town, fourteen miles from Cork, and one 
 hundred and forty from Dublin, to the north of the town, there 
 was an abbey, where, according to Colgan, St. Gobban, disei- 
 ple of St. Ailbe, was abbot im the seventh century. 
 
 ROSS, OR ROSS-CARBERRY PRIORY. 
 
 At Ross, or Ross-Carberry, thirty-two miles from Cork, and 
 one hundred and fifty-eight from Dublin, an episcopal see, and 
 sea-port, was a priory of Regular Canons, founded, aceording to 
 Lanigan, (vol. il. p. 193). before 570, by St. Fachnan, its first 
 abbot. Ussher says he there founded a famous college or school, 
 then called Ross-Carberry, because this town is seated in that 
 part of the county called Carberry ; that St. Brendan also taught 
 im that college, which was one of the most famous in Ireland, 
 and afterwards made a bishopric, then called Ross-Ailitery, or 
 Ross- Hilary, now only Ross. St. Fachan’s ‘School at Ross, 
 was one of the most celebrated and frequented in Ireland.” La- 
 nigan, vol. il. p. 194. 
 
 
 
 BRENIN ABBEY. 
 
 At Enagh-mid-brenin, or Brevin, in that part of the County of 
 Cork called Muskerry, or Musgraigh, St. Edus founded an ab- 
 bey in the eighth century. Ware mentions neither the saint nor 
 the house ; but Ussher and Colgan speak of them. 
 
 
 
 TULACHMIN ABBEY. 
 
 At Tulachmin, once considered a famous town, was an abbey, 
 founded by St. Molang, or Molagga, who was born at Fer amu- 
 gio, Co. Cork, and lived beyond 665, as Lanigan informs us, 
 vol, il. p. 83. ‘At present itis but a parish. 
 
 
 
 BALLYBEG, OR PRIORY OF ST. THOMAS. 
 
 Consisted of Regular Canons of St. Augustin, near Buttevant; 
 the Barrys, Irish noblemen, ancestors to the Earls of Barry- 
 more, were benefactors to it about 1237. The steeple, the ar- 
 cade over the dome, remaining yet, together with the traces of 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 101 
 
 many external buildings, show that it had been a magnificent 
 structure ; yearly value £260, now worth £5,200. Granted, 16 
 Elizabeth, for twenty-one years, to George Boucher, Esq., who 
 forfeited it for non-payment of rent; then granted to the wife of 
 Sir Thomas Norris, Governor of Munster. 
 
 
 
 FERMOY MONASTERY, 
 
 Otherwise called Ballindroughed, seventeen miles from Cork, 
 and one hundred and eight from Dublin. (See the Congregation 
 of St. Victor) 
 
 CLUAIN-ARD ABBEY. 
 
 In Muskerry, (as Colgan informs us) was of considerable note, 
 being founded by St. Abban, in the seventh century ; or, accord- 
 ing to Lanigan, by St. Becan, or Mobecan, of the royal blood of 
 Munster in the sixth century, (iii. 20) was abbot of this house, 
 which is not the same with that of Clonard in the Couniy of 
 Meath, already spoken of. 
 
 
 
 CLUAIN-FINGLASS ABBEY, 
 
 According to Colgan, was founded by the same saint, in the 
 same county ; but Lanigan, who never wishes to multiply monas- 
 teries, says: “nothing is known of it, Cluain-Conbrum, or the 
 three monasteries in Magh-Ce, or Maghelle.’’? (iii. 21.) Col- 
 gan says there was another abbey of Finglas near Dublin, which 
 is not to be confounded with this. 
 
 eee eee 
 
 AT TULLALY, OR TULLALES. 
 A monastery, founded by Matthew Fitz Griffan. 
 
 
 
 AT WEEME, 
 This Abbey of St. John the Evangelist was founded in 131]. 
 
 
 
 AT BALLYMACADANE, 
 
 ’ Four miles south of Cork, on the Bandon road, an Augustinian 
 Nunnery, founded, in the year 1450, by Cormac M‘Carthy. 
 
 
 
 AT WEEME, 
 
 Near Cork, an Augustinian Priory stood at the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, and without doubt, until the the general dissolution: likely 
 the same as above mentioned, ‘ 
 
 2 
 
Jo2 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 BRIGGOBAN ABBEY, 
 
 Otherwise called Balgoban, (where Monsieur de Chateaure- 
 naud, in the year 1689, landed the supplies sent to king James 
 If. into Ireland,), was founded by the same saint. 
 
 
 
 KIL-NA-MARBHAN MONASTERY, 
 
 Which signifies the Chureh, or Cell of the Dead, and is near 
 Briggoban, was also founded, says Allemande, by St. Abban,. 
 who was a great builder and founder of regular houses; for he 
 erected above fifteen in several parts of Ireland, if we may be- 
 lieve Colgan, for Ware says nothing of it. Lanigan (iii. 20) and 
 Smith (Hist. Cork, vol. 1. p. 354,), contend this monastery was 
 not founded by St. Abban; but perhaps by St. Finachan. 
 
 
 
 AT OBALVANE, 
 
 There was 2 monastery, the founder of which is not stated. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY KERRY. 
 ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT ABBEY, 
 
 At Ballynas Keligs, probably founded by some Irish saint be- 
 fore 950, tor we find that an abbot of this time died then. This 
 abbey was formerly called Balline-Scelig, because it stood in one 
 of the Islands Sceleges, on the coast. There was also an abbey 
 of St. Michael on the point of Cornwall, in England, and there is 
 another of the same name in Normandy. The ruins on the sea 
 shore, continually wearing it away, represent the ancient abbey 
 as a noble edifice. There is a holy well consecrated to St. 
 Michael, which is annually visited on the 29th of September. 
 Granted, 28 Elizabeth, to John Blake; rent £6 13s 4d yearly, 
 now worth £133 6s 8d 
 
 
 
 AT AGHADOE, 
 
 An abbey, where Aodh, grandson of Auliff Mor. O’ Donoghue, 
 King of Aoganacht Loenalien, was buried in the year 1231. 
 
 ere 
 
 AT AGHAMORE,. 
 
 An abbey, founded in the seventh century, by the friars of St. 
 Finbar, of Cork,; it is situated on a small island near the mouth. 
 of the Kenmare river. 
 
 
 
 AP ARDFERT, 
 
 A sumptuous monastery, built in the sixth century by St. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 103 
 
 Brendan; destroyed repeatedly by fire and wars. Thomas, 
 Lord of Kerry, built, in the year 1253, a monastery there, which 
 became the burial ground of several illustrious families; this 
 house was high in estimation for the numerous miracles wrought 
 there. The ruins of this noble edifice stand a little east of the 
 town; the walls of the steeple, choir, cloisters, dormitory, and 
 chapel for morning, are entire. In the church is a figure of St. 
 Brendan in relievo ; the round tower, the finest in Ireland, 12) 
 feet high, unfortunately fell in the year 1771. 
 
 
 
 AT CROEBHEAGH, 
 
 An Abbey, founded by St. Patrick, for his disciple St. Da- 
 luan; St. Trian was abbot and bishop here about the year 450, 
 
 
 
 AT DINGLE, 
 
 A Monastery, which was a cell to the abbey of Killagh, Cas- 
 tlemain. 
 
 
 
 KILLAGHA PRIORY. 
 
 At Killagha, a small town at the mouth of the river Mang, 
 was the priory of St. Mary de Beaulieu, founded in the reign of 
 King John, about 1210, by Geoffrey Marsh. This priory was 
 very considerable, not only on account of its revenue, but also be- 
 cause its prior was a spiritual peer, and as such sat in parliament. 
 Granted to Thomas Clinton; rent £17, now worth £240.. 
 
 RATHOY, OR RATHVO PRIORY OF $5. PETER AND PAUL 
 
 Of Regular Canons of St. Augustin, of the congregation of 
 Arroasia, had been before an hospital, dedicated to St. John 
 Baptist, and was built by brother William, in the reign of King 
 John. Ussher joins this abbey with that of Rathene, above 
 spoken of, which is much more ancient. Granted, 23 Elizabeth, 
 to John Zouche, at rent 6s 7d, now worth £6 Ils 8d. 
 
 ¢ ooo 
 
 INIS-FALLEN PRIORY. 
 
 At Inis-fallen, or the Isle of Fallen, which is Lough-Lean, or 
 the Lion’s Lake, there was an ancient priory of Regular Canons 
 of St. Augustin, founded in the sixth century by St. Finian. 
 Colgan calls this house Inisfathlene, and says it was in the coun- 
 ty of Kerry; but it is now on the borders of the County of 
 Desmond, for this at present is not a distinct county, and the 
 country belongs to the County of Cork, as Ware assures us, who 
 ought to have known it, having been born in Dublin, and being 
 receiver general of Ireland. The monks of Inis-fallen have left 
 us the annals of Ireland, which arein great esteem. In11]80 this 
 
104 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 house was held sacred as paradise, and the clergy were deemed 
 so holy and trustworthy, that the treasures and valuable effects 
 of the whole country were deposited in their hands, notwithstand- 
 ing the abbey was in this year destroyed by Maolduim, son of 
 Daniel O’ Donaghoe,. and many of the clergy were slain, even in 
 their cells, by the M‘Carthys. Granted, 37 Elizabeth, to Ro- 
 bert Collan; rent £72 3s, now worth £1443. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF CLARE, OR THOMOND, 
 
 United in the seventeenth century to Munster, although before 
 belonging to Connaught, since the twelfth century; before 
 that a part of Munster, as the name Thomond implies, signi- 
 fying West Munster. 
 
 CLARE, OR KILMONEY ABBEY OR PRIORY OF SS. PETER 
 AND PAUL, 
 
 At Clare, the capital of the county, two miles from Ennis, and 
 one hundred and twelve from Dublin, on the river Fergus, was 
 an abbey or priory, called of Kilmoney, or Forgio, from the 
 name of the river, founded by Donald O’Brien, king of Lime- 
 rick in 1195. Granted, 1661, to Henry, Earl of Thomond. 
 
 INIS-KELTRA, OR INIS-KELTAIR PRIORY, 
 
 
 
 ‘So called from the island it stands in, in the Lough, or Lake 
 of Derg, in the Shannon, on the borders of the Counties of 
 Clare and Galway, was, as Colgan informs us, founded in the 
 seventh century, by the abbot of St. Camin, or Coman. Accord- 
 ing to Lanigan he died the 25th or 24th of March, in 653, (iii. 
 1.) In 946 Joinbar, or Ivar, the northern chief, set fire to this 
 and other monasteries, (ibid p. 374); but was rebuilt about 
 1000, by the great and good King Brian Boroimhe, who became 
 King of Munster in 976, and died on the plains of Clontarf on 
 Good Friday, 23rd of April, 1014, aged 88, (ibid 422.) 
 
 AT GLAN CHOLUIMCHILLE, 
 
 An Abbey, founded by St. Columb ; is now a protestant place 
 of worship in the diocese of Kilfenora. 
 
 
 
 AT INCHYCRONANE, 
 
 An island on the river Shannon, a monaste.y, founded in the 
 year 1190, by Donald O’Brien, King of Limerick. Granted, 
 1661, to Henry, Earl cf Thomond. 
 
 AT INHCMORE, 
 
 An island in the Shannon, an abbey, founded by St. Senan, 
 who placed over it his disciple St. Liberius. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 105 
 AT INISANLAOI, 
 
 A magnificent abbey, built in the year 1305, by Turlogh, King 
 of Thomond, where he is buried. 
 
 INIS-NEGANAGAGH PRIORY, 
 
 The name importing the Island of Canons, in the bay of Li- 
 merick, or mouth of the river Shannon, belonged to the Regular 
 Canons, and was founded by the above mentioned Donald 
 O’Brien, King of Limerick, in the twelfth century, or beginning 
 of the thirteenth. Granted, 1661, to Henry, Earl of Thomond. 
 
 
 
 INIS-LUA ABBEY. 
 
 Inis-lua is an island in the river Shannon, in the diocess of 
 Killaloe, between Limerick and Iniscathy, where this abbey was 
 founded by the famous St. Senan, who was bishop and abbot of 
 Iniscathy, as we findin Colgan. He was born about 488 at Corco- 
 buskind, in the west of Thomond, (Lan. i 445) and died 8th 
 March, about 544, or later, (Lan. ii. 91;) Colgan has it 580. 
 
 eee ee 
 
 COUNTY OF LIMERICK. 
 ABBEY OF THE B. V. ST. MARY. 
 
 At Limerick, the capital of the county, an episcopal see, and 
 which sends representatives to parliament, is a sea port, and the 
 third city in Ireland, ninety-four miles from Dublin, and fifty 
 from Cork, was the priory of the invocation of St. Mary and St. 
 Edward, founded in the reign of King John, about the end of the 
 twelfth century, by Simon Minor, arich citizen of Limerick. 
 The prior had great privileges in the city, as having the first place 
 and vote in all the councils there, and particularly at the election 
 ofthe mayor. Granted at the suprression to Edmond Sexton. 
 
 
 
 AT LIMERICK 
 
 Also was an Augustinian Friary, founded, in the thirteenth 
 century, by O’Brien, of the kingly race of Limerick and Tho- 
 mond, near Quay-lane; but not a trace of it is to be seen now. 
 The possessions of this house in lands and houses, through town 
 and country, were valued at £8 6s ld, now worth £166 Is 8d. 
 
 
 
 AT MUNGAIRER 
 
 It is stated an abbey was founded by St. Patrick in the fifth 
 century. 
 
106 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 AT ADARE, 
 
 Formerly a respectable place, but now a poor, village, an 
 Augustinian Friary, founded, about 1315, by John, Earl of 
 Kildare; granted to Sir Thomas Wallop, together with the pos- 
 sessions. Of this friary remain, still in good preservation, the 
 steeple, which is supported on an arch, the choir, nave, and 
 aisle ; there are some beautiful cloisters with gothic windows, the 
 sides of which are ornamented with escutheons and saltire crosses 
 alternately ; the workmanship is both simple and eleghnt. 
 
 AT CLUAN-CLAI-DECK. 
 
 An abbey was founded by St. Edan, bishop of Ferns, in the 
 sixth century. 
 
 AT KYNNY THIN 
 An abbey remainded in 1300. 
 
 
 
 KILMALLOCK ABBEY, 
 
 At Kilmallock, or Killocia, being the second town in the coun- 
 ty, is a barony, about sixteen miles from Limerick, and one hun- 
 dred and nine from. Dublin, was an abbey, founded, according to 
 Colgan, in the seventh century by St. Mochelloch, patron of the 
 place, who died, as Lanigan (i. 27) observes, between 639 and 656, 
 and whose festival is on the 26th March. It is to be observed, that 
 whereas Kilmallock is otherwise called Kilmachul, and that name 
 is very like Kilmacdugh, which is a town and bishopric in County 
 Galway, it might give occasion to mistake, if we did not know 
 that the latter Kilmadugh signifies the church of the son of Duach, 
 which is quite different from Mogheloch. 
 
 INISCATHY ABBEY. 
 
 
 
 At Inis-catthy, (or Inis-cathiag, the island of Cathiag, which 
 is the name of a sea monster, that did much harm in the country, 
 in this island,) that lies in the bay of Limerick, about two miles 
 from the shore, which is the mouth of the river Shannon, and 
 formerly belonged to the County of Clare, as Ware observes, 
 was formerly an abbey, founded by St. Senan, about 534, (Lan. 
 i. 446,) who erected, according to some, seven churches there. 
 
 Monsieur Sanson in his maps calls this abbey Gathon, and 
 places it near the town of Kilmallock, wherein he follows Speed; 
 but it is not in this particular alone that Speed, Monsieur Sanson, 
 and several others have erred, where they have undertaken to 
 place and name the abbeys and monasteries of Ireland, 
 
 As to this St. Senan, whose name signifies Old, he is not the 
 same with St. Sane the patron of the bishopric of St. Paul de 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 107 
 
 Leon in Britany, who died in the year 480. St. Senan is by the 
 author of his life styled arch-prelate, either because he was arch- 
 bishop of Tuam, or because he was more holy than the others, 
 whereupon it is fit to observe that Iniscatty was not a bishopric, 
 according to Colgan, tillabout 1180. However, in another place 
 he says, that this saint was bishop and abbot of Iniscatthy, and 
 that it is probable he was bishop of Armagh; but Ussher is not 
 of this mind, for he positively affirms, that if St. Senan succeeded | 
 St. Patrick, it was in the bishopric of Iniscatthy, and not. in 
 that of Armagh. It is difficult to suppose, that this saint should 
 be bishop and abbot of Iniscatthy, and archbishop of Tuam and 
 Armagh, Allemande believes it was some other St. Senan that 
 succeeded St. Patrick at Armagh, for saints of the same name 
 are very frequent in Ireland. We find in a life of St. Senan 
 written in Irish, which was founded in Leinster, that St. Senan 
 and St. Martin of Tours kept a strict correspondence; but. per- 
 haps it was not with this St. Senan, who was after St. Martin, 
 but with St. Senan of Britany. This is also called Inniscattery, 
 off the shore of Kilrush parish, barony of Mayarta, placed by 
 some in Co. Clare, but considered as part of St. Mary’s parish, 
 Limerick. It was plundered in 816 by the Danes, who put many 
 monks to death, and destroyed the monument of St. Senan... In 
 835 they destroyed the monastery. In 976 Brian Boroimhe ex- 
 pelled from thence the invaders, and rebuilt the monastery. In 1176 
 the Danes plundered it; but it subsisted till its dissolution under 
 the virgin Elizabeth in 1583, who granted it to the mayor of Li- 
 merick, at £3 12s 8d rent, now worth £72 13s 4d. 
 
 ee eee 
 
 RATHKEALE PRIORY. 
 
 At Rathkeale, & post town, barony of L. Connello, fourteen 
 miles from Limerick, and ninety-four from Dublin, there was a 
 priory of Regular Canons of the congregation of Arroasia, of the 
 invocation of Our Lady, or St. Mary; it appears to have been 
 built in the year 1200, by some Englishmen of quality, of the 
 family of Harvey, and endowed by Elienor Purcell in 1289. 
 These Purcells were barons of Loughmore, Co. Tipperary. 
 
 COUNTY TIPPERARY. 
 TIPPERARY. 
 
 A monastery of Augustine Eremites, founded in the reign of 
 Henry III.; granted, with the possessions, 34 Henry VIII., to 
 Dermot Ryan; rent 8d. Irish, now worth 13s 4d. 
 
 GLASSMORE ABBEY. 
 
 At Glassmore, or Glaismore, was an abbey, as Colgan informs 
 us, founded by a monk, whose name was Cuanchein, who 
 
‘ 
 
 108 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 dying, St. Pulcherius was raised to life again, and then he went to 
 found this house, which is therefore in all likelihood distinct from 
 that of Glasmore of St. Cronan, near Lismore in the County of 
 Waterford, already mentioned. 
 
 
 
 ATHASSEL PRIORY. 
 
 At Athassel, a small town, Half a mile from Cashel, was the 
 fine priory of St. Edmund, king and martyr, founded in 1200, 
 by William (Fitz-Adelm) de Burgo, a nobleman of the illus- 
 trious house of the Burkes, of English extraction, who came to 
 Ireland at the invasion, died in 1206, and was interred in the 
 monastery. Ware observes that two earls of Ulster, of his fa- 
 mily, were buried in this priory, and that one Hubert Burke, 
 who was the first prior here, was made bishop of Limerick in 
 1223. The prior of Athassel was a spiritual peer, and as such 
 sat in the parliament of Ireland. With its lands and tithes, 
 valued in the reign of Edward VI. at £141 14s 2d, or, of pre- 
 sent money £2834 3s 4d annually. It was reduced very much, 
 and, in the reign of Philip and Mary, let to the Earl of Ormond. 
 Elizabeth granted it in fee to the same nobleman. This was 
 one of the largest and richest abbeys in the kingdom. 
 
 
 
 EMLY ABBEY, 5 on, 
 
 At Emly, seven miles from Tipperary, a small town, once a 
 bishopric, and even an archbishopric, now united to the bishop- 
 ric of Cashel, was an abbey, founded in the fifth century by 
 St. Ailbe, who was the first abbot, and bishop, or archbishop of 
 Emly, called Imlacensis, says Colgan, for others say Imelacen- 
 
 sis. Ussher and Colgan mention this house; but Ware says 
 
 nothing of it. 
 
 NENAGH PRIORY, OR HOSPITAL. 
 
 At Nenagh, a small town, nineteen miles from Limerick, and 
 seventy-five from Dublin, was the priory or hospital surnamed 
 Teac-Eon, dedicated to St. John Baptist, and founded in the 
 year 1200, by Theobald Walter, who was the first surnamed 
 Butler, an English nobleman, with a provision that at least thir- 
 teen sick persons should be maintained in the house, with the 
 daily allowance of a loaf, drink, anda plate of meat, as may be 
 seen in Lodge’s Peerage, (vol. ii. p. 3.) The authors of the English 
 Monasticon, (vol. 2, p. 1044) have given us the foundation char- 
 ter of this monastery, which is there called Neneath. Granted, 
 with its possessions, 5th Elizabeth, to Oliver Grace, for the rent 
 of £39 10s 10d. now worth £780 16s 8d. 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 109 
 ACHAD-UR ABBEY. 
 
 At Achadaur, signifying the Green Field, there was, as Colgan 
 informs us, an abbey founded in the sixth century, by St. Lac- 
 tin, or Lactan, in that part of Ossory which is in the County ct 
 Tipperary. Neither Ussher nor Ware has mentioned this house. 
 
 ARDFINAN, OR ARDFENNAN , ABBEY. 
 
 At Ardfinan was an abbey, founded in the sixth,century, and 
 not as Cobbett has it 903, by St. Finan, who was also the founder 
 of Inisfathlene, in County Kerry. Colgan observes that Ardfi- 
 nan is now a deanery of the bishopric of Lismore, though in the 
 County of Tipperary. red 4 
 
 
 
 AT ARDFINNAN, 
 
 Another abbey and friary in ruins, are stated to have been 
 built in 1184, by John, Earl.of Morton. 
 
 
 
 ‘ ROSCREA ABBEY. 
 
 At Roscrea, according to Ware, Allémande, and others, a 
 small town in that part of the County Tipperary which is called 
 filia Carolina, but partly in the King’s Co., and. Tipperary, 
 thirty-five miles from Limerick, and sixty-five from Dublin, St. 
 Cronan, as Ussher informs us, in the seventh century, founded 
 an abbey, which king Edward II.’ gave toEdmund Butler, Earl 
 of Carick, father to James, the first Earl of Ormond, in the 
 year 1281. “I know not, says Allemande, whether that learned 
 writer be not mistaken, or that he meant the aforesaid king gave 
 the town of Roscrea to that English nobleman, then settled in 
 Ireland, rather than the abbey of that name; for it does not ap- 
 pear that it was made a lay-fee, or suppressed by any Pope’s 
 bull, which must: have been the consequence at that time, when 
 the kings of England were very submissive to the see of Rome; for 
 kings may give the temporalities of a benefice to a layman, but 
 I believe they cannot destroy a spiritual right without the Pope’s 
 consent, he bemg the common father of all christians in spirituals ”’ 
 Be this as it may, Ware does not mention this abbey; but, as 
 he knew nothing of many other regular communities in Ireland, 
 there is no occasion to be surprised at his silence; besides this 
 abbey having also been a bishopric during the first centuries, 
 Ware, as is usual with him, has blended the two dignities 
 
 together, thinking it enough to speak of the bishopric of Roscrea, 
 without taking notice of the abbey. Ussher adds, that in this 
 monastery were kept the four gospels, written by St. Cronan, 
 who flourished, according to Lanigan, about 620, and died before 
 526, (vol. iii. p. 8.) 
 
 K 
 
110 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 CLUAIN-COMBRUIN ABBEY 
 
 Was, according to Colgan, in the diocess of Cashel founded 
 in the seventh century by St. Abban, who also founded those of 
 Cluainirard; and Finglass, before spoken of, and some others 
 if we believe Colgan, Ware knew nothing of that saints founda- 
 tions. ' 
 
 
 
 CAHIR-DUNES PRIORY, 
 
 At Cahir, or Caher, called also Caher-Dunes, a small town on 
 the river Suire, barony of Iffa and Offa, W., eight miles from 
 Clonmel, and eighty-seven from Dublin, was the priory of St. 
 Mary, or Our Biessed Lady, founded in the twelfth century, in 
 the reign of king John, by Geoffrey Campbell, an English noble- 
 man. The Irish were so devoutly addicted to the mother of 
 our Saviour, that the most of their foundations were of the Invo- 
 cation of St. Mary. Leased, by Elizabeth, to Peter Sherlock, 
 for £24 11s 6d per annum. Some of the ruins still remain. 
 
 
 
 TIRDAGLASS ABBEY, 
 
 Founded by St. Colman—-Stellen abbot A. D. 624—or as some 
 say, by St. Columba, a.disciple of St. Finian; he died of the 
 plague in the year 552. His feast falls on December 12, and the 
 teast of St. Ailbeus falls on Sept. 12. Many illustrious saints 
 and scholars flourished in this house until the twelfth century. 
 
 
 
 KILBAR ABBEY, 
 
 At Corbal, or Kilbar, a small town on the bank of the lough, 
 or lake of Dery, was the ancient abbey or priory of St. Hilary, of 
 Regular Canons, founded by St. Donan in the seventh century. 
 This house was at first in an island of the same lake, called Inschi- 
 nemeo, that is, the Island of the Living. The Hermits of St. 
 Augustin took possession of it in the latter ages. See what is 
 said of it under that order. 
 
 —— ceo 
 
 INISLANNAUGHT, OR INISLOUNAGH, 
 
 In barony of Offa and Iffa, abbey founded by St. Pulcherius 
 in the sixth century; or as others say, in the barony of Offa and 
 Iffa, on the Suir, an abbey, founded by St. Mochoemoc, who died 
 on the 13th March, 655 ; he was succeeded by Congan, about the 
 year 1153, who supplied St. Bernard withmaterials for writing the 
 Life of St. Malachy.. Donald O’Brien, King of Limerick, rebuilt 
 this monastery in 1187, and endowed it, with the assistance of 
 Malachy O’Foelan, prince of the Decies; granted, 33 Elizabeth, 
 to Edward Geogh; rent £24, now worth £480. Thereis a holy 
 well, which is frequented by people from all quarters. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. {il 
 THOME PRIORY. 
 
 At Thome, or Toom, a small town, was a priory founded in 
 in the same century, by the same St. Donan, and it was a cell to 
 the aforesaid abbey of Kilbar. Granted, by Elizabeth, to 
 Meyler Magrath for twenty-one years. 
 
 CARRICK-ON-SUIR PRIORY OR HOSPITAL, 
 
 At Carrick-on-Suire, being the second town of note in the 
 County of Tipperary, in the barony of Iffa and Offa east, thir- 
 teen miles from Waterford, and seventy-eight from Dublin, was 
 a priory and hospital of Regular Canons, founded by William 
 de Cantelo and his wife Dionisia, both English. This house was 
 depending on the hospital of St. John of Acon, at London. 
 Granted to the Earl of Ormond. 
 
 AT FETHARD, 
 
 An Augustinian Monastery. By an inquisition of 31 Henry 
 VIII., this house had possessions to the amount of £7 13s 4d, 
 now worth £153 6s 8d. Granted to Sir Edmund Butler, at the 
 yearly rent of 5s 4d, now worth £5 6s 8d. 
 
 LORHA ABBEY. 
 
 At Lothra, or Lorha, or Logran, about eight miles from Par- 
 sonstown, according to Ussher, being a small town near the 
 lough or lake of Derg, was an abbey founded in the sixth cen- 
 tury, by St. Ruadan, one of the twelve apostles of Ireland, 
 father of one hundred and fifty monks, and their first abbot, 
 who died there in 584. This house from his name'was called 
 Ruadan Loghra. (See it in the order of the Hermits of St. Au- 
 gustin. There was also, according to Colgan, an abbey of 
 Loghroe, or Lutre, founded by St: Deicola, and it was:a sanc- 
 tuary.) Allemande was not:able to discover, whether it was 
 the same with this of St. Ruadan, yet believed, that this 
 here spoken of was of Regular Canons, and:that of St. Deicola 
 of Benedictines. Thus we have reason to believe that there were 
 two abbeys of different orders in this town’ of Lorha, or 
 Lothre. Turgesius and his Norwegians burnt and destroyed this 
 town, with its religious houses, in 845.’ The present protestant 
 church is on the site of the former monastery. 
 
 AT INCHINEMES 
 
 Was the priory of the B. V. M, and St. Hilary, founded by 
 St. Donan in the seventh century. 
 
112 ' MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 DESERT-TOLA ABBEY 
 
 Was founded by St. Tola in the eighth century. He had 
 before been abbot of the. abbey of Abraccan, in the County of 
 Meath, as Colgan observes. Lanigan says (iii, 192) he-died in 
 761. : 
 
 AT ENACH-MIDBRENNAN, 
 
 A monastery, founded by St. Aidus; likely confounded with: 
 that name in p. 100, in Co, Cork. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF CONNAUGHT, COUNTY GALWAY. 
 TUAM ABBEY. 
 
 About sixteen miles from Galway, and ninety-eight from Dub- 
 lin, at Tuam, the Metropolitan See of the Province of Con- 
 naught, there was from the beginning of christianity an abbey of 
 Regular Canons, even before it was made archiepiscopal, says 
 Allemande; but according to most authors by St. Jarlath, in the 
 sixth century; and after that those Regular Canons served the 
 cathedral there. St. Cellagh was abbot of this house. See the 
 Premonstrenesis. 
 
 TUAM PRIORY, 
 Founded by Terlagh O’Connor, king of Ireland, in 1140. 
 
 
 
 CLONFERT ABBEYS. 
 
 At Clonfert, an episcopal see on the river Shannon, there 
 ‘were two abbeys. The first was that of St. Mary of Port Pure, 
 of which St. Brendan was founder, and first abbot, about 558; 
 according to Ware, or, as Colgan says, 553, according to the 
 Domestic Annals of Ireland. The other was founded by St. 
 Lugidus, or Molua, about the same time, for he flourished there 
 n 580. 
 
 Ware and Ussher do not agree wkeh the great St. Brendan 
 lived, who was the son of Finloga, of the distingushed family of 
 Hua Alta, and founder of an order, which distinguishes him 
 from the other Saints Brendans. He was one of the twelve apos- 
 tles of Ireland, and father of three thousand monks. Ware 
 places the foundation of this house about 558, whereas Ussher 
 states St. Brendan was born in 484, flourished at Clonfert in 540, 
 and that there were then in Ireland above three thousand monks 
 of this order, which could not be, unless he had founded his ab- 
 bey of Clonfert, which was,.the head of the order, several years 
 before. In short, Ussher places the death of this saint at Enagh- 
 doune, his sister’s abbey, in 577; which agrees with Lanigan, 
 who adds, that he died 16th May, in 577, in the ninety-fourth 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 113 
 
 year of his age, (vol. ii. p. 30); whence he was carried to.Clon- 
 fert to be buried. St Fintan, or Munnu, who was called Psal- 
 micanus, or Psalm-singer, because he was always singing psalms, 
 and was’ successor to St. Brendan. Colgan believes him to be 
 the same person that La Sausaye calls Psalmodius. Mons. Des- 
 may, Doctor of Sorbonne, and canon of the collegiate church of 
 St. Furey, at Peronne, having said, in the life he wrote of this 
 St. Brendan, that he founded an abbey of Benedictines at Clon- 
 fert; Colgan says this house could not be of that order, because 
 the Irish monks knew nothing.of the rule of St. Benedict till the 
 end of the seventh century, and this abbey was founded an hun- 
 dred years before that, during which time the rule of St. Bren- 
 dan flourished in Ireland, as is observed by Possevin in his Ap- 
 poratus Socer. 
 
 The other abbey of Clonfert, founded by St. Molua, or Lugi- 
 dus, whom St. Bernard, in his.life of St, Malachy, says was 
 founder of an hundred abbeys, as wellas St. Columbkill. Ussher 
 agrees with Ware that it was founded in 558; it is likely that he 
 mistook the one abbey for the other... He takes, no notice of 
 any but the first, and none of this latter; but this is not the only 
 house that Ware knew nothing of. This abbey was head of an 
 order, as well as the other; for St. Molua ordained a particular 
 rule, as well as St. Brendan, since we find it in the historians of 
 Ireland, that the abbot Dogain carried St. Molua’s rule to the 
 pope, which was also approved. St. Molua ordained, that no 
 woman should ever enter his monastery, and from that day no 
 woman dared to go into the same; and a great multitude of 
 monks from all parts:came to that place, and the good father 
 Molua kindly received them; and, im that same place grew up a 
 famous city, which is called Cluain-fert, ‘that is, the wonderful 
 Retreat of St. Molua, because he there, during his life, wrought, 
 many miracles, and they are still wrought by him through God’s 
 grace, and in honour of. St., Molua, and it is on the borders of 
 Leinster, near the King’s County. To reconcile the difficulty 
 authors find about these two abbeys,,both heads of orders in the* 
 same town, though there should seem to have been but one; it 
 appears in reality there was only that of St. Brendan in the old 
 town of Clonfert, on the S. side of the river Shannon, but that 
 the other abbey of St. Molua was in the. new town, on the east 
 side of the same river, beyond the bridge, which exactly answers 
 the position above mentioned ;,and.also what Colgan says, who 
 assures us, that the abbey of Cluainferta Molua of St. Lugidus, 
 or St. Luan, was in the province of Leinster. Many saints lived 
 and died here, until it was dissolved at the deformation. 
 
 IMMAGH, OR IMAIDH ABBEY. 
 
 Colgan says, that in the island of Immagh, which is on the 
 coast of the Co. Galway, there was a famous abbey, called Im- 
 magiense Monasterium, founded by St. Fechin, in the seventh 
 
 K 
 
hi4 MONASTICOM HIBERNICUM. 
 
 century. Some authors.say there were three thousand monks 
 in it. At, present it is. but a parish, in the diocess of Tuam, 
 where St. Fechin is,still honoured. He died, according to La- 
 nigan, (ill, 45) of a plagueyin 665, and is the first named amongst 
 the priests of third class. 
 
 
 
 AT! DUNDRYNAN, 
 A monastery, in which Thomas was abbot in 1374. 
 
 es ee 
 
 AT DUNMORE, 
 
 A friary, built in 1425, on the site ofa monastery founded by 
 St. Patrick. The market-place and protestant church stands-on: 
 its site. 
 
 
 
 ‘ARDOILEN . ABBEY. 
 
 Ardoilen, called Inis-Arthair, an island on: the same coast, or 
 spoken of, in which there was another monastery or abbey, 
 founded by the same St. Fechin, according to Allemande: and 
 others; but this is a'mistake, if we believe Lanigan, (iii. 49) as it 
 was called from its patron saint, Coemhain, Ara Coemhain, and 
 its monastery and principal church’ Kill-Coemhain, (see Colgan 
 A. A. S.S., p. 715.) This house was renowned on account of 
 St. Gormgal, who was‘a: monk therein, and in great veneration 
 in those parts. That saint died in 1017, according to the annals 
 of Ulster. Some }rish authors. say’ that both those islands be- 
 longed to those: of Arran. A Franciscan Convent was here 
 founded in' 1485. (See Franciscans.) 
 
 
 
 KILMACULLE, OR KILMAIDUAGH. ABBEY. 
 
 At Kilmacduagh, otherwise called’ Kilmaculle, being an an-~- 
 cient episcopal see, was an abbey founded, in 620, by St. Col- 
 man, the son of Duagh, the: first bishop of that place; so that 
 Kil-mac-duagh signifies the church of the’son of Duagh. » It be- 
 came an Augustinian monastery in 1283,- There are here many 
 venerable and noble’ ruins, which bespeak the past piety and 
 greatness of the Irish. ‘The round tower: projects seventeen feet 
 from its perpendicular line, whilst that of Pisa in Italy projects 
 but thirteen. feet. Granted to the Earl of Clanricarde. Ware, 
 contrary to his custom, mentions this abbey distinctly, for he 
 almost always blends the abbey. -with the bishopric. 
 
 
 
 ISLE.OF ARRAN ABBEY. 
 
 In the great Isle of Arran, at the mouth of:the. bay of Galway, 
 about thirty miles from the town, there was-a famous and ancient 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 115 
 
 abbey, founded, according to some in 449, or 480, by St. Endeus, 
 who was its first abbot. This place was called Arran Naomh, or 
 Arran of Saints, on account of the great number of holy monks 
 who lived and were buried in this abbey. Ussher says King 
 Engus gave this isle of Arran_to St. Endeus, at the request of St. 
 Albeus; but this is improbable, as Engus was only king of Mun- 
 ster, and not of Connaught, which had another sovereign, and 
 it is not likely that he could give an island which was not his own, 
 or that saint receive it, as that island belonged to the Co. Gal- 
 way, which has always been part.of the province of Connaught, 
 To remove this obstacle Allemande is of opinion that, as the Co. 
 of Clare, or Thomond, formerly belonged to the Province. of 
 Munster, as the name of Thomond imports, signifying West 
 Munster, and has been re-united to Munster, it might have been 
 that the Isles of Arran belonged to the King of Munster, as ap- 
 purtenances of the Co. of Thomond; and, though they had been 
 no appurtenances of the same, it is not impossible that a sove- 
 reign should be possessed of islands on the coast of another state, 
 as we see in isles of Jersey and Guernsey, which are on the 
 coast of France, but in the possession of the English. 
 
 St. Endeus built ten monasteries in this, island, which were 
 afterwards only ten cells, and at present private houses. Weep- 
 ing he foretold, says Allemande, that instead of monks, the 
 island would be one day inhabited by wicked men. In each of those 
 monasteries he placed a prior, or a superior, all of them subor- 
 dinate to the abbot, who resided.in the abbey, which was called 
 Kil-Enda, or St. Enda’s Church; now.a parish, and possessed 
 of one half of the island, the other half belonging to the other prio- 
 ries, or cells. That division occasioned a controversy between 
 the monasteries and the abbey; which was decided by a miracle. 
 Under this name of Arran may be) reckoned one abbey, and ten 
 priories depending on the same, which were built in 490. 
 
 
 
 AUGHRIM PRIORY, 
 
 At Aughrim, near Ballinasloe, twenty-nine miles from Galway, 
 and seventy-five and a half from Dublin, was a priory’ of St. 
 Catherine, founded by Theobald Walter, or Butler, in Ireland, in 
 the thirteenth century, or in 1200. Granted, with several other 
 houses, to Richard, Earl of Clanricarde, for £68 9s 6d yearly 
 
 
 
 INIS-MAC-HUA-QUIN ABBEYS, 
 
 At Inis-mac-hua-quin, an island in the Lough Corrib, there were 
 two abbeys, says Colgan, the one’ founded by St. Meldan, or 
 Modan, and the other by St. Fursey, or as others’ say, by St. 
 Brendan of Clonfert. | 
 
116 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 AT FIDHARD, 
 
 An Abbey, said to have been founded by St. Patrick, for St. 
 Justus... Nowa Protestant Church, in D. of Elphin, 
 
 
 
 MONASTER-OGORMORGAN ABBEY. 
 
 At O’gormorgan, nine miles from Loughrea, was an abbey of 
 the same name, but of the invocation of St. Mary de Via Nova, 
 or of the new way, founded by Ogormorgan, an Irish nobleman, 
 menticned in arecord of 1308. Allemande observes that this house 
 is not to be found in Ussher, as that anthor, in his Antiquities of 
 the British Churches, mentions only the houses that were founded 
 by saint, and for the most part says nothing of them unless they 
 have relation to some bishoprick, from the fourth to the eleventh 
 century. Granted to Ulick, first Earl of Clanricarde, the 34th 
 of Henry VIII. 
 
 RUIM-DUIM, 
 
 Formerly Ruim-dubain, was a monastery or abbey, where St. 
 Duban was abbot. The annals of Ireland tell us, that this house 
 was afterwards an hospital, dedicated to St. John Baptist. 
 
 
 
 AT FALLIG, 
 
 A monastery, founded by Fallig, an Irishman, in 1390. The par- 
 son resides on the site. . 
 
 
 
 MAGH-CE, OR MAGHELLE, 
 
 Was an abbey, as Colgan informs us, founded before 650, by St. 
 Abban. Some say there were-three houses of that saint in this 
 place. 
 
 
 
 _ AT RATHMIT, 
 
 Near Lough Corrib, an abbey was founded by St. Fursey, ab- 
 bot. On the site now stants a parish church, called Kill-Fursey, 
 from the aforesaid saint. 1 4 f. 
 
 
 
 CLUAINFOIS, ABBEY, 
 
 According to Colgan, was built near Tuam, by St. Jarlath, or 
 Hierlat, its first Archbishop, who was of the noble family of the 
 Dalfiatuses, of which there had been three monarchs of all Ire- 
 land, forty kings of Ulster, and nearly thirty saints. This Abbey 
 is now only a parish church, called the High Temple, in the dio- 
 cese of Tuam. 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 117 
 NEAR GALWAY): TOWN. 
 
 A friary on a hill, in 1508, by Stephen Lynch, son to the 
 Mayor of Galway. 
 
 
 
 CLUON-TON-SKIRT, OMANY ABBEY. 
 
 Founded by St. Broadan who was first Abbot, and died in $09. 
 Allemand thinks that Ware made two abbeys of Cluontuoskirt 
 out of one, for he places one of the same name in the county of 
 Roscommon, while Cluontuoskirt is on the borders of the coun- 
 ties of Galway and Roscommon. Granted to Richard, Earl of 
 Clanricarde. 
 
 
 
 CELL-CUANNA OR KIL-CUANA ABBEY, 
 
 At Kilcoonagh was founded, as Colgan says, by St. Cuana, in 
 7th century, there were several others of this name. It is 
 now only a parish in Galway, diocess of Tuam, and deanery of 
 Enaghdown. We suspect that Cobbett and others have con- 
 founded. this at Kilcoonagh, and by erroneously saying, the 
 monastery was founded by Tibraid, prince of that country. It is 
 now a protestant church, 
 
 
 
 AT CLOONAYVORN AGH, 
 
 A cell was founded abont 1441, worth according to an’ inqui- 
 sition held 28 Eliz. 63 Sd now.£6-13s 4d. 
 
 
 
 KILLCONNELL. 
 
 Was an ancient house of Regular Canons, in the diocess of 
 Clonfert, whereof St. Conal was Abbot, Prior, or Founder, 
 in 5th century. \ 
 
 
 
 AT AHASKERAGH 
 
 In bar. of Kilconnell, was an abbey in which St. Cuana died, 
 on 4th Feb. some say in 788, Colgan says 650, but Lanigan 
 thinks later, but cannot decide the year (11. p. 357). The site 
 of the old monastery is now a Protestant church. 
 
 
 
 AT ENACH DUNE 
 
 In Bar. of Clare was an Abbey founded by St. Melda, in the 
 seventh century. 
 
 
 
 AT KILBOUGHT, 
 
 f A - 
 A monastery, built by the Waley family;. suppressed by cr; 
 der of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
118 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 AT. KILBRENNAN, 
 
 A monastery and its appurtenances. Granted to the Mayor 
 &c., of Athenry. 
 
 AT KILCOLGAN, 
 
 In the diocess of Clonfert, there was a monastery founded by St 
 Collumbkill. At the same place, according to others, there was 
 an abbey built in 580, by St. Colgan, the patron saint. It is 
 now a protestant chur ch. 
 
 AT KILBOEHAIN, 
 
 A religious house’ of some sort, but whether of the Canons 
 Regular is uncertain. _ St. Maccectus, disciple of St.: Patrick, 
 made here, itis said, the famous relic called 
 
 AT FINNFAIDHEACH, 
 
 Oid monastery turned into a new protestant church—a trans- 
 formation of which we have many blessed examples. 
 
 
 
 AT MICCINIS, 
 
 Was an abbey, wherein Regulus was abbot in the time of St. 
 Collumba. This place is in Lough Derg, Co. Galway. 
 
 
 
 AT RATHMATH, 
 
 On Lough Corrib, was an abbey built by St. Fursey, son of 
 Fintan, of the royal race of S. Munster, who died in 653. It is 
 now called. Kuifursey, and is the site of a protestant church. 
 Must have been one of those mentioned above by Colgan, under 
 Inis-mac-Hua-Quin. 
 
 COUNTY MAYO. 
 MAYO ABBEY, 
 
 At Mayo (now a small town on the river of the same name 
 six miles from Hollymount; formerly a considerable place, 
 the capital of the country, and an episcopal See) was a famous 
 abbey, to which was attached a splendid college, founded in 665, 
 by St. Colman, according to Ware 670, when he came out of Eng- 
 land, where he was bishop of the isle of Farne, or Lindisfarn, 
 (now Holy Island on the coast of Northumberland, ) and then set- 
 tled in Ireland, whither he carried 3000 English and Irish 
 monks. At one time 2000 monks and students (of which was the 
 sons of king Alfred) were here. The English he placed in the 
 Abbey of Mayo, for which reason the Irish called it Mayona Sas- 
 
 “f 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 119 
 
 son, that is Mayo of the Saxons, for so the English are called in 
 Trish, because descended from the Saxons who invaded England. 
 Colgan says the Irish called the English, Gal, and that therefore 
 they said indifferently Thea-sasson and Kil-anagail, perhaps the 
 Irish might, call the English, Gal, on account of Wales lying oppo- 
 site to them. The author of the life of St. Gerrard, says he, was 
 the founde rof this abbey of Mayo; but not Abbott there til 
 after St Colman, he so considerably enlarged it, as to be considered 
 the founder. This abbey, likewise a bishopric, was united to 
 the archbishopric of Tuam, in the reign of Henry VIII., about 
 1559, and then ended the abbots and bishops of Mayo. Colgan 
 affirms that this was an abbey of Regular Canons of St. Augus- 
 tin, in the ages preceding the suppression, or the reign of 
 Henry VIII.; but that it had been before of the order of St. Be- 
 nedict, upon the affirmation of Tritemius, Wion, Menard, 
 Yepes and Matthew, that St. Colman was of the same order ; but 
 many other authors question it. Allemande will not deny it, or 
 that St. Gerard, and St. Adaman were also Benedictines; but 
 the abbeys which they founded and governed in Ireland, having 
 been afterwards possessed by Regular Canons, he places them 
 under this order, rather than under that of St. Benedict. Grant- 
 ed, 20 Elizabeth, to the Burgesses and Corporation of Galway ; 
 rent £26 12s, now worth £532. 
 
 
 
 INTIS-BO-FINDE, OR BOPHIN ABBEY, 
 
 At Inisbofinde, the Island of the Cow, twenty-six miles from 
 Wesport, and twelve from the Barony of Mirisk, on the coast 
 of this county, and not far from the Co. Galway, was the first 
 abbey that St. Colman founded in Ireland, after his return from 
 England, in 665 according to some, or 667 as Colgan says, 
 where he first placed all the English and Irish monks who had 
 followed him; but afterwards left only the Irish monks there, 
 and brought the English to Mayo, where he also founded an ab- 
 bey, as before related. St. Colman having been a bishop m 
 England, was no sooner settled in Inisbofinde but that place be- 
 came a bishopric; so that St. Colman, who had before been 
 called bishop of Lindisfarne, was afterwards stiled bishop of 
 Inisbofinde; and the same saint going afterwards to Mayo, that 
 place was likewise a bishopric, which was united to that of 
 Innisbofinde. Thisabbey of Innisbofinde of St. Colman is not 
 the same as that Innisbofinde of St. Rioch in the lough or lake 
 of Ree, which we have placed in the county of Longford. 
 
 Bede gives the following account of this monastery. 
 
 Colman, Bishop of Lindisfarne, returning out of Scotland, 
 where he had been to advise with the Scottish prelates about the 
 controyersy then on foot concerning the observation of Easter, 
 made no longstay there; but departed out of Britain (about 664) 
 and took with him all the Scots whom he had assembled in the 
 Isle of Lindisfarn, and about twenty English, whom he had bred 
 
20 - -MONASTIGON “HIBERNIGUM. 
 
 up to amonastical life, leaving a few religious brethren in his 
 church: He went first to the Island Hy, or Iona, from whence 
 he had been sent to preach the gospel to the English nation. 
 Next he withdrew to-a little island on the west of Ireland, which 
 in the Scottish language is calledIn-hys-bovinde, or the Isle of the 
 White Calf. There he built a monastery, in which he placed the - 
 English and Scottish men who had followed him from Lindisfarne. 
 To putan end to some discord that occurred, Colman found 
 another place in Ireland, commodious for building anew monas- 
 tery, called Magio, or Mayo; there he purchased of a Count, 
 to whom.it belonged, a piece of land to found his monastery, 
 with this condition, that the monks in their daily devotion should 
 be obliged to pray. for this Count’s posterity. Having therefore 
 with his. assistance, and that his of neighbours, built a monas- 
 tery, he placed the English monks in it; which monastery, in 
 the time of Allemande, was possessed by English monks, and 
 from a slender beginning very much enlarged, being vulgarly 
 called Jnjugeo. Here resided a famous congregation of monks 
 gathered out of England, who were reformed in their institute, 
 and following the example of their venerable fathers, lived, under 
 a canonical rule and abbot, by the labour of their hands, with great 
 continence and simplicity. Abbot Fearadagh died here in 916. 
 
 
 
 TEMPLEGERARD, OR ELYTHERIA ABBEY. 
 
 At Templegerard was an abbey called Elytheria, or the Abbey 
 of the Stag, because the founder, Gerrard, abbot of Winchester 
 in England, who followed the Bishop St. Colman into Ireland, 
 had no sooner built this house in the seventh century, but a stag 
 or hind fled to it, as it were to a sanctuary, from the; hunters 
 who pursued it. Colgan says it was so called, because Elither 
 in [rish signifies a Stranger, as St. Gerard the founder was an 
 Englishman. 
 
 Ware makes no mention of this abbey, but Ussher and Colgaa 
 notice it. Ussher does not tell us in what part of Connaught it 
 Stood; but Allemande says it was at Temple-Gerard, the Abbey 
 of Gerard, who was the aforesaid abbot of Winchester. Colgan 
 thinks it was in the County of Galway, and that it is now called 
 Agmagh, corruptly from Elighmagh; which does not agree with 
 what he adds immediately after, that this abbey was in the same 
 place with the Monastery of Franciscans, called Ross-Irail, or 
 Ross Ringhla, for that monastery is near the abbey of Mayo, 
 and if we are to regard the nearness of those places, Templege- 
 rard is nearer tuan Agmagh. 
 
 a D 
 BALLIN-TOBBOR, OR TOWN OF WELL ABBEY. 
 
 Eight miles from Ballinrobe, was of Regular Canons, dedi- 
 cated to the Most Holy Trinity, otherwise called St. Patrick’s 
 
CANONS REGULAR. . 121 
 
 Well, founded in 1216, by Charles O’Connoy; surnamed the 
 Red, an Irish nobleman, says Ware ;, for the authors. of the)Mo- 
 nasticon Anglicanum, in their additions,. say, the founder’s name 
 was Cathal O’Conogher, or Cathalder O’Connor, called Crow- 
 derg Latiné de Pugno Rubro, King of Connaught, in 1216, and 
 that the first abbot of Ballin-Tobbor was one Brice Omac, and 
 that this abbot and the founder both died in.1224. 
 
 There remains in the wall, under the east window of the ab- 
 bey church, some figures in relief, it is supposed of the twelve 
 apostles ;, they have been mutilated by some yeomen. 
 
 There is a tradition amongst the peasantry, that the remains 
 of a celebrated priest-hunter, a wretch of the name of Mullow- 
 ney, who%had been a catholic, now commenly, called Shawn-na 
 Sogarth, (John of the Priest) and who had :been allowed a 
 bounty on the head of each priest, was interred here about ninety 
 years ago, in a cemetery notone hundred. yards distant from the 
 ruins of the abbey church. There is, or has been, until these 
 few years, a venerable ash tree, considered as miraculous, which 
 grew along the ground, and over the spot where he is said to have 
 been interred, in a horizontal position, and took root in a second 
 place. 
 
 The hero of this tradition was employed as priest-hunter, by one 
 or more members of the Bingham family ; perhaps by the cele- 
 brated Sir John Bingham, who had, about the same time, caused 
 a man to be flogged nearly to death, in the town of Castlebar, for 
 having refused to work on a holiday. Sir John Bingham was 
 found the next morning, after this transaction, raging mad in his 
 bed-room, and never recovered his reason. 
 
 The monastery was burned in 1263, but was restored, and 
 continued to flourish until the dissolution. Inquisition granted, 
 36 Elizabeth, in 1605, a lease of it in reversion for fifty years, 
 to Sir John King, knight. 
 
 SD 
 
 HOLY-CROSS PRIORY, 
 
 Near Ballin-Tobber, was founded by the abbots of Ballin- 
 ‘Tubber, who made it a cell to their abbey. By an inquisition of 
 27 Elizabeth, lands valued at 13s 4d, now worth £13 6s 8d. 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 ANNAGH ;CELL 
 
 In the Barony of Costello,-on the road from Castlebar to 
 Frenchpark, was founded by Walter De Burgh, or Burke, a 
 nobleman of English extraction, as a cell to the abbey of Cong. 
 The old monastery is still occupied by friars of this order. 
 
 CONG ABBEY, OR PRIORY. 
 
 At Cong, a post town, nineteen miles from Castlebar, and one 
 hundred and twenty-one from Dublin, between the loughs or 
 
 A 
 
193 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 or lakes of Meske atid Corbre, was an abbey of priory < of Regu- 
 
 lar Cations, foufded,’ says'Allemande, by St. Fechin in the se- 
 
 venth eentury. But Lanigan contends there is no foundation for 
 this, and quotes Ware, (Antiq. eap. 26, at Mayo,) who says it 
 was founded by Donald Mac- Add, King of Ireland, endowed 
 this house and built it in 624. Colgan tells us that Cong was a 
 place of much note, as being the residerice of all the kings of 
 Connaught, and that there were mhany churches in it, as still ap- 
 pears by the ruins remaining. Cong, which is in the diocess of 
 Tuam, was a very cotisiderable city; butisnow only a very poor 
 town ‘and parish, which Colgan affirms to be in the County of 
 Galway, but it is on the borders of the two counties, Zneas 
 Mac Donnell, the last abbot, surrendered it ‘at the getieral sup- 
 pression. ' Granted; 10th December, 1605, to Sir John King, 
 ancéstor to the Earl of Kingtown, County of Cork. The ruins 
 of several churches ate yet to be seen here. Mr, E. Mac Don- 
 nell, in'a’speech at this spot, has dwelt much tpon the glories 
 of this famous al pie 
 
 
 
 AT AGHAGOWER, 
 
 Five miles from Ballintobber, and four from Westport, @ mho- 
 nastery called Achadfobhair, said to have been built "aie St." Pa- 
 trick for St. Senach ; now a protestant a a 
 
 
 
 AT AGHAMORE. 
 
 A monastery built by St. Patrick for his disciplé St. toast 
 how a protestant church, 
 
 Sar 15 ET 
 
 Ar & ALLAGH, 
 
 In the Barony of Clonmorris;-an abbey, founded by § St. Mo- 
 chua, first abbot, who died in itin 637. 
 
 ~ AT BALLENTULLY, 
 
 A niohastery, ‘of what order ‘not stated.’ “At the suppression 
 worth eight quarters of land, valued at 13s 4d, now worth £13 
 16s 8d each, or £106 }3s 4a. 
 
 AT BALUY Hat iiley 
 
 in the Barony ‘of botclie + a friary, founded ty the Nangle 
 family. According to Inqiisition, 12th May, 1608,- possessed 
 twelve acres of land 
 
 
 
 AT BALLINA, 
 
 The residence of the Bishop of Killala, on the river Moy, parish 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 123 
 
 of Kilmore, seventeen miles from Castlebar, and one hundred 
 and twenty-five from Dublin, .was an abbey of ancient date, 
 founded by St. Oican, or Bolcan, disciple of St. Patrick. Sup- 
 pressed by the desolating sons of the deformation. 
 
 VAT. BALLINROBE, 1° 
 
 Fourteen miles from Castlebar, and one hundred and sixteen 
 from Dublin, a friary, founded before 1337, mentioned in the 
 Dominican Registry of Athenry, as of Roba. By an Inquisition 
 held, 27 Elizabeth, the possessions were worth 14s 10d, now 
 worth £14 16s 8d. ) 5 
 
 
 
 AT CROSSMOLINA, 
 
 Six miles from Ballina, and one hundred and thirty-one from 
 Dublin, an abbey of ancient\date, dedicated to the B.V. Mary. 
 In 1306 three men were indicted for assaulting and imprisoning 
 the abbot, and for taking away his goods and chattels to the 
 amount of ten marks. By ‘an inquisition of 27 Elizabeth this 
 house possessed: four quarters of land, each valuing 13s 4d, now 
 worth £13. 63. Bd each, or £53 2s 8d ini Jom, Ta 
 
 —— ee 
 
 AT. ‘DOMNACMOR, 
 An abbey founded by St: Patrick for St. Muckna. 
 
 ————— 
 
 _AT EREW,. 
 
 A. friary pctheal at its: ae maine is a ah gta siretdhifie 
 out in the Barony of Tirawly, in which St. Leogar was abbot. 
 By an inquisition of 27 Elizabeth, it eines ag one cepa of 
 jand, then worth 13s 4d, now £13 63 8d. 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 AT INCHMEAN, ° 
 
 An island, there whe fan ‘abbey, in which Maoliosa, son of 
 Thurlogh O’ Connor, was abbot in 1223. 
 
 
 
 AT INISTORNTIOR, 
 
 An abbey, built by Eugene.0’ Gorman and Thady Mac Ferlis, 
 on ground granted in 1454, by Thady O’Dewd, which Hahah was 
 confirmed by a bull of Pope Nicholas V. 
 
 — 
 
 AT KILLECROW, 
 
 
 
 A reliiona house-was seized at the Inquisition of 30 Blizabeth: 
 jands worth 6s-yearly, now worth £6. 
 
194 MONASTICON 'HIBERNICUM. 
 
 \ AT ‘KILFINNAN,, 
 
 An abbey founded by St. Finian, in the sixth century. 
 
 
 
 AT KIMORMOGLE, 
 
 In the Barony of Tirawley,ia monastery, founded by St. 
 Olcan, disciple of St. ‘Patrick. Now a protestant church, D. of 
 Killala. 
 
 
 
 AT KILNEGARVAN, 
 
 A church, or monastery, ped to have been founded by St. 
 Fechin. 
 
 a eee 
 
 AT. KILLEEN, OR KILLYN, 
 An abbey founded, and endowed of some land and fithes. 
 
 
 
 AT MORISK, — 
 
 A town on the Bay of Newport, was an sbeye founded by 
 the O’Malleys and Lords of the county. At the suppression it 
 possessed lands valued at 13s 6d, now worth £13 6s 8d. 
 
 EE ewerreee 
 
 COUNTY SLIGO. | 
 BALLYSADARE, OR ASSUDARE ABBEY, OR PRIORY. 
 
 At Assudare, (otherwise called Ballysadare, and by others 
 Endrige, a‘small'town on the sea coast, at the mouth of a river, 
 four miles from the town of Sligo;) was an abbey or priory of 
 Regular Canons, founded by St. Fechin in the seventh ceniury. 
 Colgan calls it the abbey of Eas-dare, built in a territory called 
 Luhgne, or Liners, in the County of Sligo, and the diocess of 
 of Achade-Connair, or Achonry, . It.is now only a parish of the 
 same diocess. An Irish nobleman of this county endowed it, 
 and gave St. Feéchin all the lands he -had between the river that 
 runs by Eas-dare and the sea, and that territory was called Ter- 
 mon-Fechin, which is as muchas to say St. Fechin’s place of 
 refuge. Queen Elizabeth’s inquisition found its lands, tenements, 
 and tithes, £2 yearly, or present value £20. 
 
 
 
 BILE-FECHIN ABBEY, 
 
 At Bile-Fechin, (now called only Bile, in the same territory 
 of Lughne, or Ballysadare, ) was another abbey of St. Fechin, 
 held in great veneration; for that saint was born at Bile, for 
 which. reason the name, of Bile-Fechin was. given, to the place. 
 It is now only a parishin the diocess of Achade, or Achonry, site 
 of the present protestant church. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 125 
 AT ACHONRY, OR ACHAD-CONAIR, 
 Was an abbey, founded by St. Finian about 530. 
 
 
 
 AT DRUIM- RATHA, 
 
 An abbey was founded by St. Fechin in the seventh century ; 
 site of the Present  Sepoeage nay vir nae 
 
 AT MOYHILL; "OR MOETHILL, 
 
 The priory of the B. V. Mary j is said to have been founded by 
 St. Manchare, in the seventh century. 
 
 
 
 KILNA-MANAGH ABBEY. \ 
 
 Kilna-managh, which signifies the Cell or House of Monks, 
 is in that part of the country, D: of Achonry, which is called 
 Galeanga, : of the Diocess of Killala, in Latin Eliensis. Colgar 
 questions whether it be not in the: Diocess of Achade; but, be 
 that as it'will, at this place of ‘Kilna-managh was another abbey 
 of St. Fechin. Some authors.will have it, that St. Natalis was 
 abbot of it, but others are of opinion he was of that Kilna-ma- 
 nagh which is in Ossory, Co. Kilkenny, Province of Leinster. 
 Granted to Richard, Earl of Clanricarde. Now the present 
 protestant church. 
 
 There is an Augustinian Convent at Banada, founded by Mr. 
 Jones, uncle to the present Daniel Jones, Esq. Banada ADDAY, 
 Co, eee, Parish Keilmatigee, 
 
 Se etheememeemenmeael 
 
 EGHROIS ABBEY, 
 
 Founded by St, Molais, otherwise called riabolle first abbot, 
 in the seventh century. See Dam-i inis in the County Fermanagh. 
 
 
 
 > AKERAS, OR KILMATTIN. PRIORY, 
 
 Was founded, says Allemande, in 1280, by the Mac Donita, 
 ancient Irish noblemen, and renowned in thé history of Treland. 
 Others say it was founded by St. Molaisse in-the seventh cen- 
 tury. By the inquisition found’ to’ possess lands to the value of 
 £16 8s 4d," now worth £308 6s 8d. 
 
 
 
 )ouibtf © AT) DRUIMALIAS. ry 
 
 Authors 4 say, was an abbey, founded by St. Patrick in the 
 fifth cente 4 
 
 AT ARDNARY, . 
 A sicnaaioies fos Anagietttita Hermits, built ia in 1427. 
 
126 MONASTICON HIBERNIOCUM. 
 AT BALLINLEY, 
 
 In the Batony of Tyreragh, sare the ruins.of an abbey of 
 which little is known. 3 
 
 AT DRUMCLIFFE, 
 
 A celebrated monastery, founded by St. Columba in 590. The 
 present protestant parish church is built on part of its foundation. 
 
 AT DRUM-COLLUMBKILLE, 
 
 A church of St. Catherine and St. Finbar. Now the present 
 protestant church, 
 
 AT KNOCKMORE, 
 
 _ A friary erected in the fourteenth century by O’Gara, proba- 
 bly the predecessor of the illustrious O’Gara, A. B., of Tuam, 
 who was, like the present uncompromising archbishop, charged 
 with being disaffected, ‘because. he would not surrender to error 
 
 
 
 COUNTY. ROSSCOMMON. 
 ROSSCOMMON ABBEY. 
 
 At Rosscommon, (the capital of the county, which sends ‘re- 
 presentatives to parliament, and was once an episcopal see, )} was 
 a stately abbey, founded in the sixthcentury by St. Coman, or 
 Coeman, who was the first abbot-thereof, says Ware. Ussher 
 adds, thata king of Connaught gave that saint a fine and plea- 
 sant vale, called Ress, to build this abbey in; which, from the 
 name of the valley and that of the saint, was called Rosscomon, 
 and the place increasing, it was made a bishopric, which in time 
 was translated to Elphin, another town in the same county. 
 Granted, 20 Elizabeth, with appurtenances, to Sir Nicholas 
 Malley; rent £30 5s 10d, now worth £505 18s 4d. Cobbett 
 ‘says it was granted to Tryal O’Farrel for twenty-one years, at 
 £11 9s 8d yearly, now worth £229 13 44. 
 
 
 
 EADARDRUIM. ABBEY. 
 
 Eadardruim, called in Latin; Edurdrumensis Abbatia, was an 
 abbey, as Colgan informs us, founded by St Diradius, or Deora- 
 dius, brother of Conac, who lived in 492; but is now only a 
 parish of the diocess of Elphin, in ‘the ‘County of Roscommon. 
 Now site of protestant church. This house isnot the same with 
 that of Enaghdruin, or Enaghiruin, which also belonged to the 
 Regular Canons in the ‘Co. Kilkenny, for this last was founded 
 by St. Coman ; ‘this, chowever, jis uncertain, robes 
 
CANONS REGULAR, . 127 
 DHORAN, OR DORHAN PRIORY 
 
 Of Regular Canons, was a cell to the abbey of Rosscommon, 
 founded by O’Connor, an Irish nobleman; or, according to some, 
 by the O’Connors, Kiggs of Connaught. 
 
 
 
 AT KILMORE, 
 
 On the river Shannon, a few miles from Jamestown, a priory 
 built by Con O’Flanagan, and consecrated by Donagh O’Con- 
 nor, Bishop of Elphin, in 1232. Granted in 1580, for twenty- 
 one years, to Tyrrell O’ Farrell; rent £3 10s Od, now worth £70. 
 Granted afterwards to Sir Patrick Barnwall. 
 
 
 
 AT KILLOMY, 
 
 A monastery founded before 760. 
 
 AT LYSDUFFE, 
 
 A priory in O’Connor’s County. Granted tothe Provost and 
 Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin. 
 
 
 
 AT ORAN, 
 
 Five miles from Rosscommon, a monastery, said to have been 
 built by St. Patrick; continues a remarkable place of pilgrimage. 
 Now a protestant church. 
 
 At this:place was also a priory, founded by Clarus, Archdea- 
 con of Elphin. 
 
 
 
 AT TIBOHIN 
 
 A church, and formerly an academy. Now a ‘protestant 
 church. 
 
 ! 
 AT ARDCANA, 
 
 In the Barony of Boyle, an abbey, \of which we have little 
 record. Granted, 39 Elizabeth, to the Provost and Fellows of 
 Trinity College, Dublin, with eighty acres of land in Cloncal- 
 lagh, and six acres of land in Kilgofin. 
 
 
 
 AT ATHDALARAGH, 
 
 An abbey, of which Comgallan owas bishop in the time of St. 
 Patrick, This abbey existed im 1201, 
 
128 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 AT BASLICK, 
 
 Near Tulsk, and three miles south of Castlereagh, was an mest 
 bey. Now the segs or church. 
 
 pe ae + 
 
 AT CLONSHANVILLE, 
 An abbey, founded by St. Patrick. Granted to Lord Dillon. 
 
 
 
 AT CLUAINEMUIM. 
 
 An abbey existed in the eleventh century. 
 
 
 
 AT ELPHIN, 
 
 The seat of a bishopric, eight and a half miles from Boyle, and 
 eighty from Dublin, a church, founded by St. Patrick for St. 
 Assicus. Burned in 1177, and destroyed by the English in 1187. 
 After it was rebuilt, the. house and possessions were granted te 
 Terence O’Bierne after the deformation. 
 
 
 
 KIL-MAC-MOGUIN ABBEY, 
 
 Was, as Colgan informs us, founded in the seventh century, 
 by St. Cormac, in the diocess of Elphin. 
 
 
 
 INCH-MAC-NERIN, OR INCHVIGRINNI ABBEY. 
 
 In the Isle of Mac-nerin, in  Loughrea, (Inis siigpithfinys an 
 Island, in the Lough of Alyne, through which the River Shannon 
 runs, not far from its source, and some few miles from the Ab- 
 bey of Boyle,) was an abbey, founded by St. Columba in the 
 sixth century. Colgan calls it Easmaceneire, and will have it to 
 have been the institute afterwards. translated to Boyle, which 
 belonged to the Cistercian Order. Granted, with extensive lands 
 and tithes, 28 Elizabeth, to William Taaffe, who assigned them 
 to Thomas Spring. . 
 
 
 
 INCHMORE ABBEY, 
 
 In Inchmore, or lnismore, the great island in Lough Ree, was 
 an abbey, or priory, founded by St. Liberius, soon ,after the 
 conversion of Ireland to christianity. Granted, 9 Elizabeth, 
 to Lord Delvin, for twenty-one years, at £6 14s 8d rent, now 
 worth £134 13s 4d. 
 
 CLUONTUSKIRT-NATIN. ABBEY. 
 
 At Cluontuskirt, seven miles from Rosscommon, was an abbey, 
 founded by St. Fathlee, says Ware; but this town of Cluontu- 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 129 
 
 kirt being on the borders of the Counties of Rosseommon and 
 Galway, it isnot unlikely that it may be the same called Cluon- 
 iuoskirt, placed in the County Galway. However, the founders 
 being two different saints, and geographers assuring us that there 
 are two Cluontuskirts, and that this here spoken of is on the 
 Shannon, some few miles from the town of Rosscommon; Alle- 
 mande considers they were two separate abbeys. 
 
 
 
 BALL ABBEY. 
 
 At Ball was a famous abbey, where St. Cronan, surnamed 
 Mochua, was abbot in the seventh century, according to Colgan. 
 The abbots of it were in Latin called Ballenses. 
 
 
 
 CLUAIN-CAIRPTHE, OR CLOONERAFFE, 
 
 Was an ancient house of Regular Canons, founded in the 
 neighbourhood of the town of Athlone, by St. Beragh, about 600. 
 It existed in the twelfth century. Now a-Protestant. church. 
 
 wns hee 
 
 AT MONASTEREVEN, 
 
 Same county, was an abbey, according to the Inquisition of 
 28th Elizabeth. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF LEITRIM. 
 MOHILL. PRIORY, 
 
 At Mohill, or Moetal, a small town in this county, eight miles 
 from Carrick-on-Shannon, and seventy-four from Dublin, was 
 an abbey, under the Invocation of the B. V. Mary, founded in 
 the seventh century, or in 608, by St. Manchin, according to 
 Ware ; or Manchen, according to Ussher. He was the patron 
 of seven churches, Many glebes, fees, lands, and tithes, were 
 given to this house ; they were granted 1o Henry Crofton, Esq., 
 and were valued, at the dissolution, at £2 6s 8d, now worth 
 £46 13s 4d. 
 
 
 
 MENEDROCAID ABBEY, 
 
 Was founded by the last named saint, who was abbot, and 
 died there, as the Annals of Ulster inform us. 
 
 
 
 ATHENRY ABBEY. 
 
 Achade-Connair, or Athenry, was not only a bishopric, but 
 also an abbey, if we credit Colgan, who assures us, that St. Na- 
 thias, disciple to St. Finian, was abbot there. He places this 
 bishopric in the County of Sligo; but so many others give it to 
 
139 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 the County of Leitrim, that it is hard to decide the matter, for 
 itis on the borders of the two counties, and the diocess extends 
 to Sligo and. Leitrim. Allemande' elsewhere places it'‘in the 
 County of Galway, its more proper plaee (See Dominicans in 
 Galway.) . | 3 
 
 
 
 AT ANAGHDUFFE, 
 
 Near Loughboffin, an abbey, founded in 766; now a Protes- 
 tant place ot worship, in the diocess of Ardagh. 
 
 
 
 AT. BALLEGUARCY, 
 
 A beautiful monastery, founded, in 1518, by dinates 0’ Bekee 
 Some writers attach this place,to ‘the County of Longford. 
 
 AT CLONE, 
 
 An abbey, formerly of great xepute, founded, about 570, by 
 St. Fraech. Nowa Protestant.place of worship i in the diocess 
 of Ardagh. 
 
 AT DROMLEAS, 
 
 On Loughgille, a monastery, built by St. Patrick for St. Be- 
 nignus; now a Protestant place of worship. 
 
 ‘AT DROMAHAITIRE, 
 See Creevlea. 
 AT FENAUGH, 
 
 In the Barony of Leitrim, a monastery, in which St. ‘Callan 
 was abbot in the time of St. Columba... This place was formerly 
 celebrated for the School of Divinity, and was the general resort 
 of students from all parts of Europe; half a mile from the edi- 
 fice is a well, dedicated to St. Callan. Nowa Protestant place 
 of worship in the diocess of Ardagh. 
 
 AT KILDAREIS, 
 
 Or Cell of the Two,Palms of the Hands; called also, Careuir- 
 shineill, or the Reclusory of St. Sinell, is situated in Lough 
 Melvin. St. Sinell, who was bell-founder to St. Patrick, died 
 in the year 548, 
 
 AT KILNAILE. ry. ork 
 
 St. Natalis, or Naal, was abbot of the abbey here, (a died in 
 563 ; the festival is on ‘the 27th of J anuary. 
 
CANONS; REGULAR, 131 
 ‘ AT LEITRIM, ' 
 On the Shannon, an abbey, in which St. M‘Leigus was abbot. 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 PROVINCE OF ULSTER, COUNTY DOWN: 
 DOWN PRIORY, ~ 
 
 At Down, (the capital of the county, an episcopal see, which 
 sends representatives to parliament,) was the priory St. John 
 Baptist, founded, according to some, by St. Patrick in 432, and 
 only repaired by Mallachy O’Morgair m the twelfth century ; 
 but, according to Allemande and others, founded in 1138, by 
 the famous St. Mallachy, who was at the same time abbot and 
 bishop of this place, and afterwards archbishop of Armagh 
 This house was called the Priory of the Irish, to distinguish it, 
 says Ware, from another priory of St. John Baptist, which be- 
 longed to the Crouched Friars in the same town, and was called 
 the Priory of the Knglish. 
 
 TOBBER-GLORY PRIORY, 
 
 In the “suburbs. of Down, was so called because it was. built 
 near,the, Spring of Glory, by John Courcy, the English com: 
 mander. The Charter of King Edward IL is at length in the 
 Monasticon Anglicanum,.yol. i. ps 1046, confirming its founda- 
 tion, and the donations to it by John de Courcy, wherein it is 
 shown that this house depended on the Abbey of Carlisle in Eng- 
 land. Ware'takes no notice of it, unless it be the same he gives to 
 the Crouched Friars; but Dugdale and Dodsworth say it be- 
 longed to the Regular Canons of St. Augustin. .The Crouched. 
 Friars obserye the rule of St. Augustin; but the foundation 
 charter would.have specified that particular congregation, which, 
 as, it did not, Allemande concludes it belonged to the Regular 
 Canons of St. Augustin, . 
 
 er eee 
 
 BANGOK, OR BANCHOR ABBEY, 
 
 _ «At Bangor; or/Banchor, otherwise called the Vale of Angels, 
 was one of the most renowned abbeys in Iveland,. being to the 
 eastward of the Abbey of, Carrickfergus It was the head of an 
 order, andfounded in 555, according to Ware; but. Ussher places 
 it in 559. Colgan, to avoid mistakes, says it was about the mid- 
 dle of the sixth century, by the famous St. Congal, who was the 
 firstpabbot, and before he died saw.four thousand monks of his 
 order; for which reason he is called the Father of Four Thousand 
 Monks. St. Bernard, in the Life of St. Malachy, speaking of 
 the Abbey of Banchor, says: ‘‘ Most noble was the monastery 
 under the first Father Congal, producing many. thousands of 
 monks, the head of many monasteries, a place truly holy, and 
 
132 MONASTICON HIBERNIOUM. 
 
 fruitful in saints, most plentifully producing fruit to God; inso- 
 much, that one of.the sons of that holy congregation, named 
 Luan, or Euan, is reported himself to have been the founder of 
 an hundred monasteries, which Ihave therefore mentioned that 
 the reader may guess how great the multitude of the others was.”’ 
 And in another place, speaking of this abbey, he adds: ‘ Its — 
 branches not only filled Ireland and Scotland; but like an inun- 
 dation poured out those swarms of saints into foreign countries, 
 among which St. Columbanus coming to these our parts of France, 
 built the monastery of Luxeuil, (in Franche Comte) where he 
 grew to agreat nation.’’ Dempster, as well as St. Bernard, 
 affirms, that St. Columba, the Monk of Banchor, founded the 
 abbey of Luxeuil; but Archbishop Ussher will have it, that it 
 was not this St. Columba, but another of the same name, who 
 was head and founder of a particular order, which has always 
 been considered as a branch of that of St. Benedict. And this 
 Seems more probable than either the opinion of St. Bernard or 
 Dempster, for ifthe founder of Luxeuil had come from Bangor, 
 he had been a Regular Canon of St. Augustin, and would have 
 settled Canons there rather than Benedictines, and yet Luxeuil 
 ever was, and still is of the Order of St. Benedict. Butif St. 
 Bernard did not think, as is likely he did not, that there were 
 several St. Columbas; Dempster being a Scot ought ‘to have 
 known it, and especially because he took upon him to sully the 
 honour of Treland by-his history, to advance that of Scotland. 
 
 But to return to the abbey of Bangor: the Annals of Ulster 
 inform us, that it was destroyed by the Danish pirates, who in 
 one day slew there above nine hundred monks; but that St. Ma- 
 lachy restored it some time after, as we are thus told by St. Ber- 
 nard: ‘* Malachy was of opinion that such a stone oratory ought 
 to be built at Bangor as he had seen in other countries; and when 
 he began ‘to'lay the foundation, the natives admiring: at it, be- 
 cause such structitres had not till then been seen in that country, 
 said, O good man, why have you thought fit to bring this new 
 fashion into our country, we are Scots, not Frenchmen, what 
 likeness is this? What need-is there of such superfluous work, 
 and so magnificent? How) will poverty afford: the expence of 
 finishing, and who will live to see it finished ?”? Thus the abbey 
 of Bangor was the first stone structure that'had been seen, if not 
 in Ireland, at least in the province of Ulster, where till then they 
 only built with timber. In short, the choir St. Malachy built at 
 Banchor -was so beautiful, that the abbey was from it called 
 Bangor, that is, the Beautiful Choir, for before it was called: the 
 Vale of Angels. 
 
 It has been already observed, that St. -Congal, . ‘bétbre his 
 death, saw about three thousand monks of his order’; ‘put it is 
 proper to take notice, that Colgan says all these monks -were in 
 the very Abbey of Bangor, nay, he gives four thousand to it at 
 one and the same'time. Bangor, says he, is a flourishing town, 
 which has gained an immortal name-by a monastery of: the same 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 133 
 
 appellation, which is most.renowned throughout all the world, 
 wherein were four thousand monks under St. Congal the founder 
 of the place. However, in another place, he says, that Bangor, 
 which was formerly a good town, is now of no consideration ; 
 but it still sends representatives to parliament. ‘To conclude, 
 Camerarius was of opinion that Bangor was in the Isle of Hu, 
 otherwise called Iona, being one of the Hebrides, which Colgam 
 with good reason makes a jest of. 
 
 Concerning this monastery of Bangor, Hanmer, in his Chro- 
 nicle of Ireland, pp. 53, 101: writes: Congellus, the same who 
 founded the monastery at Bangor, in North Wales, in 530, 
 founded also this monastery of (Banchor), or Bangor in Ulster, 
 some years afterwards, where many learned men of Ivish birth 
 were trained ; nay Britons, Saxons, and Scots also, who 
 dispersed themselves far and near into foreign countries, and 
 converted and confirmed thousands in the true faith. Which 
 
 “abbey of Bangor was afterwards destroyed by pirates, and nine 
 hundred monks slain in one day, and so continued waste until 
 the time of St. Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, 
 
 St. Malachy succeeded Celsus in the archbishopric of Armagh, 
 in the reign of King Stephen of England; his life is written at 
 large by St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, Capgrave and Colgan, 
 an Irish abbot. He was born in Ireland, says St. Bernard: 
 his parents, for wealth and power, were in great account in those 
 days. He was brought up at Armagh under Imarius, the an- 
 chorite, where Celsus made him deacon and priest, at the age 
 of twenty-five; from thence, with licence of Imarius and Celsus, 
 he went to Malchus, bishop of Lismore in Munster, a man of 
 Irish birth, who had been a monk sometime in the abbey of 
 Winchester in England, and from thence advanced tothe bishop- 
 rie of Lismore. There was at that time a war between Cormac, 
 King of Munster, and his brother, for the sovereignty. The 
 brother prevailing, Cormac fled to the Bishop of Lismore, and 
 in his distress took a monk’s cell, and led a private life. Mala- 
 chy was appointed his tutor, where Cormac continued, till a 
 neighbouring king pitying his misery, gathered forces, and re- 
 stored him to his kingdom. Immediately after, letters came for 
 Malachy to repair to Armagh, not far from whence an uncle of 
 his, a man of great command, lord of a country, rich and potent, 
 who held in his hand all the wasted monastery of Bangor, 
 dwelled. Malachy, upon his coming, restored these possessions, 
 re-edified the monastery, and appointed one Malchus, brother 
 to Christianus, abbot of Mellefont, governor of the place. 
 
 Campion, in his History of Ireland, p. 45, says, that Bangor 
 had been stored with monks, that no hour of the day or night 
 they ceased, but some company or other was in continual suc- 
 cession at divine service. Hence it was said of Bangor, Laus 
 Perennis, or uninterrupted prayers in choir. 
 
 This house continued until the reformation a celebrated school 
 for great men, and an asylum for kings and princes from the 
 
 M 
 
134 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 busy stage of the world. By an inquisition, held 5 James L, 
 the revenues were worth £3, now worth £60. 
 
 MOVILLE, OR MAIGBILLE ABBEY. 
 
 At Moville, or Maigevil, was an abbey founded in 550, by Sf. 
 Finian, according to Ware; but Colgan says St. Fridian, Fri- 
 gan, or Frigidian, who founded this house, which he calls Maig- 
 bille, in the territory of Dalfiatag, and that saint was head and 
 institutor of one of the most ancient congregations of Regular 
 Canons of St. Augustin, which is called St. Frigidian’s congre- 
 gation, the chief honse whereof is that of St. Frigidian at Lucca 
 in Italy, where that saint was bishop. It was he also who re- 
 formed the congregation of the Regular Canons of St. John of La- 
 teran at Rome. This St. Frigidiat’ was also called Finbarry, 
 and Finnian, as Colgan observes, and therefore Ware was not in 
 the wrong in calling him by that last name. This abbey produced 
 many eminent saints and learned men until its suppression in 
 1542. This saint founded another abbey of Magbille in Londer~ 
 ry, of which we shall speak hereafter. 
 
 
 
 AT MACHAIRE-LYNN, 
 
 Some say St. Colman founded an abbey in the seventh century. 
 It is likely that which Lanigan (iii. 147) says was apparently in 
 the diocess of Dromore, ata place calied Linn-Huachaitte. He 
 died 31th March, 699 or 700. On the site of the Protestant church. 
 
 
 
 AT SAUL, SABHALL-PHADRUIG ABBEY. 
 
 At Saul, or Sabhall-Phadruig, or Granary of St. Patrick, was 
 the famous abbey, built by St. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland, 
 in the peninsula of Lecale,; in 432. That saint coming “from 
 Leinster to Down in Ulster, or to a place very near it, called 
 Sabhal, that is, the Granary, built the abbey chureh, These 
 are the words of the author of the Tripartite Life of this saint. 
 Dichu was the first believed him from his heart before any other, 
 and being baptised offered to God and St. Patrick the field in 
 which they then stood, for the village was his, where the saint 
 of God took hold of and entreated the hely bishop, that the length 
 of his church might not lie east and west; but north and south, 
 because the south is the Lord’s as well as the east. For Sabhal 
 ‘was in the place which the hero Dichu gave to St. Patrick, and 
 he would have the house of God built as his Sabhal was, towards 
 the sun, and this he obtained of the man of God. Then the holy 
 prelate founded the aforesaid church in that place, and it stands 
 across from north to south, answerable to the position of the 
 aforesaid Sabhal, which place, from the name of the church, 
 is to this day in the Scottish tongue called Sabhal Phadruig, that 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 135 
 
 is, Patrick’s Granary. Ussher tells us, that St. Patrick return- 
 ing from Rome, where he had been to give the Pope an account 
 of his mission, resided almost continually in this abbey of Sabhal, 
 where he had in his own stead appointed Dunnius abbot, from 
 whom the town of Down afterwards took its name. He says 
 that St. Patrick died in this-house, which does not agree with 
 other authors, who says he died elsewhere. Besides Ussher 
 adds, that this abbey was only two miles from Down; but yet in 
 the County of Armagh, If that were so, the County of Down 
 would be much narrower than it has: been hitherto reckoned. 
 This abbey was granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare, at the dis- 
 solution. 
 
 
 
 DROMORE ABBEY. 
 
 Dromore, now an episcopal see, derives its origin from an 
 abbey, where St. Cormac was abbot in the sixth century, as Col- 
 gan observes. Cobbett foolishly says a Franciscan Priory was 
 built here by St. Colman, a disciple of St. Nissey, Bishop of 
 Conner, in 513. 
 
 NENDRUM ABBEY 
 
 Was founded by St. Cailen, or Coelan, its first abbot, in the 
 fifth century, according to Allemande and Harris; but Lanigan 
 shows (vol. i. p. 423) that the saint was abbot of Antrim, and 
 not of that place, which was one of the largest of the Copeland. 
 Islands off the coast of Down, and that there was no monastery 
 there till founded by Monks of St. Mary of York, and of St. 
 Begland of Copeland, in Cumberland, in the twelfth century. 
 
 CAMBOS ABBEY. 
 
 Cambos, now Camus, according to Colgan, was an ancient 
 abbey, founded by the great St. Comgall, or St. Congal, in the 
 Barony of Coleraine, on the bank of the river Ban, which flows 
 from the Lough of Enagh. Lanigan says it was subordinate to 
 that of Bangor, (ii. p. 67 ie and that it was governed by St. Col- 
 man, (ili. p. 146.) 
 
 
 
 AT ACHADHCAOIL, 
 
 Near the Bay of Dundrum, an abbey, in which St. Killen was’ 
 abbot in the sixth, and St. Senan in the seventh century. 
 
 AT BRETAIN, 
 
 Near the town of Down, an abbey, in which St. Loarne wag 
 abbot in 540; is now a nobleman’s seat. 
 
136 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 AT CASTLE, BYY, 
 
 Near the Lough of Stranford, a commandery, built in 1200, 
 by Hugh de Lacy; now in ruins. The Echlin family possess 
 the property. 
 
 AT CUMBER, 
 
 On the Lough of Strangford, an abbey, founded, about 1201, 
 by the O’Neils of Clanderboy. By an inquisition held, 1 James 
 1., John O’Mulligan was abbot; the revenues made then £23 
 19s 4d, now worth £479 6s 8d. 
 
 eee 
 
 AT DOWNPATRICK, 
 
 A town on the Lough of Strangford, an abbey, founded by St. 
 Patrick, in which he was interred in 493. 
 _ Also a Priory of Regular Canons, founded in 1138, by Malachy 
 O’Morgair: granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare. 
 
 eo ee 
 
 AT DRUMBOE, 
 
 An abbey, founded by St., Patrick, in which St. Mochumma 
 was abbot in the seventh century ; now the Protestant place of 
 worship, 
 
 
 
 AT EYNES, 
 
 _ A priory, founded in 1411, by Thomas Chelene; it became 
 the dwelling of Charles Ecklin, Esq. 
 
 
 
 AT GLANGRAGH. OR VALE OF CHARITY, 
 An abbey, founded in 1200, by whom is not said. 
 
 pee 
 
 GRAY ABBEY, 
 
 On the Lough of Strangford, founded in 1192, by Africa, 
 daughter of Godfrey, King of Man, and wife of Sir John de 
 Courcey. By an inquisition held in the first year of James L., 
 the revenues made £2, now worth £40; granted to Gerald, Earl 
 of Kildare; now the Protestant place of worship. 
 
 AT KILCLIFF. 
 
 On the Lough of Strangford, an abbey, in which St. Eugene 
 and St. Neill were abbots; now the Protestant place of worship. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 137 
 
 AT KILMBAIN, 
 
 An abbey built by St. Fergus, Bishop of Down, about 583. 
 St. Neman lived here too. 
 
 
 
 AT NEWTOWN, 
 
 A monastery, founded in 1244, by Walter de Burgo, Earl of 
 Ulster; surrendered 32 Henry VIII.; revenues worth £13 3s, 
 now worth £263. 
 
 AT SLIEVE DONARD, 
 
 A high mountain, a monastery, founded by St. Domongart, a | 
 disciple of St, Patrick. 
 
 KILROHAN, OR TOBAR RONAIN ABBEY. 
 
 This famous monastery lay in the place under its name, near 
 Keadue, in the barony of Boyle, County Roscommon, (under 
 which county this notice should have been inserted) Province of 
 Connaught, about nine miles from Carrick-on-Shannon. The 
 ancient church isin ruins; the burial place isstillmuch used. In 
 itare interred the remains of Carolan, the last, and one of the 
 most celebrated of the Irish Bards, who died at Alderford, the 
 seat of the M‘Dermott Roes, in 1738, Near this is the celebra- 
 ted Well of Cromlech. The following particulars of this remark- ~ 
 able spot are given from a very curious {rish MS., which belonged 
 to the late Edward O’Rielly, Esq. : 
 
 KILRONAN, 
 
 “The origin of this church is much veiled in obscurity. The 
 period of its foundation, its founder, or the person from whom it 
 is called, are equally uncertain. There were different saints of 
 the name of Ronan in Ireland, in the early ages of the church. 
 The first abbot of Drumshallon was a St. Ronan, who was the 
 intimate friend of St. Fechin of Fore, Co. Westmeath, and died 
 in the great plague, 18th November, 665, (Col. Act. Sanct. p. 
 151.) Atan earlier period there was a St. Ronan, the brother 
 of St. Cairnech, and grandson of Liam, the first chief of the 
 Scottish or Irish settlers in North Britain, St. Cairnech, St. 
 Ronan’s brother, died about the year 530; but the time of St. 
 Ronan’s death is unknown. Another St. Ronan, an Irishman, 
 is mentioned by Venerable Bede, (Lib. 3, c. 25,) as a person, 
 who powerfully opposed St. Fiman of Lindisfarne, in the paschal 
 controversy, which so much agitated the church in these islands 
 in the middle of the seventh century. Colgan says (Act. ss p. 
 45) that this Ronan had preached in France, and was revered in 
 Britany. There. was another Ronan called of Lismore, who is 
 said to have died in 763, and is stated, by Ware aa gc to 
 
 2 
 
138 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 have been bishop of Lismore. He is the last that appears on the 
 list of the bishops of that see, from its foundation, about the 
 year 636, to the period of Ronan’s death, for, from that time to 
 the time of Cormac M‘Cullinan, bishop of Lismore, who died in 
 the beginning of the tenth century,.the catalogue of the bishops 
 of that see is lost, although there cannot be a doubt that the 
 succession was kept up. That Kilmore, at its first establish- 
 ment, was a monastery there can be little doubt, and it might 
 appear probable, that St. Ronan, the son of Berach, the first 
 abbot of Drumshallon, and the first of St. Fechin, was its 
 founder. Fechin was a native of Connaught, and though he 
 made Fore, in Westmeath, his chief religious establishment, he 
 made others in his province, and his friend Ronan, following his 
 example, might have founded the church still bearing his name ; 
 there is however an objection to this supposition, for I find in a 
 very ancient catalogue of Irish saints, the pedigree of several 
 saints named Ronan. The first of these is Ronan of Kilronan, 
 of the race of Owen, son of Neale, of the nine hostages, whose 
 festival is kept on 15th July. The next is Ronan, the son of 
 Berach, of the line of Laoghaire, son of Niall, this was the friend 
 of St. Fechin, and his festival is marked on 11th January. Next 
 is Ronan of the tribe of Fiacha, son of Niall; this saint was 
 otherwise called Lasuir, whose festival is kept on 29th May. 
 Another saint of this name was Ronan Fionn (the fair) of Lam 
 Ronain Finn in Ibheagh, was of the progeny of Ccllada Chrioch, 
 and his feast is celebrated on 22d May. ‘The next, and last, I 
 find in the list is Ronan the Bishop, i. e. Bishop of Rath Ronain, 
 of Hy Kelly of Cualan, a district comprehended in the present 
 County Wicklow; he was descended from the royal family of 
 Leinster, and his anniversary is observed on 2lst May. The 
 patron day of Kilronan is not however observed on any of the 
 dates, but is kept on the 8th of September, by. which it would 
 appear that the church was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 “At a small distanice westward of the church, clcse by the 
 edge of the lake, among some venerable trees, is Tobar Ronain, 
 or Well of St. Ronan, which in all ages has been visited with 
 great devotion by religious persons from various parts ; at present 
 it is not so much frequented as formerly; but even now, a day sel- 
 dom passes in which some individuals may not be seen there at 
 their devotions. Near the well, and only separated from it by a 
 roid, is Leac Ronain, (or Ronan’s flag,) a small stone, or table, 
 or altar, supported by four upright flags. Pitched on end under 
 this incumbent flag, and between the supporting flags, persons 
 afflicted by pains in the back creep, saying at the same time cer- 
 tain prayers, in the hope of obtaining relief from Almighty God 
 through the intercession of St. Ronan. 
 
 “On the top of the flag, or altar, are placed a number (cer- 
 tainly not less than fifty) of round stones of various sizes, each 
 of which the afflicted person who expects relief must turn and 
 devoutly kiss, reciting some prayers, after which the duty ter- 
 minates, ’ 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 139 
 
 “Tt is probable that this small flag was originally established as 
 an altar, on which mass was celebrated for the pilgrims and 
 ether persons, who for religious purposes were in the habit of 
 visiting the Well of St. Ronan.” . 
 
 COUNTY OF ANTRIM. 
 ANTRIM ABBEY. 
 
 Was founded by, or belonged to, St. Coelan, who is placed 
 as bishop of Down by Ussher in the sixth century, of which La- 
 nigan has his doubts (vol. i. p. 422.) He may have lived till 540 
 (ibid. 423.) 
 
 KELLS, OR DISERT PRIORY. 
 
 At Kells, which some also call Disert Kellach, was the priory 
 of the B. V. Mary, built, says Allemande, before the coming of 
 the English into Ireland, by one O’Brian Carrog, an Irish noble- 
 man; but according to others by Kellach, an anchorite, about 
 $28; Cobbett has it 1200, and that it was surrendered in 1342 
 to the commissioners of Henry VIII. 
 
 a eee 
 
 KILBOEDAIN, OR KILL-OJCOBA ABBEY. 
 
 At Kilboedain was an abbey, founded by St. Boedan, who 
 lived in the sixth century. Such as wish to know more of it, 
 may read that saint’s life in Colgan’s Lives of Irish Saints ; for 
 Ware says nothing of this house. 
 
 ACHAD-DUGTHAIGH MONASTERY, 
 
 Was an-ancient house of Regular Canons, founded by St. 
 Guarius, or Goar, in the seventh century, near the river Bann. 
 
 
 
 AT BALLYCASTLE, 
 
 An abbey, when founded is not known, but it seems, from an 
 inscription on a chapel that had been built in the year 1612, by. 
 Randal Mac Donnell, Earl of Antrim, that the abbey stood 
 until the reformation. 
 
 AT BONAMARGY, 
 
 A monastery, founded during the fifteenth century by Mac 
 Donnell; granted to his apostate descendants. 
 
 OLUAIN. 
 
 An abbey, built in the early ages by St. Olear; now the Pro-. 
 testant place of worship. 
 
? 
 149 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM, 
 
 AT. KILITRAGH, 
 
 A church built by St. Patrick; now the Protectan piace of 
 worship. 
 
 
 
 AT LHANNAVACH, 
 
 The Church of the Dwarf, founded by St. Patrick; now the 
 Protestant place of worship. 
 
 
 
 AT RATHMOANE, 
 
 A church, founded by St. Patrick, for his disciple St. Ere- 
 clasius ; now the Protestant place of worship. 
 
 
 
 AT TULACH, 
 
 A church, built by St. Patrick, for St. Nehemias, in the dio- 
 cess of Connor; now the Protestant place of worship. 
 
 
 
 MUCKAMORE ABBEY, 
 
 At Muckamore was an abbey, founded in 550, by St. Colman- 
 Ells, says Ware, whereas Ussher says it was at Logha, on the 
 river of the same name; but Allemande thinks them the same, 
 for Muckamore is a small town on the Logha, between Dromore 
 and Belfast. Ussher says, that this abbey was founded in 550, 
 and not in 580, which is the date of the foundation of the abbey 
 of Linal; and it is likely he is in the right; for St. Colman-Ells, 
 being bishop of Dromore, would.sooner build the abbey of 
 Muckamore, or Logha, which is near that of Linal, in the 
 King’s County, where he did not go, till he quitted the bishopric 
 of Dromore, and his abbey of Muckamore. Granted, in 1639, 
 to the Longford family. 
 
 
 
 KIL-LAMRAIDE ABBEY. 
 
 At Teg-dagoba, otherwise called Kil-lamraide, on the bank of 
 the river Ban, was founded by St. Gobban. Itcontaineda thou- 
 sand monks, as Colgan informs us. 
 
 RACHLIN, OR RAGLIN ABBEY. 
 
 In Raghin, Rachlin, an island on the northern coast of the 
 county, St. Lugadius, according to Allemande, Lugare, or 
 Laithir, according to Harris; but Lanigan, (ii. p. 135) shows 
 both have been mistaken, as the church, and we suppose monas- 
 tery, of Rachlin, were founded by Segenurs, abbot of Hy, in 
 635. Allemande says the abbey was more ancient than the parish 
 church of the same island, for that was not built till about fifty 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 141 
 
 years after, by Sigcnius, who had been abbot of the isle of Hu. 
 It is stated that this house stood in 1558, when the Earl of 
 Essex, Lord Deputy, got possession of the island. 
 
 
 
 LANN ABBEY, 
 
 Was very ancient, and distinct from another of the same name 
 in the County of Meath, if we believe Colgan, who does not tell 
 who was the founder of this Lann, in the County of Antrim. 
 
 
 
 AT DERKAN, CALLED RATAMUIGHE, OR AIRTHIR-MUIGHE, 
 
 ~ In that part of Antrim called Dalriede, not far from Dunluce, 
 whither St. Patrick journied about 443, (see Lanigan, i. p. 341,) 
 where he, it is said, founded a monastery. 
 
 COUNTY LONDONDERRY. 
 LONDONDERRY ABBEY. 
 
 
 
 At Londonderry,. the capital of the county, an Episcopal See, 
 was an abbey founded in 445, by St. Columb, says Ware; but 
 Ussher asserts it to have been an hundred years later, that is, in 
 546, and Lanigan, (ii. p. 118) following that date, considers 
 him in the right, for St. Columb, or Collumba, or Collumkille, 
 was not livmg m the fifth century, or at least was not in a condi- 
 tion then to build an abbey. Besides, as. Ware says, the saint 
 built the abbey of Dermagh, or Durrog, in the King’s County, in 
 530,; how could he have built that of Londonderry an hundred 
 years before. It is also certain, that this Saint was born.in the 
 beginning of the Sixth century, but built the abbeys of Dermagh 
 and Londonderry about the middle. of the same, and died in the 
 Abbey of Iona, or Hu, among the Islands Hebrides, in 597, (see 
 Lan. II., p. 245,) so that we must credit Ussher’s date, for Ware 
 could not pretend that the Abbey of Derry was built by another 
 St. Columb; becanse all authors agree that the great St. Columb, 
 surnamed Columbkill, or builder of churches, was the founder ; 
 for which reason also Londonderry was formerly called Derry 
 Columbkill. The monastery (says Lanigan, ibid,) was erected 
 ona pleasant eminence, covered with Oaks, called Doire-Calgaich, 
 near Loughfole, to the west, and whence is derived the name of 
 the town or city of Derry, now Londonderry. Nor could Ware 
 have amy reason to say that St. Columban might be the founder 
 of this house, because he lived in the seventh century. Colgan 
 is so positive that this abbey was built by the great St. Columb, 
 that he says the abbots of Derry, who were also hishops, were 
 general abbots of the whole congregation or order of St. Columb 
 throughout Ireland. He also examines of what order this abbey 
 was. Ware, in his Book De Scriptoribus Hibernia, and in his 
 Monastereologia, says it was of Regular Canons of St. Augustine, 
 and most concur in his opinion; but the Benedictines affirm it 
 
142 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM, 
 
 was of their order, because St. Columb’s rule agreed with theirs; 
 but this opinion is more difficult to be maintained than Ware’s; 
 for Ussher rightly asserts that St. Columb was of the order of the 
 Regular Canons, and not of that of St. Benedict, Be that as it 
 may, Derry signifies an Oak, and that place was first called Doire, 
 signifying a wood of oaks, for the Irish woods chiefly consist of 
 oaks, and most abbeys being in woods, many of those houses have 
 had the name of Doire given them. In the province of Leinster 
 were Doire-Phadraic, Doire-Moc, Doire-Arda, and Dormagh, 
 In Munster, Doire-dancum, Doire-durcum, Doire-Ednagh, Doire- 
 luscain, and Doire-more. In Connaught, Doire-melle, and 
 Doire-miclatra; and in Ulster, Doire Brusca, Doire-cochain,; 
 ‘Doire-chonla,.Doire-dachonna, Doire-maclain, Doire-nuis, Doire- 
 ies and owe, or Derry, in short, now called London- 
 erry ) 
 
 ———- 
 
 CRAG ABBEY. 
 
 At Crag, near Derry, was an abbey, as Colgan informs us, 
 where St Colman was abbot, and that prelate was called Abbas 
 Cragensis. Ware says nothing of this house. 
 
 FATHENE ABBEY. 
 
 At Fathene, (a small town, eight miles from Londonderry, to 
 the westward, in the isle of Owen, near the banks of Lough’ 
 Sweely,) was an abbey, founded in the seventh century, by St. 
 Murus, says Colgan. The Irish often call peninsulas islands, 
 for Owen is no other than a peninsula, and yet they call it Inis- 
 Qwen, that is, the Isle of Owen, which has deceived several 
 geographers, who have made it an island instead of a peninsula, 
 There is also the peniusula of Magee, in the County of Antrim. 
 called the island of Magee. 
 
 
 
 BOTCHONAIS 
 
 Was, according to Colgan, an ancient house of Regular Ca- 
 nons in the diocess of Londonderry, founded by St. Congal, the 
 father of so many monks above spoken of. 
 
 0 
 
 DUNGEWIN, OR DUNGIVEN, 
 
 Was a priory, founded in 1100, by Prince O’Cahan. Cobbett 
 says it stood in the fourteenth, ‘and without doubt in the six- 
 teenth century. 
 
 
 
 MACBIL ABBEY. 
 
 AG Macbil; in the Isle of Eogian, was an abbey of Hegule 
 Canone, founded in the sixth century, by St. Frigidian, who had 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 143 
 
 founded another of the same name in the County of Down, (to 
 whieh we refer.) Colgan alone takes notice of this, which is 
 now only a parish. 
 
 
 
 AT ARRAGELL, 
 
 In the barony of Coleraine. “A monastery, founded by St. 
 Columb, to which the Protestant place of worship has succeeded. 
 
 
 
 AT COLERAINE, 
 
 A priory of Regular Canons, founded, it is thought, by St. 
 Carbreus, a disciple of St. Finian of Clonard. 
 
 
 
 AT DEZERTOGHILL, 
 
 An abbey, built by St. Columb, is now converted into a Pro- 
 testant place of worship. 
 
 
 
 AT DONAGHMORE, 
 
 A church, built in the time of St. Patrick, is now converted 
 into the Protestant place of worship. 
 
 
 
 AT MAGILLAGAN, 
 
 Near Loughfoyle, a monastery, founded by St. Columb. 
 
 
 
 BT MOYCOSQUIN, 
 
 Near Coleraine, an abbey, founded in 1172; it stood until the 
 fifteenth century. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF DONEGAL, TYRCONNELL, 
 ST. PATRICK’S PURGATORY PRIORY, LOUGHDEARG. 
 
 In the Island of St. Dabeoce, or Davoge, which is in Lough 
 Dirg, or Derg, was the famous priory of St. Patrick’s Purgatory, 
 Which Ware places in the County of Fermanagh, contrary to 
 most historians and geographers, who place it in the County of 
 Donegal; but the difference is not much, for it is on the borders 
 of both counties. Ware assigns the foundation of this house to 
 St. Dabeoce in the fifth century. On the other hand, Ussher 
 Says it was St. Patrick who founded it in the same century. 
 Others say the first prior of this house, whose name was Patrick, 
 lived about 850, and that he contrived this expedient to make his 
 priory famous;. be this as it will, this is most certain, that the 
 great St. Patrick had nothing to do with that purgatory. Upon 
 
144 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 a full hearing of ithe matter, Pope Alexander VI., in 1497; 
 ordered the cave of this purgatory to be destroyed; which was 
 done by the guardian of the Franciscans, attended by the reli- 
 gious men of his convent of Donegal, on the day they observed 
 the festival of St. Patrick, pursuant to the commission that guar- 
 dian had received from the pope himself. 
 
 
 
 INISCOEL, OR INIS-KEEL ABBEY, 
 
 In Iniscoel, otherwise called Bugellaigh, (being an island on 
 the coast of the County Tyrconnell, or Donegal, and in the 
 diocess of Raphoe,) was an abbey founded by St. Conal,. as 
 Colgan informs us. 
 
 
 
 CONGBAIL ABBEY. 
 
 Colgan tells us, that St. Fiacre, disciple to St. Finian, was 
 abbot of this placein the sixth century. 
 
 
 
 AT BOTCHONAIS, 
 
 In Inis-eoguin, a monastery, in which St. Coemgall was abbot 
 in the eighth, and St. Maelisa (whose writings are still extant) 
 in the eleventh tentury. 
 
 
 
 AT CLONLEIGH, 
 
 On the river Foyle, a church, built by St. Columb, where his 
 disciple, St. Lugad, is honored; St Carnech was abbot and 
 bishop here about 530. It is now the Protestant place of wor- 
 ship in the diocess of Derry. 
 
 
 
 AT CLONMANY, 
 
 Near the sea, a. monastery, built by St. Columb; now the 
 church. 
 
 
 
 AT CONWALL, 
 
 Near the river Sevilly, an abbey, founded about 587; now a. 
 church of worship, in the diocess of Raphoe. 
 
 
 
 AT CNODAIN, 
 
 BEA the river Erne, a monastery, in which St. Conae was 
 abbot. 
 
 
 
 AT DOMNACHGLINNE TOCHUIR, | 
 In Inisoen, a church, founded by St. Patrick, in which he 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 145 
 
 appointed Maccarthen, brother to the saint of Clogher, bishop. 
 ‘There are still preserved the saint’s penitential bed, and other 
 sacred relics; a great resort of pilgrims on St. Patrick’s day 
 17th March. 
 
 
 
 AT DRUMHOME, 
 
 On the Bay of Donegal, a monastery, in which St. Ernan lived 
 in 644; continued to the general dissolution; now the Protestant 
 place of worship. 
 
 AT FAHAN, 
 
 Six miles north-west of Derry, on Loughswilly, a noble mo- 
 nastery, founded by St. Columba. This grand edifice was held 
 in the greatest veneration, from the reverence paid to the parish 
 saint, from many monuments of antiquity preserved there, and 
 from its being the interment place of many illustrious saints. The 
 only relics still remaining are some fragments of the acts of St. 
 Columba, written in Irish verse by St. Muran ; a large chronicle, 
 and the crosier of St. Muran, richly ornamented with jewels, 
 which is preserved by the O’ Neils. 
 
 
 
 AT GARTON, 
 
 Two miles west of Kilmacrenan, a monastery, founded by 
 St. Columba; now the Protestant place of worship. 
 
 
 
 AN INES SAMER. 
 
 Some religious house, in which Flagherty, King of Tyrcon- 
 nell, died in retirement in 1197, after having laid off his crown 
 and worldly cares. 
 
 AT KILBARRON, 
 
 On the Bay of Donegal, a church, founded by St. Columba ; 
 now the Protestant church. 
 
 
 
 AT KILCARTAICH, 
 
 A church, in which St. Crathach was bishop about 540; it is 
 supposed to be Killcarr, which is now a Protestant house in the 
 diocess of Raphoe. 
 
 
 
 AT MOVILLE, 
 
 On Loughfoyle, a monastery, founded by St. Patrick; now 
 the Protestant place of worship. 
 N 
 
146 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 AT RAPHOE, 
 A monastery, founded by St. Columba. 
 
 
 
 AT SEINGLEAN, 
 
 In the diocess of Raphoe, a monastery, founded by St. Columba. 
 
 
 
 AT TAUGHBOYNE, 
 
 A monastery, founded by St. Baithen, disciple and kinsmar 
 of St. Columba, in 584. 
 
 
 
 AT TORRE ISLAND, 
 
 A monastery, founded before 650, in which St. Ernan was 
 abbot. 
 
 AT TULLY, 
 Near Loughswilly, an abbey, founded by St. Columba. 
 
 
 
 KILMACNENAIN, 
 
 Was an ancient house of Regular Canons, in the diocess of 
 Raphoe; but we are not told when, or by whom, it was founded. 
 It is likely this is confounded with Kilmacrenan, on the river 
 Gannon, first endowed by St. Columba, and afterwards a Fran- 
 eiscan Friary, built by O’Donnell; but now on the site of the 
 Protestant church. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY FERMANAGH. 
 DEVINISH ABBEY. 
 
 We shall here re-copy the following brief sketch from our Re- 
 gistry of 1837, before we follow Allemande : 
 
 The three parishes of Devinish, Gourda, and the Moy, formed 
 originally but the one parish of Innismacsaint. Devinish is so 
 named from an island in said parish, in Lough Erne, near Ennis- 
 killen, in which are the remains of a celebrated monastery, and 
 the most perfect Round Tower in Ireland. Part of the stone 
 was falling off; but has been lately repaired at an expense of 
 about £70, chiefly collected in Enniskillen and its vicinity. In 
 the same parish, and on the same lake, are the remains of another 
 monastery, and an immense cross, in the island of Innismacsaint, 
 from which the ancient name of the parish is taken. Clinis, has 
 its name from an island in Lough Erne, where are the remains 
 of a monastery. Ina small parish named Rossory, annexed to 
 Enniskillen are the remains of the ancient abbey of Lisgoole.— 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 147 
 
 ¥nniskillen was a monastery, from which the successor of the 
 renowned Archbishop, Oliver Plunket in the primacy was taken. 
 
 In Devinish, or Dam-Inis, the Island of the Oxe, which is in 
 Lough Erne, was an abbey founded by St. Laserian, otherwise 
 called St. Molaise, one of the twelve apostles of Ireland, in 560, 
 says Ware; wherein Ussher does not agree with him, for he af- 
 firms that the said saint flourished in the abbey of Dam-Inis, in 
 640, that is, twenty years sooner. However, that author differs 
 in his account of this saint, when he says, in his Chronological 
 Index, that after having lived in his abbey he died in 570. Not- 
 withstanding this, he farther adds, that in 630 the famous assem- 
 bly was held in this same saint’s abbey at Leighlin, in Munster, 
 where he disputed with St. Munnu about the time for keeping 
 Easter, and then places his death in 639; according to which, 
 those holy men must have been two different saints. However, 
 the Irish authors assert, that the abbot of Dam-Inis and the 
 abbot of Leighlin was the same saint, called St. Laserian, or 
 Lasrean, and in Irish St. Molaise. If that beso, says Alle- 
 mande, the saint must have lived 160 years, which is not with- 
 out a precedent in Ireland. However that be, it is somewhat 
 uncommon in Ussher to make this saint die twice. 
 
 
 
 ANOTHER ABBEY IN THE ISLAND OF DEVINISH, 
 
 Founded by St. Ninnidius, in 1130, according to Ussher, for 
 Ware does not mention it, unless it be a house of Colideans, 
 which was in the island. These Colideans were secular priests, 
 who led a retired life in community like the monks, and much 
 after the same manner as priests now live in the seminaries the 
 bishops have erected in France. Ussher varies again, for in 
 another part of his Chronological Index he says: that St. Kiaran, 
 who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries, was disciple to St. 
 Ninnidius, in one of the islands of Lough Erne, and yet he 
 states he did not found his abbey in that Island till 1130, that 
 is, almost seven hundred years after; but this is not the only 
 anachronism Ussher has been guilty of. 
 
 
 
 CLUAIN-INIS, OR CLUNISH ABBEY. 
 
 In Cluan-Inis, which is another island in the same lough, or 
 lake, was an abbey founded in the sixth century, by St. Sinelle, 
 who flourished there in 543, according to Ussher, who. adds, 
 that in 570, St. Munnu, otherwise called St. Fintan, was a 
 monk in this abbey, which was not known to Ware. This St. 
 Sinelle was one of the twelve upostles of Ireland. Now a Pro- 
 testant church. 
 
 AT INNIS-MAC-SAINT, 
 
 ¢ 
 
 An island in Lough Erne, an abbey, founded in 523, by St. Nenn, 
 remained as a parish church till the time of Queen Anne. 
 
148 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM 
 
 AT ROSS ORRY, 
 
 On Lough Erne, was a nunnery founded about the year 480, by 
 St. Franchea ; now a protestant place of worship, in the diocess 
 of Clogher. ; 
 
 See 
 
 AT LISCOOL, 
 
 An abbey, founded very early. Granted to Sir John Davis, - 
 knight. 
 
 
 
 AT GOLA, 
 
 Near Lough Farn, was a monastery, founded by M‘Manus, Lord 
 of the place; granted to Sir John Davis, Knight. 
 
 
 
 AT DEROUGH. 
 
 A collegiate church, vested in the crown on the general suppres- 
 sion. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY TYRONE. 
 ‘DRUIM-THOM, OR DRUM-RAW ABBEY, 
 
 We find no house of regular canons in this county, except the 
 abbey of Druim Thom, so called by Allemande; but more cor- 
 rectly in Drum-Raw parish, whichis on the borders of it, and of 
 that of Tyrconnel, in the diocess of Raphoe. St. Ermon was the 
 founder, and first abbot thereof, in the seventh century. St. 
 Adamnan calls this place, which is now only a parish, Dorsum, 
 Tuame, for Druim signifies the back. 
 
 
 
 CLOGHER ABBEY, 
 
 Clogher, three miles from Lurgan, which is now a bishoprick, 
 was at first an abbey, founded by St. Macarty, who was also the 
 first abbot and bishop thereof, as Colgan observes. The convent 
 took itsname, Clogher, from the golden stone, still kept in the 
 monastery, which was on the site of the present protestant 
 church. Cobbett has it, thata priory of Regular Canons was pre- 
 sided over by St. Patrick, who resignedit to St. Kertern, who 
 founded the celebrated abbey here. King James granted 
 this abbey and revenues to George Montgomery, bishop of 
 Clogher. 
 
 
 
 AT ARDBOE. 
 Wasa noble and celebrated monastery, built by St. Colman. 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 149 
 
 DONAGHMORE, 
 
 Three miles west of Dungannon. An abbey built by St. Pa- 
 trick, in which St. Columba was honoured; it stood until the 
 thirteenth century, and of course, until the general dissolution. 
 
 
 
 OMAGH. 
 
 An abbey founded in the early ages, and in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury a Franciscan Friary; granted with the friary of Corock. 
 
 —— a 
 
 COUNTY ARMAGH. 
 ARMAGH ABBEY, 
 
 About 65 miles from Dublin, and 31 from Belfast, at Armagh, 
 the Metropolitan See of all Ireland, was an abbey under the 
 myocation of St. Peter and St. Paul, founded (says Allemande) 
 in the fifth century, by St. Patrick. Several archbishops of this 
 place, bestowed considerable gifts on it. This noble building was 
 plundered and partly destroyed by the Danes and Norwegians, 
 under the tyrant Turgesius; but repaired by Imar O’ Heedegan, 
 in the 12th century, and was the most distinguished of the reli- 
 gious establishments which existed here, having materially con- 
 tributed to the early importance of the place. This institution 
 received numerous grants of endowments from native kings, the 
 last of whom, Roderick O’Connor, made a grant to its professors 
 in 1169; insomuch, that its landed possessions became very ex- 
 tensive, as appears from an inquisition taken on its suppression. 
 
 Attached to it was a school or college, which long continued 
 one of the most celebrated seminaries in Europe, and from 
 which many learned men, not only of the Irish nation, but from 
 all parts of christendom, were despatched to diffuse knowledge 
 throughout Europe. It is said that 7000 students were congre- 
 gated init, in the pursuit of learning, at one period; and the 
 annals of Ulster relate, that, at a synod held by Gelasius at 
 Claonadh, in 1162, it was decreed that no person should lecture 
 publicly on theology, except such as had studied at Armagh. 
 
 
 
 CLUAIN-FINCHOL, OR CLUAIN-FIACUL ABBEY, 
 
 Six miles from Armagh, was founded, according to Colgan, by 
 St. Lugadius, the first abbot, in 580. 
 
 TSS. 
 
 KILMORE ABBEY, 
 
 Or Lismore, was where St. Mocte settled in the sixth century 
 before he founded the abbey of Louth. Some historians say that 
 he there instituted a particular rule, and that the place was in 
 Co. Monaghan. This is on the borders of the two counties, and 
 is now only a Parish. N 2 
 
150 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 COUNTY MONAGHAN. 
 CLONES ABBEY. : 
 
 At Clones, or Cluain-Eois, or Clonish, 10 miles from Mo- 
 naghan and 62 from Dublin, was the abbey of St. Peter and 
 St. Paul, founded by the bishop of St. Tigernac, in some 
 place in Fermanagh, as being on the edge of the two counties. 
 Colgan places it in Co. Leitrim, because the counties of Mo- 
 naghan, Fermanagh and Leitrim seem to meet at Clones, Colgan. 
 says St. Froegius was patron and founder of the abbey of 
 Clones, Co. Leitrim,.in the sixth century; but he might be 
 only the repairer thereof. This Clones is distinct from another 
 of the same name in Co. Meath, which is otherwise called Cluain- 
 mac-nois. 
 
 
 
 MONAGHAN ABBEY; 
 
 Twelve miles from Armagh and 60 from Dublin. Allemande 
 says he knows not that which Colgan calls Monasterium, and 
 where he says St. Cuana (there were several,). was abbot, 
 ‘was not Monaghan, the capital of this county, where there are 
 some remains of a monastery. What makes against it is, this 
 author adds, that the said abbey was in Comitatu Lugma- 
 giensi, or County of Louth; but in regard that the County of 
 Louth formerly contained that of Monaghan, which wasin ancient 
 times called the kingdom of Ergal. Allemande thinks that Col- 
 gan’s Monasterium was this Monaghan, and that the town took 
 its name from the monastery and the monks residing in it. 
 
 
 
 MACKNAY, 
 
 Near Lough or Lake of the same name, was formerly an abbey 
 founded by St. Moedlodius. . 
 
 
 
 CLUAIN-EOARITS, 
 
 Was, according to Colgan, an ancient house of Regular Canons, 
 founded by St. Dichull, who had erected many others. This was 
 in the ancient kingdom of Ergal, of which the county Monaghan 
 was part, as was also of Louth. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY CAVAN. 
 AT DRUMLANE, 
 
 Or Drumlaghan, was the priory of the Blessed. Virgin Mary. 
 founded about the end of the sixth century, by St. Edan, 
 otherwise Maidoc, was afterwards archbishop, or bishop of Ferns. 
 Colgan says this abbey was very considerable, that there were 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 151 
 
 in it several fine tombs of the most noted persons in the country, 
 and that it was reduced to a parish in 1025, as the annals of 
 Donegal affirm. Itis in the diocess of Kilmore, and on the 
 borders of the two Brefinies, which they formerly called the coun- 
 ties of Fermanagh and Cavan. Some authors call this place 
 Drumlethan. 
 
 Here, (says Allemande,) I ought to conclude the account of all 
 the ancient and modern houses that belonged to the Regular 
 Canons in Ireland; by the modern, I mean those that were sup- 
 pressed by Henry VIII. in the sixteenth century; and by the 
 ancient, I mean the abbeys, priories, and monasteries that did 
 not survive the eighth century ; but were before converted into | 
 parishes, or other secular benefices, or were suppressed either 
 through the calamities that attend war, or other means. How- 
 ever, considering that Colgan, (in the vast design he had con- 
 ceived of writing the Lives of the Irish Saints, whereof only 
 two volumes have been published,) has asserted that there was 
 a far greater number of houses of Regular Canons in Ireland, 
 which he has been at mueh trouble to fix; and because those 
 houses haying afterwards changed their name or situation; there 
 scarcely remains any proof in historians, either of the place where 
 they stood, or what became of them; I shall, therefore, rest 
 satisfied with only reciting them here in alphabetical order, and 
 with relation to the provinces in which historians say, they were, 
 though they have not noted the place they stood in; and then I 
 shali give the names of the other houses, though I have not been 
 able to learn in what provinces they were, I will add toboth the 
 names of their founders, to the end that this circumstance may 
 be some help to the better knowledge of them. 
 
 
 
 RELIGIOUS HOUSES OF REGULAR CANONS, THE SITUATION, OF 
 WHICH IS NOT KNOWN, ACCORDING TO ALLEMANDE. 
 
 IN THE PROVINCE OF LEINSTER. 
 
 ACHAD.ARGLASS, St. Fintin founder. 
 ACHAD-FINGLASS, Founded by the same. 
 AIRDNE-CAEMAIN. St. Coeman. 
 CLUAIN-CHAOIN, St, Finan. 
 CLUAIN-IMURCHIN, St. Brocan, 
 
 CLUAIN-REIGEAGH, St. Ferrolus or Ermin, whohad given this 
 eee Lough Ere. This house was eitherin Kast or West 
 
 eath. 
 
 DERGE,OR DERGNE, St, Mogorock. 
 
 DOMNAGH-SEIGMUIL, St. Secundin. 
 either of the two counties of Meath. 
 
 DOMNAGH-ARDA, §t. Silvester and St. Sidonius; Italian Re- 
 gular Canons, who came into Ireland with St. Palladius. 
 
 DRUIMCHEO. It is likely that this house was not the same 
 with that of Druim-chain, the abbey of St. Abban, which was 
 
 This abbey was in 
 
152 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 in Co. Wicklow, for there are some proofs that this was in the 
 Co. Longford. 
 
 FINGLASS, St. Flamius. Itis likely that this abbey was be- 
 tween Dublin and Drogheda, because the territory is still called 
 Finglass. 
 
 FIODNAGH. St. Callan. Allemande says he would willingly 
 
 lace this house in Co. Longford. 
 
 KIONMAGH, In regione Fothardorum, either in the Co. Wex- 
 ford, or in a part of Tipperary, there being two territories in 
 those counties, which bore that name. 
 
 FORGNUIDHE St Muris. I am not sure, says Allemande, 
 in which of the two counties of Meathit was. 
 
 CLAISMORE, On the borders of the Province of Leinster, 
 and of the Co. of Meath, not far from the Abbey of Sourd, 
 before spoken of. 
 
 GLINN, St, Connock, or Mochonock. 
 
 KELFINTE,.OR KILMORE, St, Palladius, who brought relies 
 of the apostles to it. 
 
 KIL-AUXILL, Near the river Liffey, St. Auxil, bishop thereof. 
 
 KID-CHUILIN, St. Lochlin. 
 
 KIL-FORTCHERNE, ALIAS ROSCURENSE MONASTERIUM, 
 St. Forehern; this house was in one of the Counties of Meath. 
 
 KILSKIRE, A famous abbey. The Irish historians say, that 
 St. Conal, or Conald, who lived in the ninth century, was abbot 
 and bishop thereof; but it is likely this house was in Co. East- 
 Meath. 
 
 PECAIN, St. Furseus. 
 
 LANCHOLL. St. Fintan. 
 
 LANN, OR LINN, where St. Colman was abbot, considered 
 the same with that of Linal; but Lann was the name of a demon 
 that was in the place, and whom St. Colman expelled. 
 
 MOETGALL, St, Brogain. 
 
 MONTGARRET, St. Nessan. 
 
 ROSDELE, Co. of Meath, St. Patrick the elder was abbot 
 and bishop. 
 
 ROSS-TUIRK, St. Brocan. 
 
 SRUTHAIR, St, Mogenock. 
 
 TEGNA-ROMANAGH, OR HOUSE OF THE ROMANS, 
 St. Augustin and St. Benedict, Italian Regular Canons, whe 
 came with St. Palladius into Ireland. 
 
 TEG-SCOTHIN,St. Scothin. 
 
 TEG-MOLING, St, Moling. 
 
 TREFFODIUM, St. Guama. 
 
 TULEN, Co. Meath, the same saint. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF MUNSTER. 
 ACHAD-AIRAD, St. Lochin. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 153 
 
 ACHAD-GARBAIN, Now Dungarvan, on the coast of Munster 
 St. Garban founded in the seventh century. 
 
 CLUAIN.CHLADEAGH, St. Maidoc. 
 
 CONDATUM MONASTERIUM St. Wasnulph. 
 
 CROEBAGH, St. Trian. 
 
 CAIL-COLLUINGE, St. Abban. 
 
 THREE ABBEYS OF DUMNAGH-MORE. One founded by St. 
 Fingene, another by St. Tinchade, and the third by St. La- 
 rannan. 
 
 DORE-CHUISCRIGH, The founder not known. 
 
 DORE-DUNCNA, St. Colman, who died with thirst in the fifth 
 century. 
 
 DUBLESKE, St. Fintan. 
 
 1NISDAMLE, On the borders of Munster and Leinster, where 
 Finbarry was abbot. 
 
 KILCRUINTHIR, ALIAS KILCUILDEM. St, Abban. 
 
 KILMEBIAN, St, Fergus. 
 
 KILMORE ARATDHFiRE- 
 
 LETTER OBHRAIM, St. Odran. 
 
 MOINMORE, St. Moctean, who lived in the seventh century, 
 abbot of Clonard, called by historians Fons Religionis et sapi- 
 entie Hibernorum, the source of the religion and wisdom of the 
 Irish. 
 
 ROSS-KOERAGH, St. Fintan. 
 
 _TUAIM-GRENE, St. Manchen in the third century. 
 
 TUAIM-MUSCRAIGE, In Muskery, St. Domangen 
 
 — 7 
 
 PROVINCE OF CONNAUGHT. 
 
 ARCADNE, An abbey and bishopric, St. Reoade. 
 
 CROEG-GRELLIAN, St. Grellan. In Latin called Crovense 
 Monasterium. 
 
 CRUIM-LINN, St. Midhabar. 
 _RAMELFIGE, St. Mocallan. Colgan labours to prove that this 
 saint was anIrishman. Allemande says he was an English 
 monk. 
 
 aS Se 
 
 PROVINCE OF ULSTER. 
 
 CUIL RATHENE, St, Armideus. 
 
 DELENNA, St. Dageus. 
 
 DRUIN-INEFACLUIN St. Lugadius, and St. Cormac. 
 LINDUAGHIL, St, Sedulis. 
 
 RATHMUIGE, St. Adamnan. 
 
 TEG-TALAIN St. Kilian. 
 
 Here follow the Abbeys whose situations were unknown to the 
 Jrish historians ‘ 
 
 ARDCUILIN. St, Beoan founder. 
 
154 MONASTICAN HIBERNICUM: 
 
 ARDCHOIN, St. Finchan. 
 
 BASLEAC, St. Cormac. } 
 
 CLUAIN-BUADAIN, St. Blatmac. Cluain, according to Colgan 
 signifies a place of retirement, or a desert. 
 
 CLUAIN-KICH. St. Canrnaw. 
 
 CLUAIN-UNSEAN, St, Maltulius 
 
 CLUINET, At, Fursues. : i 
 
 DESER-ENGUSS, An abbey and bishopric. At. Engus, sur 
 
 as 
 SAS Allemande in vain sought for the founder. 
 
 DRIUM-KING, St. Fintan. 
 
 DRUIM-EASCLUIN St, GCormoc. 
 
 DRUIM-DERDALOG, St, Finian. 
 
 DORE-BRGCHAISE, St, Mochonan. 
 
 ERDEME, St, Failbeus. 
 
 FORTDRUIM, St, Lugadius. 4 
 GLASENAOIDHEAN Qt, Mobyns, alias Boeties, or Mobyteus. 
 This house was also called the abbey of St. Boetius. 
 
 GLEN ACHAD, St, Sincel. ae 
 
 TNIS-MUGE SAMB, St, Nannwtheus, or Nenidius, was abbot 
 and bishop there. : 
 
 IMLEACH-BEAIN, Wherc St. Cormac, or Kellac, was abbot. 
 
 KILDELGE, St. Cuanan. 
 
 KIL-CASPNIC-SANTAIN, St. Mogoroc. 
 
 KILLAIN,St, Sedua, or Sidonius; another saint of that name 
 who was abbot at Druim-mac-Ubla. 
 
 KIL-FOELIN, St. Foilan. 
 
 KL-ITHE, St. Comac, or Kellac 
 
 KINLOGHA, One St. Sedulius, for there were several of that 
 name. 
 
 LEAMMAGH, OR LEMMAGH, St, Fechin. Allemande ques- 
 tions whether this be not the same with the abbey of Immagh, 
 on the coast of the Co. Galway, above spoken of, 
 
 LILCHAL, St. Guan. ; 
 
 LUSCANUM MONASTERIUM, St, Colgan, who liyed in the 
 Seventh century. 
 
 LEITHMANCHIN, St. Manchain. 
 
 LUGMAGH, abbey and bishopric, St. Mecteus. 
 
 RATH-ARADH, St, Mugania. 
 
 ROSS PRIORY, St Cormac, or Kellac, 
 
 TOMNA-CHA-BUADA. Allemande knows not who was the 
 founder, 
 
 TEAGH-MUNRA, where there were 150 monks, all sain‘s, 
 Likely the founder was St. Munnu, 
 TEG-BAITHIM, St, Raithen. 
 
 TREOT, Sj, Cormac. 
 
 If we were to observe the order of time when the several regu- 
 jar orders were instituted, we ought to speak next of that of St, 
 Benedict; but since it is not proper to lop off from the great 
 
~ 
 
 CANONS REGULAR. 155. 
 
 order of Regular Canons of St. Augustin, the several congrega- 
 tions that have a dependance on it, they are only limbs of that 
 body; as also because observing the same method, we will 
 place the Cistercian Order immediately after that of St. Bene- 
 dict, of which it is but a branch. We shall now add all the se- 
 veral orders and congregations whose religious men are concerned 
 as Regular Canons of St. Augustin. 
 
 But that nothing may be omitted concerning the houses of the 
 Regular Canons, we must notice one thing remarkable: several 
 abbeys or priories of this order, were formerly sanctuaries for 
 those who fied to them, (as the churches in Italy are still,) for 
 the greatest malefactors who take shelter in them; for in France 
 all those privileges are not allowed. 
 
 The following are the houses of Regular Canons, which enjoyed 
 that immunity in Ireland, for some other orders had also their 
 sanctuaries, as shall be shewn hereafter. 
 
 LOGHROE, or Lutre abbey of St. Ruadan in Co. Tipperary, 
 Province of Munster. 
 
 FORTE abbey of St. Fechin, in Co. W. Meath, Leinster. 
 
 FERNS ABBEY of St. Madoc, now a bishoprick, in Wexford 
 of Leinster. 
 
 KILMACDUAGH, OR KILMACULLE, ABBEY of St, Colman, 
 in Galway, province of Connaught. 
 
 CLUAIN-ENAGH ABBEY of St. Fintin, in East Meath, pro- 
 vince of Leinster. 
 
 CLONARD ABBEY of St. Finian, in Meath, Leinster. 
 
 SAIGERKEIRAN, OR SURK ABBEY of St. Kieran, King’s 
 County, Leinster. 
 
 INNISCATTE ABBEY of St. Senan in Limerick, Munster. 
 
 FATHENE ABBEY of St. Murus in Londonderry, Ulster. 
 
 LEITHMORE ABBEY of St. Mochemoc in the Co. Tipe- 
 rary, Munster. 
 
 MAGHERMUIDE ABBEY of St. Abban, in County Wexford, 
 Leinster. 
 
 INNISKELTRAN ABBEY of St. Cannan, in Co. Clare, province 
 of Munster. 
 
 DERRY, OR LONDONDERRY ABBEY, of St. Columba, Co. 
 
 Derry, Ulster. 
 
 
 
 Abbeys and Priories of Regular Canons of St. Augustin, of the 
 congregation of St. Victor which were formerly in Ireland. 
 
 PROVINCE OF LEINSTER, COUNTY DUBLIN. 
 ST. THOMAS'S ABBEY AT DUBLIN. 
 
 In the City of Dublin was the Abbey of St. Thomas, arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury and martyr, one of the finest and richest 
 houses in the kingdom, in that part of the city now called Thomas- 
 
156 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 Court. It was built at Dublin in the suburbs called Thomastown, 
 The founder was Henry II. king of England, in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, who made this foundation in the presence of Cardinal 
 Vivian, the Pope’s Legate, and of the archbishop of Dublin; 
 this act was to atone for his guilt in the murder of St. Thomas 
 Becket. The Monastican Anglicanum takes -no notice of this 
 house being of the congregation of St. Vietor; but only that it 
 was of Regular Canons of St Augustin in general. In the se- 
 eond volume of that work, p. 1309, is the charter of king Edward 
 III. reciting and confirming all the donations made to this house. 
 It there also appears, that Walter De Lacy, Lord of Meath, gave 
 to this abbey, the advowson and patronage of several benefices 
 mentioned in his grant; though I admire the authors of that 
 work should call this a priory only, whereas it has the style of 
 an abbey in the very charters which they have given us, and 
 Ware calls it the abbey of St. Thomas at Dublin. To conclude, 
 the abbot of St. Thomas had the prerogative of sitting in the 
 Irish parliament as a spiritual peer, which quality was inherent 
 in his abbey. 
 
 There was also a priory of the same congregation, on the 
 river Liffey, without the gates of Dublin, founded in 1219, by 
 Varisius de Pech, and afterwards united to the abbey of St. 
 Thomas last spoken of. See it in the Regular Canons of St. 
 Augustin. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY WEXFORD. 
 AT ENNISCORTHY, 
 
 On the Isle of Corthy, a small town on the Slane river, about 
 sixty miles from Dublin, was the priory of St. John Evangelist, 
 which was dependent on the abbey of St. Thomas in Dublin, 
 and founded in 1240, by Gerald de Pendergrast, an English- 
 man, Lord of Enniscorthy, and by John St. John, bishop of 
 Ferns, an Englishman. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY KILDARE. 
 SCALA PRIORY. 
 
 In a pleasant spot of ground, on the banks of the river Liffey. 
 stood formerly a fine priory, dedicated to St Wolstan, canonised 
 by Pope Innocent II. This house was commonly called Scala 
 Coli. Richard the first prior, and Adam of Hereford, both ef 
 them Englishmen, were the founders in 1205. 
 
 COUNTY EAST MEATH. 
 NEWTOWN PRIORY, NEAR TRIM. 
 
 We have already placed this priory of Newtown among those 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 157 
 
 of the great order of the Regular Canons of St. Augustin, 
 wherein we left Ware; however thee is some reason to give it 
 to the particular congregation of St. Victor, as you shall soon 
 perceive when we speak of the priory of Fermoy, in the county 
 of Cork. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF MUNSTER, COUNTY WATERFORD. 
 WATERFORD PRIORY. 
 
 In the suburbs of the city of Waterford was the priory of St. 
 Catherine, founded by the Danes or Os mans, and confirmed 
 by Pope Innocent III. in 1210, 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF CORK. 
 BALINGRODEGH PRIORY. 
 
 Opposite to Fermoy, beyond the bridge over the Blackwater, 
 er Avon-more, was the priory called Our Lady of Balindregh, 
 or Balingrodregh, founded by Alexander Fitz-Hugh, an En- 
 glishman. Ware seems to be mistaken in saying, that this priory 
 was of the congregation of St. Victor; for the foundation charter, 
 which is at length in the Monasticon Anglicanum, seems to- 
 make it of the great order of the Regular Canons of St. Augus- 
 tin, as likewise the canons of the priory of St. Peter and St. 
 Paul at Newtown, near Trim, in the county of Meath. ‘The 
 words of the charter are these: ‘‘ And if perhaps, they cannot 
 among themselves find a prior of their own number, let one by 
 them be chosen, either of the house of the apostles Peter and 
 Paul, in the county of Meath, or of the house of St. Thomas the 
 Martyr at Dublin, from which they received the original and 
 form of their order, if one sufficient and fit be not found in the 
 aforesaid churches.”? From these words, ‘‘from which they re- 
 eeived they original and form of their order,”’? which relate as well 
 to the priory of Newtown as to the abbey of St. Thomas, Alle- 
 mande infers, that not only the priors of Pont-Fermoy, (for so 
 the Monasticon calls it,) was of the congregation of St. Victor, 
 but that the priory of Newtown too, and that Ware was mista- 
 ken in placing it among the houses of the great order of Regular 
 Canons of St. Augustin. It is true he has therein followed seve- 
 ral other authors, and therefore there may seem to be some 
 controversy still in this case. 
 
 There were no houses of the congregation of St. Victor in 
 either of the provinces of Connaught or Ulster. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 
 
PRIORIES, PRECEPTORIES, 
 OR COMMANDERIES, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM, 
 (CALLED KNIGHTS OF MALTA,) 
 
 PROFESSING THE RULE OF ST. AUGUSTIN, 
 
 FORMERLY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Tus order began at Jerusalem, where some religious men 
 obtained leave of the caliph of Egypt to build a monastery, and. 
 have chosen St. John the Baptist, their patron, from whence it 
 was called the order of St. John of Jerusalem. They employed 
 themselves in defending pilgrims, going to visit the Holy Sepul- 
 chre, also in entertaining and relieving them in hospitals and 
 houses built for them, and lived according to the rule of St 
 Augustin. They behaved themselves so well upon the christians 
 taking Jerusalem, in 1099, that they were held in high esteem 
 with Godfrey of Boillon, and other kings of Jerusalem, bravely 
 defending with their swords the christian religion, until the princes 
 of the west failing to send them succour, they were by the infi- 
 dels beaten out of Syria, in 1308. Soon after they invaded 
 the island of Rhodes, took itfrom the Turks, and maintained it 
 214 years, from whence they were commonly called Knights of . 
 Rhodes ; but, after a bloody seige of six months, they lost it. 
 At length Charles V., emperor of the Romans, bestowed on them 
 the island of Malta, though they still retain the primitive title of 
 Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. 
 
 The Knights Templars were founded also at Jerusalem, in 
 1118, by some religious men, who undertook to secure the roads 
 for the sake of pilgrims going to the holy sepulchre. As for their 
 religious observance, it was much according to the rules of the 
 canons regular; and Baldwin de Burgy, king of Jerusalem at 
 that time, haying assigned their residence near the ee of that 
 
162 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 city, from whence they were called Knights Templars. They 
 were of great service against the infidels in the holy war, but at 
 length were suppressed and dissolved by pope Clement V. inj the 
 general council of Vienna, in France, A. D. 1311; and their 
 houses were bestowed to the knights of Jerusalem. 
 
 This order was not of itself considerable in Ireland, for before 
 the subversion of the Knights Templars it had only one priory, 
 that of Wexford, province of Leinster, (being the grand priory 
 of Ireland) and nine preceptories, or commanderies, which were 
 
 KILBEG 
 
 KILHEEL } in the county of Kildare. 
 
 TULLOW 
 
 KILMAINHAM-BEG : 
 
 RiLMAINHAM-WooD is in the county of East-Meath. 
 
 ST. JOHN BAPTIST OF ARDES, county Down. 
 
 MORNE, OR BALYNEMONY, county Cork. 
 
 ANY, county Limerick. 
 
 KILNALEKIN, county Galway. 
 
 Allemande observes, that a preceptory and commandery are 
 the same thing, and that what in the court of Rome and the 
 bulls they call a preceptory, is commonly called a commandery. 
 
 This order grew up in Ireland upon the ruins of the Templars, 
 for besides the grand priory of Kilmainham, near Dublin, which. 
 belonged to the Templars, there appertained’ to the same the 
 eight following preceptories, or commanderies, viz. 
 
 KILCLOGAN, county Wexford. 
 
 KILBLERGY, county Carlow. 
 
 KILSARON, county Louth, 
 
 KILBARRY, 
 
 KILARE, county Waterford. 
 
 CROOKE, 
 
 CLONAUL, county Tipperary. 
 
 TEAGH-TEMPLE, county Sligo. ; 
 
 _ That grand priory of Kilmainham, with its eight commande. 
 ries, was given to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, when 
 those of the Temple were entirely suppressed under King Ed- 
 ward II., about the beginning of the fourteenth century; when 
 the knights of St. John had two grand priories in Ireland, and 
 seventeen commanderies, of which we are now to speak more 
 particularly, showing when, and where, they were founded, as 
 aiso the name and quality of their founders. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF LEINSTER, CO. WEXFORD 
 WEXFORD GRAND PRIORY. 
 
 The grand priory of St. John of Jerusalem was in the town . 
 of Wexford, the capital of the county of that name, and a sea- 
 port town of the second rank, It was founded in the twelfth 
 
CANONS REGULAR, 163 
 
 century, under the invocation of St. John Baptist and St. 
 Bridget, where it to be is observed that almost all the priories and 
 eommanderies of this order bear the same title of St. John, on 
 account of their being hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. 
 The name of St. Bridget was added because of the great venera- 
 tion paid to that saint in Ireland. Tho founder was William 
 Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, who also founded many other re- 
 ligious houses in Ireland of almost every order. 
 
 
 
 KILCLOGAN PRECEPTORY. 
 
 At Kilclogan, a small town, near the conflux of the rivers Bar- 
 row and Suire, was a preceptory, or commandery, which first 
 belonged to the Templars, and was afterwards given to the Hos- 
 pitallers. Some will have it that the O’ Mores were the founders. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 
 KILMAINHAM GRAND PRIORY. 
 
 The grand priory of Kilmainham, which belonged to the 
 knights Templars, stood on the river Liffey, near the city of 
 Dublin, and was not only a priory but an hospital. It was 
 founded in 1174, under the invocation of St. Mainan, or Maigh- 
 nan, an Irish saint who lived in the seventh century, to whom 
 that priory was dedicated. Kil signifies a church, and so Kil- 
 mainham is the church of St. Mainhan. Richard Strongbow, 
 Earl of Pembroke, was the founder. 
 
 
 
 CLONTARF PRECEPTORY. 
 
 At Clontarf, two miles from Dublin, towards the mouth of the 
 river Liffey, was a preceptory, called of St. Congal, as being 
 dedicated to that Irish saint. It was founded by Henry II. for 
 the Templars. Some pretend that it was founded by the Net- 
 tervilles. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF LOUTH. 
 KILSARON PRECEPTORY. 
 
 At Kilsaron was a preceptory of knights Templars, founded 
 in the thirteenth century by Maud de Lacy, an English lady, 
 whose family were lords of Meath. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF KILDARE. 
 KILBEGS PRECEPTORY. 
 
 Neither the time of the foundation, nor the name of the founder, 
 
164 CANONS REGULAR. 
 
 of this preceptory of the knights of St. John, are mentioned by 
 any author, 
 
 
 
 KILHEEL PRECEPTORY, 
 
 Was also of the Same order; but no more is known of it than 
 of the former. 
 
 TULLOW PRECEPTORY 
 
 Is likewise as obscure as both the last. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF CATERLOUGH, OR CARLOW. 
 KILLERGY PRECEPTORY 
 
 Was the first of the Templars, founded by Philip Borard, an 
 Englishman, in the reign of king John. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF EAST-MEATH. 
 KILMAINHAM-BEG PRECEPTORY. 
 
 At Kilmainham-beg, near Nober, was a preceptory of St. 
 John of Jerusalem, founded in the twelfth century by Walter 
 Lacy, lord of Meath. It was called Beg, or Little, to distin- 
 guish it from Kilmainham, near Dublin, which was the grand 
 priory of the Irish Templars. 
 
 
 
 KILMAINHAM-WOOD PRECEPTORY. 
 
 Was of the knights of St. John, founded, as some say, in the 
 thirteenth century, by the Prestons, Englishmen, from whom 
 are descended the lords viscounts Gormanstown. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF ULSTER, COUNTY OF DOWN. 
 ARDES PRECEPTORY 
 
 In the peninsula of Ardes, founded in the twelfth century, 
 under the invocation of St. John Baptist, by Hugh Lacy, Lord 
 of Meath, above mentioned. 
 
 PROVINCE OF MUNSTER. CO. OF WATERFORD. 
 KILBARRY PRECEPTORY 
 
 Of the knights Templars was founded in the twelfth century. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 165 
 KILLURE PRECEPTORY, 
 
 Of the same knights, was founded in the same century ; but 
 by whom authors do not mention. 
 
 
 
 CROOKE PRECEPTORY, 
 
 Of the same knights, was founded in the thirteenth century by 
 the Barons of Curroghmore, as some authors say. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF CORK. 
 BALLYNEMONY PRECEPTORY, 
 
 At Morre, or More, otherwise called Ballynemony, was of the 
 hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, founded in the reign of 
 king John, twelfth century, under the invocation of St. John 
 Baptist, by Alexander of St. Helena, an Englishman. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF LIMERICK. 
 3 ANY PRECEPTORY, 
 
 Of the hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, was founded 
 after the conquest of William Marsh, an Englishman. ‘The last 
 commander of Any was the bishop of Emly, in 1543, when 
 Henry VIII. suppressed all the religious houses in England and 
 Ireland, 
 
 COUNTY OF TIPPERARY. 
 CLONAUL PRECEPTORY 
 
 Of the Templars. No writer mentions either the time of it 
 foundation, or the names of the founders; and it can only be 
 known by the registers of the order, which are at Malta, from 
 which Allemande in vain endeavoured to obtain an extract, in re- 
 lation to Ireland aad Scotland. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF CONNAUGHT, CO. OF GALWAY. 
 KILNALEKIN PRECEPTORY, 
 
 Of the Knights Hospitallers, was founded in the thirteenth 
 eentury, under the invocation of St. John Baptist, by the 
 Flaghertys, Irishmen of quality. 
 
166 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 COUNTY OF SLIGO. 
 TEAGH-TEMPLE PRECEPTORY. 
 
 At Teagh-Temple, or House of the Temple, was a preceptory 
 of the knights Templars, Allemande knew no particulars. 
 
 It is to be observed, that the grand prior of the Knights Hos- 
 pitallers of St. John of Jerusalem in Ireland, was a spiritual lord, 
 and as such had a seat in parliament. The grand prior of the 
 Templars had.the same prerogative ; and I know not, says Alle- 
 mande, whether the same continued after the priories and pre- 
 ceptories of that order were given to the Hospitallers, or whether 
 after that union the Hospitallers had two grand priories in Ire- 
 land. But I know that in other parts of Europe the grand 
 priories of the Templars were made grand priories of the Hospi- 
 tallers; as for instance, at Paris, where, after the union, the 
 grand priory of the Templars was made a grand priory of the 
 Hospitallers, which is also called the grand priory of France. 
 Therefore, I am apt to believe, that at the time of the general 
 suppression under Henry VIII., there were two grand priories 
 of St. John of Jerusalem in Ireland, viz. that of Wexford and 
 that of Kilmainham near Dublin, and that the two grand priors 
 were lords spiritual, and had seats in parliament. 
 

 
Ses Y, IE o he lias 
 
 
 
 4 REGULAR CANON OF THE FREMONSTRATENSES. 
 
ABBEYS, 
 PRIORIES, AND OTHER HOUSES, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ORDER OF THE PREMONSTRATENSES 
 
 IN IRELAND. 
 
 This order is also a branch of that of St. Augustin, and there 
 were houses of Premonstratenses in Ireland, which composed a 
 particular province, of which it is to be observed, that in this 
 erder, those which in other orders are termed provinces, are 
 called Circarie, from the word circuire, to go about, because the 
 superiors used to visit the several houses. But to return to the 
 Premonstratenses in Ireland, John Le Page, a regular canon of 
 this order, in his book entitled Bibliotheca Ordinus Premonstra- 
 tensis, tells us, that the province, or Circariae of Ireland, in 1326, 
 contained six houses, the names whereof (almost all of which 
 corrupted by that author) are as follows. 
 
 THE HOLY TRINITY, in the Archdiocess of Tuam, a 
 daughter of Premonstre in France. 
 
 DRUIN-LA-CROSS, a daughter of Driebowig in county of Ar- 
 magh, and diocese of Connor. We shall show that he is much 
 mistaken here. 
 
 GRAFERGOSESIS, a daughter of Drierbourg, in the same dio- 
 cess andcounty. Another mistake, grosser than the former. 
 
 HOLY TRINITY OF LOKE, a daughter of Premonstre, in 
 the diocess of Elphin, province of Tuam. Another instance, 
 that he knew little of Ireland, and that his information was erro- 
 
 neous. 
 
 BALINEUALENSIS, a daughter of Premonstre, in county of 
 Armagh. A corruption of words. 
 
 KELVEINENACENSIS. a daughter of Tuam, in the diocess of 
 Enaghdowne, which he corruptly calls Dicecesis Evetanensis. 
 
 Ware does not agree with Le Page, even as to the number of 
 houses, which he places thus. 
 
 P 
 
170 MONASTICAN HIBERNICUM. 
 
 The abbey of theHoly Trinity at Tuam. 
 
 The abbey of Enaghdown. 
 
 The abbey of the Holy Trinity at Logh-oughter, county Cavan. 
 
 The abbey of Goodborn, or Woodborn, near Carrickfergus. 
 
 He also adds one house at Ballimore, in West-Meath; but 
 then he himself places it among the. order of St. Gilbert, whose 
 houses were composed of religious men of the order of the Pre- 
 monstratenses, and religious women of the Cistercian order. 
 
 Ware likewise adds the priory in the town of Galway ; but 
 owns that the said house was afterwards given to the Dominicans, 
 or Black Friars, and that the Premonstratenses were trans- 
 lated from thence to Tuam. This is not to be reckoned. 
 
 Ware adds two cells bélonging to this order, both in the county 
 of Sligo, the one called Kilamoy, or Atmoy, and the other 
 Kilras. 
 
 Let us now see what may be said of all these houses, in regard 
 to the denominations they went by, and time when, and places 
 where they were founded, and by whom. We will begin with 
 the province of Connaught, because the principal house of this 
 order was at ‘that place, there being none either in Leinster of 
 Munster. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF CONNAUGHT, CO. OF GALWAY. 
 TUAM ABBEY. 
 
 At Tuam, asmall town, but the metropolitan see of the pro- 
 vince of Connaught, was the abbey of the Holy Trinity, founded, 
 as is said, by one of the Burkes, Earl of Clanricarde, in the 
 twelfth century, and the reign of king John. Le Page only tells 
 us, that this house was in the archdiocess of Tuam, whereas he 
 should have added that it was in the town of thatname. Healso 
 will have it to be a daughter of Premonstre in France; but- 
 Mireus, on the contrary, affirms it was a daughter of the abbey 
 of Steinfield in Podolia, in the kingdom of Poland. Alle- 
 mande thinks he goes too far to find the mother of this daughter. 
 Mirus says, that this abbey was made the cathedral of the arch- 
 bishopric of Tuam, which Ware denies, and has Le Page on his 
 side, who, having reckoned up all the cathedrals that wer¢ served 
 by canons of this order, does not mention that of Tuam. © 
 
 
 
 ENAGHDOWN ABBEY. 
 
 At Enaghdown, once an episcopal see, was, according to 
 Ware, the abbey entitled of St. Mary, or Our Lady de Portu 
 Patrum, a daughter of the abbey of Tuam. Le Page calls it 
 Kailvainena, or Kaivainenacensis; but erroneously, as Ware ob- 
 serves; and that which inclines Allemande to believe that Le Page 
 has corrupted the name, is, that he calls the Bishopric of Enagh- 
 down, Eyectanensis; yet it was neyer so called, but Enaghdiu- 
 nensis. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 17] - 
 
 COUNTY OF ROSCOMMON. 
 LOUGHKEE ABBEY. 
 
 There was an abbey of this order in the island of the Holy 
 Trinity, in the lake which Ware calls Loughkee, and Le Page 
 Loke. The latter says, that this house was a daughter of Pre- 
 monstre in France, and that it was in the diocess of Elphin. This 
 abbey was founded in 1215, by Mac Moylan, an Irish archdeacon © 
 of Elphin. Granted 10th Aug., 36 Elizabeth, to Robert Har- 
 risson for ever, in free soccage, at £26 13s 8d, now worth £533 
 13s 4d. 
 
 
 
 ~ 
 
 COUNTY OF SLIGO. 
 KILAMOY AND KILRAS CELLS. 
 
 Only Ware assigns to this order the cells of Kilamoy, or At- 
 moy, and Kilras, which were subordinate to the abbey above 
 spoken of. -They were also founded by the same archdeacon 
 of Elphin, in 1233. Granted to said Robert Harrisson, who 
 assigned them to William Crofton. . 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF ULSTER, COUNTY OF ARMAGH. 
 DRUIN-LA-CROIX ABBEY. 
 
 Le Page places the abbey of Druin-la-Croix in this county, 
 and says it was a daughter of the abbey of Drieburgh in Scot- 
 land, andin the diocess Converrensis, whereas he should have 
 said Connorensis, or of Connor. Ware makes no mentions of it. 
 
 BALINEVALLENSIS. 
 
 Le Page likewise places in this county the house he calls Ba- 
 linevallensis, a daughter of Premonstre, Allemande knew not 
 yee to think of it, for other authors take no notice of any such 
 
 ouse. 
 
 COUNTY OF ANTRIM. 
 WOODBURN ABBEY. — 
 
 Ware gives to this county the abbey of Goodborn, or Wood- 
 born, near the town of Carrickfergus. He adds, that it was a 
 daughter of the abbey of Drieburgh, and founded by some Scot- 
 tish great men, who settled in this county. I suppose he means 
 the Bissets. Le Page calls this house Grafergosensis, a word cor- 
 rupted, instead of Knockfergus, or Carrickfergus; but he is much 
 more mistaken in placing it in the county of Armagh, for it was 
 in the county of Antrim and diocess of Connor. Surrendered in 
 1542 to the Commissioners of Henry VIII, 
 
172 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 COUNTY OF CAVAN., 
 HOLY TRINITY ABBEY. 
 
 Ware places an abbey of this order in an island, which he calls 
 the Holy Trinity, lying in thelake called Lough-Oughter ; and 
 says it was founded there by Clarus Mac-Moylan, archdeacon of 
 Elphin, and that Charles O’ Reilly, an Irish gentleman, was a be- 
 nefactor to it.. However, other authors do not make the least 
 mention of this house, and being in anisland of the Holy Trinity, 
 in alake, or lough, and founded by an archdeacon of Elphin, in 
 the thirteenth century, all of which agreeing with the abbey, of 
 the same order, we placed in Roscommon, also ina lough, and 
 in an island of the Holy Trinity, by the same founder and the 
 same century. Allemande says he cannot question but that 
 it was the very same. However, there being some difference as 
 to the time of their foundation, the one being in 1215, and the 
 other in 1249, it is not at all improbable but that they might have 
 been two different houses. Granted, 1570, by queen Elizabeth, 
 to Hugh O’Reilly of the Brenie, head of his sept, for twenty-. 
 one years, at £2 15s 8d, now worth £55 13s 4d. Perhaps he 
 was ejected for non-payment of rent; for, by an inquisition taken, 
 27 Elizabeth, he was found in arrears for eleven and a half 
 year’s rent, for this and the monastery of Drumlan. 
 
 eee rae 
 
 THE ORDER OF ST. GILBERT, 
 
 HAVING SOME DEPENDANCE ON THAT OF THE PRE- 
 MONSTRATENSES, 
 
 At Ballimore, in the County of West Meath, there was a 
 house of this order, founded about 1218, inhabited by Regular 
 Canons Premonstratenses, and nuns of the Cistercian order, 
 living near them in the same manner, says Allemande, as the 
 Franciscan Observants, and the nuns of St. Clare of the Ave 
 Maria live at Paris. Several inquisitions in reigns of Henry 
 VIII. and Elizabeth 
 

 

 
 A TRINITARIAN FRIAR, 
 
Dyn 
 
 CONVENTS, PRIORIES, AND HOSPITALS, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CRUCIFERI, OR TRINITARIANS, 
 FOR THE REDEMPTION OF CAPTIVES, 
 COMMONLY CALLED IN ENGLAND CROSSED, OR CRUTCHED FRIARS, 
 
 FOUNDED UNDER THE RULE OF ST, AUGUSTIN. 
 
 Tue order of the Blessed Trinity, for the redemption of cap- 
 tives out of the hands of infidels, was instituted in France by St. 
 John of Matha, doctor of Paris, and by St Felix, of the-house 
 ef Valois, in 1197, both holy priests and solitaries, called to this 
 work of mercy, like Moses and Aaron, by heavenly visions; and 
 was confirmed the following year of 1198, by pope Innocent III., 
 as appears from the first book of his Decretal Epistles, in which 
 the rule of this order is inserted. This commerce of charity soon 
 extended itself over Europe; it was propagated in Scotland in 
 1211, in England and Ireland soon after The first house in 
 England was that of Richmond, in Yorkshire, near Knaresbo- 
 rough, founded by Richard Plantaganet, earl of Cornwall, and 
 
 - emperor elect of the Romans, brother to Henry IILI., king of 
 
 England, in 1219. That of London, in Hart-street, near Lea- 
 denhall-street, founded by Ralph Hozier and William Sabernes, 
 citizens thereof, in 1298; an account of which religious houses, 
 and others of the order, with the pontifical, and royal privileges in 
 favour of the redemption of captives, may be found in the tower 
 of London, in the royal exchequer in the palace of Lambeth, 
 near London, and in the archives of Westminster Abbey, as 
 appears from father Dominick Lopez’s historical accouuts of the 
 Trinitarians of the three kingdoms, printed at Madrid in 1714, 
 which he translated from father Jobn Figueras Carpie’s Annals 
 
176 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 and Chronicle of the order, printed at Verona in 1645, who had 
 been for some time disguised in England for this purpose; as also 
 from father Bonaventure Baro, of the order of St. Francis, 
 who wrote and printed at Rome the Trinitarian Annals; who 
 also takes notice that the Trinitarians were vulgarly called in 
 England the Crossed, or Crutched Friars, from the cross they 
 have on the bosom, and left arm of their habit. To this day, says 
 he, they call Crutched Friars the place where the convent was 
 at London. Sir James Ware, in his Antiquities, calls them 
 Cross-bearers: Monsieur Allemande’s translators and improver 
 calls them Crutched Friars, both making them a different order 
 from the Trinitarians, I cannot see with what foundation ; for, 
 acco1ding to these authors, the institution of the Cross-bearers, 
 or Crutched Friars, was that of hospitallers under St. Augustin’s 
 rule, which the Mathurin’s (so called from their convent at 
 Paris, formerly an hospital of St. Mathurin) or Trinitarians of 
 France follow, and profess to this day. The pious work of hos- 
 pitality is commanded in the primitive rule of this order, in the 
 thirty-third section, in these words: ‘Every night, at least, in 
 the hospital before the poor, let them pray for the state and peace 
 of the holy Roman Church, and of all christendom, and for their 
 benefactors, and for all those the universal church usually 
 prays.” 
 
 Honorius I[V., A D. 1285, in a Bull directed to the house of 
 Ancona, of the order of the Blessed Trinity, writes thus of their 
 hospitality: ‘‘ Which, though others laudably discharge, they 
 notwithstanding study to fulfil more laudably its duties, who, 
 making it their cheif employment, not only receive; but bring the 
 poor andsick to their houses. As therefore the beloved children, 
 the minister and brethren of this order, labour with all their 
 might to relieve the necessities of the poor flocking to them from 
 all parts, &c.”? Innocent VIII in his bull directed to the order 
 in 1458 and 1486, which begins Dum ad sacrum Ordinem, says: 
 ‘“‘ While we take into consideration the holy order of the sacred 
 Trinity of the redemption of Captives; while we revolve in our. 
 mind the plentiful harvest which this order incessantly brings 
 forth in the field of the militant church, and the wholesome works 
 which are without interruption practised continually by them, out 
 of the pious offerings made them by the faithful. Accord- 
 ing to their primitive institution, all their goods are divided 
 into three parts, one of which is converted into hospitality, which 
 in each house of said order is charitably observed, &c.”’ Let us 
 hear to the same purpose the ancient testimony of James de 
 Vitriaco, cardinal bishop of Frascati, and bishop also of Ancona, 
 A. D. 1232, in his Oriental History, p. 329. “ There is another 
 order of priests and lay-brothers, holy and acceptable to God, in 
 every place of its habitation, serving God under the title of the 
 Blessed Trinity; hence they are called Brethren, or Friars of 
 the Holy Trinity, &c. And, because corporal exercise is no 
 small help towards advancing in piety, they abound so much in 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 177 
 
 works of mercy, that all their goods of what soever, they always 
 divide into three parts; one for the redemption of captives groan- 
 ing in the Saracen bondage; the other for the relief of the poor 
 and sick, whom they mercifully receive into their houses, serving 
 them humbly in their own persons; the third part they reserve for 
 their own use, to support any wholive a sober and poor life. In 
 this fullness of charity, in this abundance of piety, they are there- 
 by become so many models to other religious to pattern by, &c.” 
 Such were the sentiments also of venerable Humbertres Hedus 
 de Romanis, fifth master-general of the holy order of preachers, 
 writing in 1268, in his book De Medo cudensi Sermones, 27ih 
 epistle, p. 150. ‘‘The religious,’’ says he, ‘ofthe Holy Trinity, 
 to whom Innocent III. gave their rule to live by, reserve the 
 third part of all they possess for the redemption of captives, that 
 are in slavery among the infidels; but the other two parts they 
 make use of in their own support, and in works of mercy, in 
 which they entertain the poor: so that all their goods are divided 
 into three parts, one for the ransom of captives whom the infidels 
 load with chains; the other they employ in works of mercy in 
 their houses ; and the third in their own subsistence.”’ 
 
 In fine, the Trinitarians have hospitals, not only in Europe, 
 but also in Africa at Algiers, and Tunis, to comfort poor captives 
 in their forlorn situation, to share in their painful suffering, and 
 support them in their faith, too often put the most severe trials. 
 And as the church declares of the holy founder, St. John of 
 Matha, ‘that he built monasteries, and erected hospitals ;’’ so 
 did his children, successors of his spirit and charity, in succeed- 
 ing ages. From all which we may justly infer, that the works 
 of mercy, of redeeming captives; aud of hospitality, were from 
 its foundation the distinguishing characters of the order blessed 
 Trinity ; and that the Trinitarians and the Crutched Friars are 
 the same religious order. Hence the ingenious and accurate Mr 
 Lodge, writing (vol. I. p. 9.) of the convent of Adare, calls it, 
 “‘The Crutched Friary, for the redemption of captives, imprisoned 
 by pagans.’’ 
 
 Most of the houses or priories this order had in Ireland were 
 also hospitals, because these religious men are hospitallers by their 
 institution, and under the rule of St. Augustin. They had only 
 fourteen priories in Ireland, whereof eight were hospitals; their 
 names are these: 
 
 Priory and hospital of Dublin, 
 
 Priory of Ross, or Ross-bridge, co. Wexford, 
 
 Priory in the town of Athy, co. Kildare, 
 
 Priory and hospital of Castledermot, same co. 
 
 Priory and hospital of Newtown, near Trim, ) county East 
 
 Priory and hospital of Kells, or Kenlis, Meath, 
 
 Priory and hospital of Kilkenny-West, in West Meath, 
 
 Priory and hospital of the Bear, 
 
 Priory of St. Laurence, at Drogheda, 
 
 Priory and hospital of St. John Baptist, 
 
178 ¥ MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 Priory of Ardee, co. Louth, 
 
 Priory of St. Leonard in Dundalk, co. Louth, . 
 
 English priory in the town of Down. 
 
 Priory and hospital in the town of Tuam, province of Con~ 
 naught. 
 
 Priory of Randon, or of Teac-eon, county of Roscommon. 
 
 Let us now inquire the jtime when, and the denominations 
 under which, they were founded, and the names of their founders 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF MUNSTER, COUNTY OF LIMERICK, 
 ADARE MONASTERY, 
 
 This order, Allemande most erroneously says, had only one 
 house in Ireland, which, as Ware in forms us, was at Adare a 
 small town in the county of Limerick and province of Munster, 
 built by the Clangibbons, Irishmen of quality, in the reign of 
 king Edward I. about the middle of the thirteenthcentury. The 
 famous Gaguin, who was general of this order, says, this house 
 was at Athacia, in the diocess of Limerick. The author of the 
 Idea of this order, assigns this house the same. situation ; which 
 made Allemande believe, that Ware mistook it, and that this com- 
 munity was at Athassel, on the borders of the counties of Lime- 
 rick and Tipperary, and not at Adare, which is within eight 
 miles of Limerick. Granted, 37 Elizabeth, with all its posses- 
 sions, together with the possessions of the Grey Friars, Preach. 
 ing Friars, and Augustinian Friars, the Abbey of Monasterne- 
 nagh, and the Nunnery of St. Catherine, to Sir Henry Wallop, 
 at the rent of £26 17s 8d, now worth £537 13s 4d, he being 
 bound to maintain two horsemen on the premises. : 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF LEINSTER, COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 
 DUBLIN PRIORY, 
 
 In Dublin was a priory of the invocation of St. John 
 Baptist, founded in 1188, by Palmer, an Ostman, that is, 
 of Danish origin, and of the family which were afterwards 
 earls of Castlemain. This Palmer was also the first prior, 
 and this priory was afterwards an hospital; and in the reign of 
 king Edward LII., there were in it 155 sick persons, besides the 
 chaplains and lay brothers. In short, this house was one of the 
 richest of the order in Ireland. The house, site and possessions, 
 were granted to James Segrave of Dublin, for £1,078 15s 8d, 
 now worth £21,575; and the yearly rent of 2s 6d, now worth £2 10. 
 
 
 
 MONASTERY OF THE HOLY TRINITY, 
 
 Founded in 1259, by the Talbot family; granted, 34 Henry 
 VIII, to Walter Tyrrell, at the yearly rent of 6s 1d, now 
 worth £6 Is 8d, 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 179 
 
 COUNTY OF WEXFORD. 
 ROSS PRIORY. . 
 
 Ware does not mention the priory this order had in the 
 town of Ross; but Wading has a bull of pope Eugenius IV. 
 of 1475, which states that the Crutched Friars of this town were 
 all murdered by the inhabitants of Ross, because one of those 
 religious men had killed a principal townsman there; and that 
 the said inhabitants confiscated the said priory to the use of 
 thetown. However, the pope by that bull, pardons the order in 
 general for the crime committed by those friars, and ordains that 
 their monastery be restored to them, excommunicating the inha- 
 bitants for the slaughter they had made. Allemande does not 
 know whether this be not what Camden means, when he says, 
 that a war which happened between some religious men and the 
 inhabitants of Ross, was the reason why the fine walls of that 
 place were demolished. Elizabeth, daughter and heiress to 
 Richard, earl Strongbow, an English nobleman to whom Ross 
 belonged, built them. Wading at first believed that this quar- 
 rel had been between the Franciscans and the inhabitants ; but 
 having found the bull we have mentioned, he retracted. Camden 
 dees not name’ what religious men those were. Allemande 
 considers there were Augustinians in the town, besides the Fran- 
 ciscans and the Crutched Friars. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY KILDARE. 
 ATHY PRIORY. 
 
 At Athy, a town on the river Barrow, beyond the bridge, was 
 the priory of St. John, or of St. Thomas, for it is not agreed to 
 which it appertained, founded in the twelfth century, in the 
 reign of king John, by Richard St. Michael, lord of the castle 
 of Rhebane. Granted, 17 Charles I1., to Dame Mary Meredith. 
 
 
 
 CASTLE-DERMOT PRIORY. 
 
 At Castle-Dermot was a priory and hospital, founded in the 
 reign of king John, by Walter Riddlesfort, an English nobleman. 
 ’ This small town is so called from St. Dermot, who did penance 
 there during his life, that place being then a desert. Granted, 
 23 Elizabeth, to Henry Harrington. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY EAST-MEATH., 
 NEWTOWN PRIORY. 
 
 At Newtown, being a suburb to the town of Trim, from which 
 it is parted by the river Boyne, was the priory and hospital of 
 
180 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 St. John Baptist, founded, by a bishop of Meath, in fie: thirteenth 
 eentury. Granted to Robert Dillon. 
 
 
 
 KELLS PRIORY. 
 
 At Kells, or Kenlis, a small town on the river called the 
 Blackwater, which falls into the Boyne, was a priory and hos- 
 pital of St. John Baptist, founded in the reign of king Richard’ 
 [., towards the end of the twelfth century, by Walter Lacy, an 
 Englishman, lord of Meath. Surrendered, with its possessions, 
 31 Henry VIIL, and granted, 8 Elizabeth, to Richard Slane, 
 at £14 10s per annum, now worth £290. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY WEST MEATH., 
 _ KILKENNY WEST PRIORY. 
 
 At Kilkenny-West was a priory and hospital of St. Jolin Bap- 
 tist, built, as some say, presently after the conquest, by the 
 Tyrrels, English noblemen, and titular barons of Fertulogh in 
 Ireland; for it is to be observed, that in that country there 
 were two sorts of barons, the titular and the parliamentary. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF LOUTH. 
 DROGHEDA PRIORIES. 
 
 At Drogheda, or Tredagh, as the English called it, was a 
 priory and hospital entitled of the Bear, because founded by 
 Ursus de Suamel, an Englishman of distinction, in 1206. Ware 
 says this house originally was only an hospital, and then belonged 
 to the Regular Canons of St. Augustin, and that it was after- 
 wards given to the Crouched Friars ; : but he knows not at what 
 time that happened. 
 
 In the same town the inhabitants founded the priory of St. 
 Laurence; but authors do not tell us at what time. 
 
 Near the same town was likewise the priory and hospital of 
 St. John Baptist, which was on this side the Boyne towards 
 Dublin, founded in the twelfth century, by Walter Lacy, an 
 Englishman, lord of Meath, who founded many other houses of 
 several orders in Ireland. ‘ 
 
 
 
 ARDEE PRIORY. 
 
 At Ardee or Atherdee, another town in the same county, 
 was apriory of St. John Baptist, founded in 1207, by -Roger 
 Pipard, an Englishnan, lord of that town. (See Augustinians 
 here.) 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 18] 
 DUNDALK PRIORY, 
 
 At Dundalk, a small sea-port town in the same county, was 
 the priory of St. Leonard, founded in the reign of king Henry II. 
 by Verdon, an Englishman. Granted, with all the possessions, 
 in town and country, 1 Elizabeth, to Henry Draycot, at the 
 yearly rent of £11, now worth £220. 
 
 A Grey Friary, built in the time of Henry III., by Lord John 
 de Verdon; granted, 35 Henry VIIJI., to James Brandon, at 
 the fine of £9 JQs, now worth £190 10s. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF ULSTER, COUNTY DOWN. 
 DOWN PRIORY. 
 
 At Down, the capital of the county, and an episcopal see, was 
 the priory of St. John Baptist, founded in the twelfth century, 
 by the famous John de Courcy, the English general. It was 
 called the English priory, to distinguish it from one they called 
 the Irish, which was in the same town, and belonged to the 
 Regular Canons of St. Augustin. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF CONNAUGHT. CO. OF GALWAY, 
 TUAM PRIORY. 
 
 At Tuam, the Archiepiscopal See, was a Priory and Hospital 
 founded in 1140, by O’Connor, king of Ireland. Ware was un- 
 certain to what order this house belonged. Granted to Richard, 
 earl of Clanrickard. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF ROSCOMMON. 
 RANDON PRIORY. 
 
 At Randon, otherwise called Teac-eon, was the priory of St. 
 John Baptist, founded some say, by king John. It was in his 
 reign; and the Nangles, Englishmen of distinction, were only 
 benefactors to it under king Henry III. This place is on the 
 bank of Loughrea, and there was formerly a strong castle, 
 whereof only the ruins now remain. Ware doubts if it belonged 
 ’ to this order. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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 A BENEDICTIN MONK. 
 

 
ABBEYS, 
 PRIORIES, MONASTERIES, AND CELLS, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ORDER OF ST. BENEDICT, 
 
 FORMERLY OF IRELAND. 
 
 If we were to treat of the order of St. Benedict, as it was in 
 the first ages of its settling, there would be, in Ireland, found 
 more houses of that order than we shall assign, as has been ob- 
 served in speaking of the Regular Canons, who by one means or 
 other possessed themselves of many houses that originally be- 
 longed to the Benedictins; wherefore it is needless to repeat 
 what has been already said concerning those changes, most of 
 which are so uncertain that nothing can be positively asserted of 
 them ; for it is still a controversy among those authors who have 
 treated of the ecclesiastical affairs of Ireland, to which of these 
 two orders most of those houses belonged. It will therefore, 
 suffice to set down the houses which actually did belong to 
 the Benedictins, at the time of the suppression of monasteries 
 under king Henry VIII., and at the same time to observe, that 
 several of their houses had been taken from them some time be- 
 fore to be given to other orders. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF LEINSTER, COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 
 DUBLIN ABBEY. 
 
 The abbey of Our Lady of Oustmanby in Dublin, belonged 
 to the Benedictins, but was given to the Cistercians, in 1139. 
 See the Cistercian order. 
 
 Dublin, in Great Ship-street, a monastery founded by king 
 James II on the 6th of June, 1689 hi 
 
 2 
 
186 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 About the same time another Benedictin nunnery was erected 
 in Channel-row, opposite to Red-Cow-lane, in Dublin, and the 
 church was consecrated under the invocation of St. Brigit, by 
 Dr, Patrick Russell, archbishop.of Dublin, in the presence of 
 king James II. But this monastery was kept by Dominican nuns 
 from 1716 until its removal thirty or forty years since. 
 
 
 
 AT LEIXLIP. 
 
 A monastery stood in 1463 near this village. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF WEXFORD. 
 GLASSCARRIG ABBEY. 
 
 At Glasscarrig, a small town on the coast, was an abbey, 
 founded by some English persons, in the twelfth century ; some 
 say by Griffith Condon, David Roche, and others, in the four 
 teenth century. 
 
 COUNTY OF WESTMEATH. 
 FOURE PRIORY. 
 
 At Foure was the priory of St. Taurinus, being a cell to the 
 abbey of St. Taurinus, in the city of Evreux in Normandy. 
 See it among the Regular Canons of St. Augustin. Founded by 
 St. Fechin in the seventh century; afterwards for Benedic- 
 tines in 1218. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF MUNSTER, COUNTY WATERFORD. 
 WATERFORD PRIORY. 
 
 At Waterford, the capital of the county, and an episcopal see, 
 was the priory of St. John Evangelist, founded by king John, 
 when he was but earl of Morton, that is, during the life of his 
 father king Henry II., and his brother king Richard I. The 
 said king John called this priory his Alms House, by which it 
 appears that it was very rich. It wasa cell to the abbey of Bath, 
 in England, 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF CORK. 
 CORK PRIORY, 
 
 At Cork, the capital city of the county, and an episcopal see, 
 was another priory of this order, founced by king John, and 
 likewise a cell to the abbey of Bath. 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 187 
 
 At Cork, in St. James’s-st., a monastery of St. John Baptist, 
 founded by William de Barry, ancestor to the earls of Barry- 
 more, A. D. 1300. 
 
 
 
 ’ COUNTY OF TIPPERARY, 
 CASHEL ABBEY. 
 
 At Cashel was an an abbey of this order, called of Rupe- 
 Cashel, suppressed by an archbishop of that city, having expelled 
 the Benedictins, and given their possessions to an abbey of Ber. 
 nardins, which he founded in that town. See it in the Cistercian 
 order, 
 
 
 
 LOGHROE. 
 
 See an account of this house among the Regular Canons, 
 
 
 
 TIRDAGLAS ABBEY. 
 
 At Tirdaglas, a town formerly in better repair than it is at 
 present, was, as Allemande thought, the only abbey St Collum- 
 ban had in Ireland. Heisthe same person who founded Luxueil 
 and some other abbeys in France. Historians tell us, that St. 
 Colman, bishop of Lindisfarn and Mayo, was also abbot there. 
 Be it as it will, Allemande did not pretend to affirm that the Be- 
 nedictins kept this abbey of Tirdaglas till the reign of Henry 
 VIII., or could preserve it from the encroachments of the Re- 
 gular Canons in Ireland; for he did not find this abbey belonged 
 to the Benedictins at the time of the suppression of monasteries. 
 
 
 
 KILCOMON ABBEY. 
 
 At Kilcomon was the priory of Ss. Philip and Jacob, founded 
 by Philip of Worcester, an English nobleman, about 1184, the 
 foundation charter whereof is in the Monasticon Anglicanum. 
 lt appears that the founder was constable of lreland, and that 
 he gave several lands, of which he was possessed in that king- 
 dom, to the abbots of Glastonbury, upon condition that they 
 should build a monastery of their order at Kilcumon, which 
 place he also gave them; and thus this priory was a cell to that 
 abbey, which Ware has not taken notice of. 
 
 
 
 PROVINCE OF CONNAUGHT, COUNTY OF MAYO. 
 MAYO, INNISBOFINDE, AND TEMPLE GERARD ABBEYS. 
 
 Allemande takes notice in this country of the abbeys of Mayo 
 and Innisbofinde, fonnded by St. Colman, and that of Temple 
 Gerard, or Elytheria,, built by St. Gerard, because not only the 
 
188 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 Benedictin writers, as Trithemus and Wion; but many others 
 adfirm, that those saints were of the order of St. Benedict, and 
 that these abbeys were of the same order from their first institu- 
 tion; but, with regard to that, as Ware and Colgan, (who were 
 so knowing in the antiquities of Ireland,) declare that the said 
 
 houses were in the possession of the Regular Canons, at the time « 
 
 of the suppression of monasteries by king Henry VIII., I thought 
 
 it proper to place them under the order of the Regular Canons 
 of St. Augustin. 
 
 
 
 ARDCANE CELL. 
 
 At Ardcane was a cell of this order. Ware says, it was united 
 to the nunnery of Kilcreunata, or Casta Sylva, that is, Chaste- 
 Wood, under the county of Galway. 
 
 
 
 AT ARDCARNE. 
 
 A nunnery of Benedictines, which was a cell to the abbey of 
 Kilcreunata, in the county of Galway. 
 
 
 
 AT KILCREUNATA, 
 
 A uunnery, founded, in 1200, by Cathald O’Connor Crovderg, 
 for Benedictine nuns; Lady Fynola, daughter of Felym O’Con- 
 nor, was abbess in 1300. Granted to Richard, Earl of Clan- 
 ricarde. 
 
 
 
 AT KILLOEBHAIN. 
 
 A religious house of some sort. St. Maccectus of this house 
 was smith to St. Patrick, and made the famous relic called Finn- 
 faidhead. Now the Protestant place of worship. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF ROSCOMMON. 
 ATHLONE ABBEY, 
 
 At Athtone was an abbey of St. Benedict. See what is said 
 of it in the Cistercian order. 
 
 
 
 INNISMEAN CELL. 
 
 At Innismean, or the isle of Mean, was a cell of this order ; 
 which Ware says was also united to the nunnery of Kilcreunata 
 in the county of Galway. 
 
 s 
 
CANONS REGULAR. 189 
 
 PROVINCE OF ULSTER, COUNTY OF DOWN. 
 DOWN ABBEY. 
 
 At Down, the capital of the county, and an episcopal see, 
 was an ancient priory, the church, whereof then was and still is, 
 the cathedral, under the invocation of the Holy Trinity. The 
 famous John de Courcy, earl of Ulster, and general of the En- 
 glish, turned out the secular canons in 1183, placed Benedictin 
 monks in their stead, and at the same time changed the title of the 
 Holy Trinity into that of St. Patrick; whereupon Camden, in 
 his Chronicle of Ireland, reports, that the said Courcy being 
 made prisoner by order of John, king of England, on account 
 of his refusing to do homage to him, for the lands he held in Ire- 
 land, alledging, that he had helped to conquer them; he often 
 cried out in the prison: ‘‘O! my God, why do you treat me thus, 
 who have built, founded, and repaired so many regular houses ?”’ 
 The same author also asserts that the Holy Trinity appeared to 
 him in his sleep, and said: ‘“‘ why have youtaken me from the 
 place I held in the church of Down, and given it to St Patrick ? 
 For that reason you shall never be restored to your possessions 
 in Ireland; but for the good things you have done in that king- 
 dom, you shall be honourably discharged out of prison ;”? which 
 aiterwards happened accordingly. To return to the priory of 
 Down; St. Malachy, bishop of the place, gave large possessions 
 to it, as may be seen in the donation charter, which is at length 
 in the additions to the Monasticon Anglicanum, where are the 
 names of above fifty parcels of land which that archbishop gave 
 to the priory, only reserving to himself the moiety of the offerings 
 made at the feasts of Christmas, the Purification, St Patrick 
 Easter, and Whitsuntide. He farther expressly reserved to him- 
 self the dignity of abbot, wherefore, says Allemande, this house 
 had after that the title of an abbey, although only a priory at its 
 first foundation. 
 
 By the said foundation charter it farther appears, that this ab- 
 bey or priory had some dependance on the abbey of St Werburgh 
 at Chester, in England; for De Courcy, the founder, gave the 
 abbey of St Werburgh several lauds he had in England, upon con; 
 dition that the convent there should send a prior and monks ta 
 settle in tho cathedral of Down. The same founder also added 
 that he would have this priory always to depend on that abbey, 
 
 We farther find in the Monasticon, that the founder gave to 
 the priors of Down, all the demesnes he had about that town, and 
 particularly the land of Ballicrou, and that of St George, on which 
 part of the town of Down had a dependence. He likewise gave 
 “his tolls on the rivers of Strangford, Carlingford, Carrickfergus, 
 Bann, and all others he had in Ireland, with the exception of the 
 toll of Lothcatel and Art. He also gave the tithe of all his cattle 
 that he had on his lands, and of all his fisheries. 
 
 There is another charter, by which Hugh De Lacy, though an 
 enemy to the founder, gave the right of fishing on the river Bann 
 
190 MONASTICON HIBERNICUM. 
 
 to this priory. I have thought fit to mention all these particulars, 
 ‘says Allemande, to shew that I say nothing which is improbable, 
 when [ affirm that this priory had about £3,000 revenue; and I 
 conclude with this observation, that the bishops of Down and of 
 Connor, the abbots of Inis, Holm, and Sabol, and the priors of 
 St. Thomas of Mucknor, Carrickfergns, &c., were present at the 
 writing of the foundation charter, and subscribed it. It must not 
 be omitted here, that the abbot or prior of Down was a spiritual 
 Jord, and as such had a seat in Parliament. 
 The monks of this house begged of Henry III. some small dwel- 
 ling in England, and his assistance towards rebuilding their 
 church, which had been burnt during the wars, as appears by-their 
 petition in Foedera et Convent. et p. 250. A-D. 1220. An 4, H.3 
 Ex. Orig. Bundela Brevium in Turre Lond. 
 
 Qi 
 
 ARDES PRIORY. 
 
 In the peninsula of Ards, according to Ware, was the priory of 
 St Andrew, commonly called Black-kill, or the Black Church, 
 from the habits of the Black Monks, or Benedictins, being in 
 that colour. This priory was founded in 1218, by Hugh De Lacy 
 an English nobleman, who made it dependant on Lonley, of the 
 same order, in the diocess of Mans in France, from whence he 
 brought monks to found this priory in Ireland. It is trufe, we 
 are told, that in process of time this priory was united to the ca- 
 thedral of Armagh, and that by the consent of the abbot of Lon- 
 ley, and that the archbishops of Armagh gave £200 sterling in 
 satisfaction to the abbey of Lonley, which was a considerable sum 
 in those days, for it was under Edward III, at the beginning of 
 the fourteenth century. Others pretend that this union was not 
 fully brought to pass till the reign of king Edward II., grandson 
 to Edward III, John Colton being then archbishop of Armagh. 
 This is what Ware reports, which is contrary to what we find in 
 the Monasticon Anglicanum, which gives us the foundation char- 
 ter of this priory, and in it this monastery is called St. Andrew 
 of Stokes; and says the founder was John de Courcy, and not 
 Lacy. By this charter he gives to this priory ten carncates of 
 land in his feof of Art, otherwise called Macalogra, and all the 
 fee-farm tythes from the river Darnout to that of Carlingford, ex- 
 cepting those of the castles of Armagh and Ontagh, which he 
 reserves to himself. The abbot and monks of Lonly in France, 
 also yielded and gave up thispriory to the archbishop of Armagh ; 
 but the charter of surrender being only an extract, it does not 
 mention whether the archbishops gave any consideration for the 
 same. Nor does that charter bear any date, which is an omission 
 too frequent in many others. 
 
 
 
 ERYNACH, 
 Or Carrig, near Erynach, in the same county, abbey of the 
 
\ 
 A, 
 
 x 
 
 CANONS REGULAR. 19] 
 
 Blessed Virgin Mary, founded by Magnellus Makenlesse, A D. 
 1127. 
 
 
 
 NEDDRUM ABBEY, OR PRIORY. 
 
 _+- At Neddrum was an abbey, or priory, founded in 1122, says 
 
 Ware; but the Monasticon places it in 1!79, which Allemande 
 takes to be right, for the foundation charter proves that John de 
 Courcy was the founder, and that, when he had subdued Ulster, he 
 
 gave two thirds of the isle of Neddrum in Ireland to the abbey of St. 
 
 Bega in Coupland, in the county of York in England, upon con- 
 dition that they should build a house of the order of St. Bene- 
 dict, at Neddrum. Now Courcy did tiot stibdue Ulster till king 
 Henry II. arrived in Ireland, which was not till 1172, so that 
 Courcy could not found an abbey in lreland almost fifty years 
 before that; besides, all other foundations in Ireland by this 
 Courcy were after 1172, so that Ware was certainly mistaken in 
 this point. 
 
 But archbishop Ussher differs much more in relation to this 
 abbey of Neddrum, for he tells us, that St. Coelan, or Kelon, 
 who lived in the sixth century, was abbot of Neddrum, and 
 afterwards bishop of Down, which is making that saint the founder 
 of this abbey, almost six hundred years before the founda« 
 tion we have spoken of by Courcy; so that if Ussher had been 
 in the tight, Courcy had been only a benefactor or restorer of 
 this house, and it would have been a great error in Ware and 
 Dugdale to refer the foundation thereof to the twelfth century ; but 
 it was certainly a mistake in Ussher, since the foundation char- 
 ters, which are in the Monasticon at length, do not make the 
 jeast mention of any former foundation. eedg 
 
 There is another charter by which Roger de Dunesford, an 
 Englishman, in 1194, gives to the monks of Neddrum the church 
 of Anelort, with all its reventies, and all other his "possessions, 
 reserving nothing to his heir but the lands of Dunesford, given 
 him by Courcy. Itis to be observed, that this Roger made the 
 
 donation at the time when he took upon himself the habit of St. 
 -* Benedict, in the abbey of St. Bega in Yorkshire, and that his son 
 
 and heir was consenting to the same, whence Allemande infers 
 that the abbey, or priory of Neddrum had a dependance on that 
 of St. Bega. 
 
 Allemande says, that Brion des Eschalers, and other private 
 persons, having bestowed many gifts on this house, they are 
 confirmed by the cardinal of St. Stephen, legate of the holy see. 
 In that charter, dated in the year 1202, this house is called a 
 priory, whereas in all others above-mentioned it is stiled an abbey. 
 
 
 
 COUNTY OF ANTRIM. 
 DRYMILD PRIORY. 
 The Monasticon Anglicanum gives us a grant of one William 
 
 & 
 
199 “ee . MONASTICAN HIBERNICUM. 
 
 de Burgh to F. Richard, a Benedictitfesemk of the abbey of Glas Be 
 tonbury in England, of the land of Ardimur in Ireland,. to build * 
 
 a priory there; which was afterwards called Drymild. This Ri- 
 chard was the first prior there, The charter does not bear any 
 date, nor does it mention in what county: Ardimur, or Drymild, 
 was seated, so that Allemande places it in the county of Antrim, 
 ‘upon some slight conjectures, without Prenne to be oe: 
 
 °° eee 
 
 COUNTY OF LONDONDERRY, ey 
 LONDONDERRY ABBEY. 
 
 Since all authors agree, that the order of St. Columban, which 
 
 was a particular institute in Ireland, and in other parts of Eu- 
 rope. where it get a footing, was afterwards united to that of St. 
 Benedict, and that they were afterwards one and the same order ; 
 though some particular authors pretend, that the order of St. 
 
 Columban from the beginning was not distinct from that of St. , 
 Benedict; but only a peculiar congregation depending on that 
 
 great order, as several others do at this day; we cannot err in 
 ‘giving to the order of St. Benedict, all the houses that ‘St. Co- 
 lumban founded in Ireland; for,, whether by their first institution: 
 they were of this order, or that they became so in process of time, 
 
 still it'is certain that they belonged to that great order of St° Be- 
 
 nedict, and were of the same society, at the time of their sup- 
 
 pression. . This being pre-supposed, we are here to observe, that,. - 
 according: to Ware, St. Columban founded an abbey at’ London; ' 
 derry, in 445, though Ussher says it was in 546, and gives it to — 
 St. Columba. The latter of them seems to bein the right, for 
 
 » the monastery ot Dearmagh, which was also founded by. the 
 
 » game saint, was of the middle of the sixth century, and not of © 
 the fifth. ‘And, whereas Ware tells us, that this abbey wascalled 
 _ the Black Cell, that it was a daughter of the abbey of Armagh, — 
 
 of which we sliall speak. in the next, place, and that Camden 
 
 . a believed St. Columban to have been the founder ; and, on the — 
 ~~ other hand, Ussher says, this abbey of Londonderry was, like — 
 it’s sister, Dearmagh, called the Field of the Oak, or of the little — 
 
 oak, and that it was of the order of Regular Canons of St. Au- 
 gustin:’ all this, I say, inclines me to believe, that there two 
 several abbeys at Londonderry, whereof that which Ware tells 
 us was of the order of St,.Benedict, and daughter to that of Ar- 
 _magh, had been founded ‘by St. Columban. However, that 
 
 which made Allemande hesitate on this occasion is, that the fifth 
 
 century does not suit with that saint, who did not live till long after, 
 - as we shall make « 
 
 
 
 with the difference there was between St. Columban and St. 
 Columba, but doubtless deceived by the resemblance of the names, 
 
 though they were both founders of orders. It is also to be oe . it 
 
 a To, ne full information im sc) ae that St.” 
 
 : ¢ rh 
 +94: 
 
 appear in speaking of the abbey of Armagh. he 
 _ Ware, as well as Some other authors, were not well acquainted ~ 
 
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