Abbeys of Galway

Walsh c. xlvi., p. 444

Abbey Knockmoy of the Hill of Victory in the barony of Tiaquin six miles south east of Tuam This abbey was founded by Cathol O Connor crovdearg king of Connaught for Cistercians in the year 1190 and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary Cathol O Connor having gained a victory over the English built this monastery in thanksgiving for the victory and hence it was called the Hill of Victory It was a daughter to the abbey of Boyle King Cathol the founder was expelled his kingdom in the year 1200 During bis exile William Burke called the Conqueror of Connaught totally spoiled the abbey Cathol was again restored in 1202 AD 1204 died the Conqueror of Connaught William FitzAdelm de Burgo His awful death is recorded in the annals of Clonmacnois as follows William Burke took the spoils of all the churches in Connaught and God and the patrons of these churches shewed their miracles upon him that his entrails and fundament fell from his privy place and it trailed after him to the very earth whereof he died impenitently

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without shrive confession or extreme unction or good burial in the kingdom but in a waste town Gerald Barry gives a frightful character of this warrior and it seems it was not overdrawn as the natives of Connaught give the same picture of him and his descendants to the present day They are said to be men of honeyed lips ahd hearts of poison Sed quicquid honoris says Barry cuiquam impendit semper in insidiis semper in dolo semper propinans sub melle venenum semper latens anguis in herba vir in facie liberalis et lenis intus vero plus aloes quam mellis habens AD 1224 the royal founder having assumed the Cistercian habit in this abbey died on the 28th of May and was interred in the abbey where his tomb yet remains The monument of O Connor is adorned with fresco paintings One compartment represents our Saviour on the cross another exhibits six kings Roderick O Connor the last monarch of Ireland is represented in the group with a shamrock a plant which the Irish greatly regard as St Patrick is said to have held it up as an emblem of the blessed Trinity The princes on his side are his vassals The grand falconer holds a hawk in his hand the other with a sword is the grand marshal Below sits a brehon or judge with his roll of laws having pronounced sentence of death on MacMurrogh's son who was his hostage for the crime of his father because he joined the English The boy is tied to a tree and two archers are executing the sentence his body being transfixed with arrows Hugh O Kelly the last abbot having acknowledged the supremacy of Henry VIII obtamed a grant of the abbey possessions but he enjoyed it a short time only as death put an end to his career The property in the counties of Gal way and Sligo was extensive In 1620 Valentine Blake held the abbey and a considerable part of its possessions

The islands of Arran There are three of those islands in the Western Ocean opposite to the bay of Galway the principal isle is called Aran of the Saints Arran na Naomh Saint Enda having obtained through the

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influence of Saint Ailbe of Emly a grant of the island of Arran from Aengus king of Cashell who it appears did not know of such an island hastened from Ca hell to Arran and immediately set about building a monastery in which he governed one hundred and fifty monks according to the strictest rules of monastic discipline Enda was of the illustrious family of the Princes of Orgiel and son of Conal of Clogher perhaps having been born at or near that place according to some accounts he was brother in law to king Aengus who is said to have been married to his sister Dairine The resort of so many celebrated persons to his monastery and the mention of his name in the calendars and martyrologies shew that ho was a saint both eminent and highly respected It does not appear that he attained a higher dignity than that of abbott it is likely that he founded the monastery about the year 4S0 The festival of this eminent saint is fixed at the 21st of March and his death is assigned to the year 540 St Benedict succeeded He was the brother of Saint Kieran of Saigir In the Calendar of Cashell Benedict is called the Papa of the island of Arran Papa means a father and the Greeks give that name Pappas to every priest Saint Cronan is said to have been abbot of Arran AD 650 Saint Nemius who died the 19th of June is called the comorb of Enda his tomb is shewn in the churchyard of Teglagh Enda AD 755 died the abbot Goimdibla AD 865 died the abbot Moeltulius AD 916 died Egnech bishop anchorite and comorb of Enda AD 1020 the abbey was destroyed by fire AD 1081 the Danes pillaged and destroyed the abbey AD 1334 the isles of Arran and Bophin were plundered burned and hostages taken thence by Sir John Darcy Lord Justice of Ireland who surrounded the island with a fleet of fifty six sail AD 1400 Donatus O Leyne was abbot of Arran The middle or second island subordinate to the first The third is called Ardoilean A description of those islands was furnished by Malachy O Quely archbishop of Tuam to Colgan when compiling the acts of the Irish saints This archbishop was slain near the town of Sligo some of the Puritan troops having lain in ambush for him and his followers 1st The parish church on the great island commonly called Kill Enda lies in the county of Galway it formerly belonged to Munster and hence the application of Enda to the king of that province and

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half barony of Aran and in it is venerated Enda as patron on the 21st of March 2d The church called Teglach Enda to which is annexed a cemetery wherein is the tomb of Saint Enda with one hundred and twenty v seven other sepulchres in which none were ever buried but saints 3d The church called Temple MacLonga dedicated to a Saint Mac Longuis is situated near the parish church sometimes called Kill Enda 4th The church called Temple Mic Canonnagh near the said parish church 5th The church called of St Mary not far from the parish church 6th The church called Temple Benain or the temple of Saint Benignus 7th The church called Mainistir Conachtach or the Connaught Church it was afterwards demolished and a chapel built in its stead dedicated to Saint Kieran 8th Th e church called Killnamanach cell of the monks which was dedicated to Saint Caradoc suniamed the rough 9th The church called Temple Assurnuidhe which is said to be dedicated to Saint Assurnidhe or perhaps Asserninus this church is held in the greatest veneration among the islanders 10th Called Tempuil na Creathuir aluin church of the four beautiful saints who were Fursey Brendan of Birr Conall and Berchan whose bodies are also said to be buried in the same tomb lying in the cemetery of the same church 11th Called Tempuil Mic Duach or the church of Colman and is a handsome church dedicated to that saiut 12th Tempuil Brecain or the church of Brecan a handsome one and formerly the parochial church dedicated to this saint and in which his feast is celebrated on the 22d of May 13th Another church of Brecan The second island has a church called Tempuil Ceannannach dedicated to the same Saint Ceannannach and another dedicated to the Blessed Virgin both of which are subject to the parish of Saint Enda The third island called Ard oilen or High Island 1st The church of Kill Choemhain dedicated to Saint Coeman and in which he is also venerated 2d A church consecrated to Saint Paul 3d Killgradh an Domhain in which is venerated Saint Gobnata on the 11th of February High Island does not properly belong to the isles of Arran it is several leagues north west of Arran and is at present known by its modern name High Island

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In this High Island is the church of St Coeman in it was a monastery of note which was erected by St Fechin The abbot St Gormgal died on the 5th of August 1017 and was there interred together with divers holy hermits who lived there with him ten of whom are mentioned by Colgan in the life of St Endens Maelsuthunius Celecharius Dubhtacus Dunadachus Cellachus Tfessa chus Ultanus Maelmartinus Coromachns Conmachus et alii plures Gormgall was a very spiritual person and of renowned sanctity and in the annals of the Four Masters is styled chief anchoret of the Irish High Island is situated about six miles from the coast of Omey and contains about eighty acres It is only accessible in the calmest weather and besides its antiquities affords views of the Connemara and Mayo mountains of unsurpassable beauty The church of this island is among the rudest of the ancient structures which the fervor of the Christian religion raised when it was introduced into Ireland Its internal measurement long and broad is but twelve feet by ten and in height ten feet the doorway is two feet wide and four feet six inches high and its horizontal lintel is inscribed with a cross like unto that of the one of the doorway of St Fechin's great church at Fore and of others of the same period The east window the only one in the building is semicircular headed and is but one foot high and six inches wide The altar still remains and is covered with offerings such as nails buttons and shells but chiefly fishing hooks which may have been tributes characteristic of the calling of the votaries On the east side of the chapel is an ancient stone sepulchre composed of large mica slates with a cover of limestone The stones at the ends are rudely sculptured with ornamental crosses and a human figure and the covering slab was also carved The chapel is surrounded with a wall allowing a passage of four feet between them and from this a covered passage about fifteen feet long by three in width leads to a cell which was probably the abbot's habitation This cell which is nearly circular and dome roofed is internally seven feet by six and eight high It is built like those in Aran without cement and with much rude art On the east side there is a larger cell externally round but within a square of nine feet and seven feet six inches in height The doorways in those cells are two feet four inches wide and three feet six inches in height On the other side of the chapel are a number of small cells large enough to contain each a single person they are but six feet long three wide and four feet high and they formed a laura like the dwellings of Egyptian ascetics There is also a covered gallery twenty four feet long four feet wide and four

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feet six inches high and the doorway or entrance is but two feet three inches square This apartment may have been a store for provisions The monastery is surrounded by a stone wall without cement nearly circular enclosing an area of one hundred and eight feet in diameter The entrance into this enclosure is at the south east side and from it leads a stone passage twenty one feet in length and three wide At each side of this entrance and outside the great circular wall were round building which probably were for the use of pilgrims Within the enclosure are several rude stone crosses and flags sculptured with rude crosses In the surrounding ground there are several rude stone altars or penitential stations on which are small stone crosses and on the south side of the enclosure there is a small lake from which an artificial outlet is formed which turned a small mill And along the west side of this lake there is an artificial stone path two hundred and twenty yarda in length which leads to another stone cell of an oval form at the south side of the valley in which the monastery is situated This house is eighteen feet long and nine wide and there is a small walled enclosure joined to it There is also adjoining to it a stone altar surmounted by a cross and a small lake which like the former one seems to have been formed by art Near the church of St Brecan on the great island of Aran is a monumental slab with a cross engraved thereon and which marked the grave of seven Romans who were there interred and on which around the arms of the cross is an inscription in Roman letters denoting the fact The troops of Oliver Cromwell battered the sacred edifices on the islands of Aran On the preaching of St Patrick and the consequent conversion of the kingdom the pagan priests who obstinately refused to submit to the truths of the gospel fled to those islands and there practised the errors of their superstition But to the zeal of St Enda and his disciples paganism yielded its last stronghold and those islands became the isles of saints and anchorites whose orisons ascended to heaven bringing back those special benedictions through which Ireland is and has been the fruitful olive of God's church continually though oppressed and persecuted engendering faithful sons whose tenacity to the faith of their fathers is without parallel in the annals of the world May that tenacity continue and if the chastening hand of the Almighty strike still longer in order to propagate and strengthen the spiritual kingdom of his divine Son may the Irish people be ever ready to bear every trial to make every sacrifice of temporal weal sooner than forego their right to those treasures that are to us invaluable because purchased for us by an infinite price

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Franciscan Friary according to Allemande was founded in one of those isles in the year 1483 Athenry which gives its name to the barony is a market town Meylcr de Bermingham the second baron of Athenry gave to the Dominicans 160 marcs to assist in building their house and granted the site on which to erect the monastery he also presented them with a hogshead of wine This nobje monastery was dedicated under the invocation of SS Peter and Paul AD 1241 AD 1242 a general chapter of the order was held here AD 1252 Meyler the founder was buried in this abbey AD 1256 died Florence McFlynne archbishop of Tuam He founded a house for scholars in this friary and bequeathed many exemplary rules for the friars AD 1263 Thomas O Kelly bishop of Clonfert was interred in this abbey He was a great benefactor to it AD 1374 Thomas Lord Athenry who died in this year was a liberal benefactor to this abbey AD 1423 Pope Martin V the monastery being consumed by fire granted indulgences to all persons visiting it on the feasts of Saint Patrick and Saint Peter ad vincula and contributing to its repairs The same Pope issued them a license to found two convents here AD 1445 Pope Eugene IV enforced the bull of Pope Martin the V and it appears from his bull that there were thirty friars in Athenry Many persons of distinction have been interred in the monastery In the reign of Elizabeth the convent with thirty acres of land in Athenry and twelve in Ballidana was granted to the portrieve and burgesses of the town of Athenry at the yearly rent of 6s 4d Irish money In the year 1296 a sanguinary battle was fought at Athenry by the English and Irish troops Feidhlim O Connor the last of his name who assumed the sovereignty of Connanght with a powerful army met Sir William Leigh de Burgh and Richard de Bermingham the fourth baron of Athenry who were sent against him and one of the most bloody battles on record was fought near the town of Athenry in which the native troops were signally defeated O Connor fell in the battle and 8000 of his troops are said to have been slain The walls of Athenry are said to have been built from the spoils of the vanquished and the power of the O Connors which in this bloody struggle received its final blow was totally destroyed The ruins of this monastery shew it to have been a magnificent building part of it was taken down to erect the present barracks in its

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stead The great east window is bold and of good workmanship The tombs of the many distinguished persons buried in the church have been defaced by the soldiers and thoir fragments scattered over the church Franciscan Friary of Athenry was founded A D 1464 under the invocation of Saint Michael by Thomas earl of Kildare His wife Margaret Gibbon erected the first chapel the second was built by an earl of Desmond and the third by OTully Ballynahinch gives name to the barony A monastery for carmelites or white friars was founded by O Fla herty in the year 1356 No more is known of this house Beagh A monastery for Franciscans of the third order was founded in this place about the year 1441 In an inquisition the 28th of Elizabeth it is called the ruined church of Beagh in the barony of Clare its possessions were half a quarter of land pasture arable &c with its appurtenances and tithes which were long concealed and were of the yearly value of 6s 8d Irish money Boilean Clair in the diocese of Tuam A monastery was founded here for Franciscans in the year 1291 Wadding affirms that this house was very rich and had considerable possessions Clare Galway in the barony of Clare five miles north east of Gal way on a small river which falls into Lough Corrib About the year 1290 John de Cogan built this monastery for Franciscan friars in a very elegant and expensive style On the 7th of March 1368 Thomas lord Athenry granted the lands of Cloy melayn which were contiguous to the town of Clare for the purpose of purchasing bread wine and wax for the celebrating of mass in this friary The high tower in the centre of the church and erected on arches is a curious piece of architecture De Burgo erected a strong castle at this monastery Clochin Cantualaig O Madden founded a monastery for the Franciscans about the beginning of the 15th century It is supposed that this abbey was in the barony of Longford the territory of that family

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possessions Cloonyvornoge a cell of the third order of Franciscans was built about the year 1442 By an inquisition held in the 28th year of queen Elizabeth this chapel was found in possession of half a quarter of land arable and pasture &c and the tithes of the same all of the yearly value of 6s 8d Cluain fois An abbey of this name was founded by St Jarlath of Tuam Hero was a celebrated school about the year 550 Crevehawn a friary of Carmelites which it is supposed owes its foundation to an earl of Clanrickard in the 14th century This monastery with a quarter of land sixteen acres of arable and twelve of pasture in the town and lands of Crevaghbawn was granted to the burgesses and commonalty of the town of Athenry Dundrynan Thomas was abbot of this monastery in the year 1374 and in the 29th year of king Edward III it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary Of this house no more is known Dunmore gives name to the barony and is six miles north of Tuam This place was called Domnach patruic either because St Patrick founded this church or it was dedicated to him Archdall places here a bishop Fulartach whose memory is revered on the 29th of March See Clonard A friary for Augustine Eremites was founded here by Walter de Bermingham lord Athenry in the year 1425 A portion of this building now forms the market place the remaining oart was levelled while another was converted into a parish church Enaghdune in the barony of Clare and on Lough Corrib

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The nunnery was founded by St Brendan lor his sister Briga under the invocation of the Virgin Mary Pope Celestine II by a bull dated the 26th of February AD 1195 did confirm this church together with the town of Kelgel to the nuns of the order of Aroasia The steeple or round tower of this nunnery was erected in the year 1238 At the suppression it was granted to Richard earl of Clanrickard Saint Mary's Abbey de portu patrum was founded for white canons of the order of Premonstre Nicholas was abbot in the year 1311 Gilbert bishop of Enaghdune recovered from him in right of his church a messuage twenty acres of arable land six of meadow forty of wood twenty of moor and sixty of pasture all in Shanthill Franciscan friary of Enaghdune was considerable having had a custody to which the Franciscan monasteries of Connaught and Ulster were subordinate College of Saint Brendan in which four priests were supported It was long concealed from the royal inquisitors of Elizabeth Twenty threo quarters of tithes belonged to this college While it was concealed it was in the hands of Clement Skerrett and Thady Maclnyllis both of whom were priests Fallig the name of the founder who was according to Wadding an Irishman This house was erected for gray friars in the year 1390 It is now a vicarage of course a Protestant one in the barony of Longford Fidhard St Patrick is said to have built this abbey and to have placed St Justus over it A St Justus is said to have baptized as well as instructed Saint Kieran of Clonmacnois Galway is a remarkable seaport and sends representatives to Parliament Franciscan friary AD 1296 Sir William de Burgh the gray founded this monastery for Franciscans in St Stephen's island without the north gate of the town The founder died AD 1324 and was interred in the abbey AD 1494 died Edward Philbin who built the dormitory of this house AD 1513 the celebrated archbishop of Tuam Maurice O Fihely known as Flos mundi the flower of the world and was interred in this monastery His humble monument is still shewn AD 1520 William de Burgh granted this abbey the fishery of the river of Galway

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AD 1536 the archbishop of Tuam died and was buried in the same tomb with his predecessor Maurice Provincial chapters of the order were held in this abbey in the years 1470 1522 and 1562 March the 9th 1570 Queen Elizabeth granted part of the possessions of this abbey to the corporation and their successors which grant was renewed in September 1578 for forty years AD 1603 James I granted the entire possessions of this house to Sir George Carew his heirs and assigns forever AD 1057 all the buildings of the abbey were demolished except the church in which assizes were held AD 1698 the several members of this and the other religious houses of the town were banished they afterwards gradually returned and for many years suffered the most severe persecutions having been frequently imprisoned tried transported and often in danger of their lives Galway was until the mitigation of the penal laws one of the principal places in Ireland which afforded refuge to the proscribed ecclesiastics of the religious orders Dominican friary is situated on an elevated spot near the sea shore in the west suburbs of the town It stands on the site of an ancient convent of St Mary of the Hill a daughter of the Holy Trinity of the Premonstratenses of Tuam which was founded by the O Hallerans On the nuns forsaking it the secular clergy entered and retained possession a considerable time The inhabitants of the town having petitioned Pope Innocent VIII it was granted to the Dominicans of Athenry AD 1488 The Dominican order being thus established in Galway the convent was richly endowed by many individuals of the town and several considerable additions were made to the church and monastery James Lynch Fitzstcphen who was mayor of Galway in 1493 and celebrated for immolating his only son because that son stained his hands in the blood of a young Spaniard at the shrine of public justice erected the choir of this church AD 1570 March 9th Queen Elizabeth granted to the corporation and their successors part of the possessions of this monastery then lately dissolved AD 1642 Lord Forbes landing at Galway took possession of this house which he converted into a battery with the intent to reduce the town Having failed in his design he defaced the church and in his brutal rage dug up the graves and burned the coffins and bones of the dead

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AD 1652 the friars surrendered the chnrch and monastery to the corporation which were soon after razed to the ground lest they should be converted by Cromwell's troops into a fortification against the town Henceforth the friars of this house suffered in common with their brethren of the other orders all the persecutions to which they were subjected Augustinian friary was situated on an eminence near tlte sea in the south suburbs of the town and within a few hundred yards of the walls It was founded in 1508 by Margaret Athy wife of Stephen Lynch FitzDominick at the instance of Kichard Nangle an Augustinian hermit who afterwards became archbishop of Tuam This monastery was commenced by this pious lady during the absence of her husband in Spain The church and the steeple having been finished on his return he was surprised at beholding from the bay a building so stately erected in a place where there was not a single stone laid at the time of his departure When on landing he discovered that it had been erected by his own wife in honor of St Augustine his surprise was converted into joy and the good man falling down on his knees on the sea shore returned thanks to Heaven for inspiring her with that pious resolution This lady afterwards made a pilgrimage to Saint James's tomb in Gallicia Spain AD 1517 Richard Edmund de Burgo made grants to this monastery for the souls of himself his parents and successors AD 1570 Queen Elizabeth granted to the corporation and their successors part of the possessions of this monastery then lately dissolved and which grant she afterwards renewed for forty years James I AD 1603 granted all its possessions to Sir George Carew his heirs and assigns for ever On the suppression of the monastery the friars removed to a large house within the town in which they resided for many years The church however remained standing and on the building of St Augustine's fort in 1602 it was converted into a store for the use of the soldiery When this fort was demolished in 1643 the monastery was spared and delivered up to the friars by whom it was repaired but in 1652 being again surrendered to the corporation it was pulled down lest it should be fortified against the town Since that time not a vestige of it remains Carmelite friary is said to have been founded by the de Burgo family but upon what authority or at what period is not recorded In 1647 those friars opposed the Pope's nuncio Binuccini and his treatment of them on the occasion formed one of tho principal articles of

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accusation against him by the supreme council The friars having shewn resistance to the wishes of the nuncio their dwelling was assaulted by night and their persons abused In a fit of rage he ordered their bell to be pulled down and placed two priests at the entry to their chapel to keep the people from resorting there to prayers These friars were soon after banished with the other religious and clergy and have never since been reinstated in the town Capuchin friars On the restoration of the Catholics in 1689 the Capuchins petitioned the corporation for leave to return and be established in as full and ample manner within the town as their predecessors formerly had been The request was granted but they soon shared the fate of the other religious and have not since revived in Galway Knights Templar were established beyond the east gate The order being suppressed in 1312 its possessions were given to the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem Franciscan nunnery of Saint Clare In 1511 Walter Lynch Fitz Thomas who was mayor of Galway in 1504 and again in 1513 bestowed on his daughter a dwelling house near St Nicholas church which was afterwards known as the house of the poor nuns of the third order of St Francis These nuns having presented a memorial to the corporation in 1049 praying a grant of as much ground in island Attenagh at the west end of the town as would bo sufficient for erecting a monastery and other necessary buildings their petition being acceded to they erected a handsome convent on that island but they enjoyed it only for a short period as they were on the surrender of Galway in 1652 to the troops Of the Parliamentarians obliged to disperse and retreat to foreign parts where those persecuted and defenceless females endured all the miseries of a long and comfortless exile After a lapse of many years and on the change of political circumstances which took place during the short reign of James II the few who survived returned to Galway and have ever since continued During the persecution of 1698 all the convents of the town were on the 1st of May broken into by the military the chapels torn down and every religious emblem destroyed The nuns were at the same time forced out obliged to change their habits and take shelter with their friends in the country The heat of the persecution somewhat relaxing they reassembled and came back to their former dwellings They remained unmolested until the mayor of Galway Edward Eyre was directed in 1712 to suppress the nunneries Those defenceless servants of the Most High whose only offence was the consecration of their lives to solitude and prayer were again turned out of doors and obliged

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to have refuge with their friends In the height of their distress John Bourke the then provincial of their order in Ireland obtained permission from Edmund Byrne the archbishop of Dublin to admit them into his diocese hoping they would be less noticed in the capital than in Galway as the government watched the latter so closely A few of those ladies were sent to Dublin but scarcely had they reached there when the lords justices received information of the fact and immediately orders were issued for their apprehension as if the arrival of a few weak and helpless females was calculated to overthrow the government or endanger the stronghold of the Protestant Church In consequence of the alarm which this event caused these ladies were arrested in the habits of their order A proclamation then issued dated the 20th of September 1712 to apprehend the aforesaid John Bourke the archbishop of Dublin and doctor Nary popish priests who presumed to exercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction contrary to the laws of the realm and laws which German bayonets mainly established and it was ordered that all the laws in force against the Papists should be strictly carried into execution In the meantime the convents of Galway were converted into barracks The storm again subsiding the nuns again came forth from their retreats and at length succeeded in regaining their former habitations They were visited again in 1731 and have continued since without molestation Dominican nunnery The inhabitants of Galway founded this nunnery by the consent of the general and provincial chapter about the year 1644 Father Gregory French a learned and virtuous Dominican who was afterwards banished from his native country and who died an exile in Italy was appointed the first superior When Galway was taken in 1652 by Cromwell's forces the nuns with their then vicar father Gregory O Ferrall went to Spain Two only of the number survived Julia Nowlan and Maria Lynch who returned to Galway in 1686 by direction of John Browne provincial of the order in Ireland On their arrival Julia Nowlan was appointed prioress and the companion of her exile subprioress a house being provided for them in the town the community soon increased and became before the end of two years completely established In 1698 they were again dispersed It was most deplorable says O Heyne the historian of those distressing scenes to witness the cries and teal's of those oppressed females by which their very persecutors were moved to compassion The convent was converted into a barrack however the nuns remained secretly in town amongst their friends under the direction of Julia Nowlan the prioress who was released by

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death from all her sufferings in 1701 at the age of ninety years and was succeeded by the sub prioress Maria Lynch They were soon after obliged to depart from the town altogether and disperse among their relatives in the country without the most distant hope of returning In this forlorn condition Hugh O Callanan the provincial of the order having obtained permission from doctor Byrne the archbishop of Dublin to admit them into his diocese eight of the nuns repaired to the capital where they arrived in March 1717 and dwelt together in a house in Fisher's lane on the north side of the river In September following they removed to Channel row afterwards Brunswick street where they originated the convent of Jesus Mary and Joseph of Dublin In the meantime the ladies who remained near Galway returned to the town and having obtained possession of their former abode have ever since continued The names of the sisters who founded the convent of Dublin are Maria Bellew Elizabeth Weever Julia Browne JJonoria Vaughan Alicia Rice Helena Keating Catharine Plunkett and Maria Plunkett Maria Bellew was constituted the prioress of the new convent Catharine Plunkett having obtained the permission of her superiors repaired to Brussels where she remained until recalled for the purpose of establishing a convent at Drogheda In the year 1756 there were thirty one nuns in the convent of Galway their names are Anastasia Lynch prioress Maria Lynch subprioress Maria Lynch Margaret Darcy Christina Darcy Juliana Bodkin Elizabeth Lynch Margaret Browne Brigid Kirwan Rosa Kelly Cecilia Kelly Brigid Geraldine Marcella French Catharine Lynch Elizabeth Browne Brigid Browne Barbara Blake Maria Browne Theresia Browne Catharine Nowlan Elizabeth Bodkin Mar cella Darcy Anna French Monica Bodkin Elizabeth Vaughan Maria Bodkin Anna Bodkin Marcella Blake Anastasia Blake Monica Joyce and Maria Joyce May the constancy of those faithful souls and their heroic example under trial and persecution for the sake of their holy faith tend to strengthen and support those of their sex who are scattered over this vast country under every affliction and under every danger to which their morals as well as their faith may be exposed Augustinian nunnery was established in Middle street early in the last century In 1731 the mayor reported that he had searched the house and that none were found but servants therein but that he discovered in it seven rooms ten beds in which it was apprehended the reputed nuns lay before their dispersion Nunnery to the west of the town was situated in an island of

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Lough Corrib but of its history nothing is recorded With regard to this nunnery being situated in the island Archdall must be under a mistake There is an island called Inisnagoile on which there are extensive ruins This nunnery according to the tradition of the natives was situated near the shore of the lake where they still point out an artificial stone path leading from the building See Inis an Ghoil &c Imay an island on the coast of Galway county Saint Fechin founded the monastery of this island The annals of the Four Masters record the death of Fergus vicar of Iomaith It appears that this island was one of the last retreats of Paganism in Ireland The account of the erection of this monastery is as follows from the latin of Colgan On a certain night the holy man Fechin being in the monastery of Bally sadare county of Sligo was by an angel admonished in his sleep that it was the divine will that he should go to a certain island of the ocean Imay situated in the western district of Connaught Saint Fechin obeys the warning of the angel and with the intention of gaining many souls to God and increasing the monastic institute accompanied by some disciples he sought the island where he proposed to dwell and build a church But the inhabitants at the suggestion of the devil endeavoured by all means to exclude him hence at night they several times cast into the sea the spades axes iron tools and other instruments which the monks used in the work of building but as often as they were thus cast so often being thrown back on shore they were found by the monks in the morning But when the man of God and his monks thus meeting with the opposition of the people persisted in continual labours watchings and fastings and the people hardened in malice denied them all nourishment at length two of the brethren perished being exhausted through want But Saint Fechin having poured forth for his servants a prayer to the Lord in complying with whose will those who were thus exhausted had perished merited that they should be recalled to life And when the reports of the occurrence had reached the ears of the king Guarius son of Cohnan he took care that sufficient nonrishment in meat and drink should be brought to Saint Fechin He added also his royal phial which even to this day is called Cruach Fechin Afterwards all the islanders being converted to Christ were baptized by Saint Fechin and they consigned themselves and their island to the use and service of the saint and his successors The king mentioned in this account was the generous and hospitable Guaire of Connaught who died AD 663 Inis na Ghoil Craibhtaigh the island of the devout foreigner This island has two chapels the one dedicated to Saint Patrick the

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other to the saint from whom it is named and in which it seems no one is huried Murgesius O Xioc archbishop of Tuam died in this island AD 1128 The first chapel is called Temple Patrick and undoubtedly bearg marks of a very high antiquity and is perhaps as the tradition of the country asserts of the same age with the apostle It is not easy to determine who the devout stranger is from whom the island has derived its name A monumental slab or pillar about four feet high situated at a little distance from Temple Patrick serves to throw light on the history of the devout foreigner The letters on this slab are very deeply cut and in perfect preservation and are read as follows in English Lie Lugnaedon Mac Lmenueh The stone of Lugnaedon son of Limenueh It is related in the transactions of Saint Patrick that when at Oran in Magh Aoi the very neighbourhood of which we treat he was solicited by his Gallic disciples and followers to assign them situations in which they could lead lives of retirement and contemplation a request with which the saint complied Of these Galls or Franks who were fifteen in number with one sister the names of three are only given Bernicius Ernicius and Inaepius As those foreigners have settled in this locality at so early a period the devout foreigner seems to be one of them In an ancient list of Saint Patrick's followers or household a Saint Lugnath is set down as the pilot of the apostle and again the most ancient authorities concur in stating that Lugnath was one of the seven sons of the Lombard the nephew of Saint Patrick by his sister Liemania Their names are as follow Sechnall or Secundums a bishop Nechtan a bishop Dabonna a saint Mogornan a saint Darioc a saint Auxilius a bishop Lughnat a saint The ancient martyrologies state that the mother of these sons of the Lombard was Liemania the daughter of Calphurnius and sister of Saint Patrick It does not appear that Restitutus called the Lombard was ever in Ireland Liemania has been buried in Finnuair abha on the banks of the Boyne See Kill Clogher county Louth Other sisters of Saint Patrick are also spoken of such as Lupita and Darerca and though there may be room to question the authorities respecting the latter there seems to be no just ground to call in question the history of the Lombard and Liemania the constant tradition of the country moreover records those seven sons and also reference is frequently made to the seven churches of those seven brothers Inisquin an island of Lough Corrib and in the barony of Clare St Brendan founded the monastery of Inisquin and having resigned the

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government of Clonfert he spent the latter part of his life in tins retreat preparing himself for the way of all flesh Saint Meldan was the successor of the founder and was of the Sept Hua cuin from which the island took its name and which possessed the country about Lough Orbsen the ancient name of Lough Corrib St Meldan was abbot of Liis hua cuin about the beginning of the 7th century and was also probably a bishop The memory of St Meldan was universally respected In this island the great St Fursey whose mother was a native of Hy brun in Connaught repaired to the monastery of Meldan and spent some years under his guidance St Meldan died some time before the year 626 and his festival is observed on the 7th of February Kilbought in the barony of Athenry and four miles east of Lough rea The family of Waley founded this monastery and in the inquisition the 6th of Elizabeth express mention is made that the Franciscans of the third order were possessed of this friary AD 1507 Mathew Macreagh bishop of Clonfert died here Kilbrenan The monastery of Kilbrenan with its appurtenances containing one acre six Small cottages in the town of Kilbrenan thirty acres of arable land and fifteen of pasture in the said town were granted together with the abbey of Mayo to the burgesses and commonalty of Athenry Kilcorban The church of this monastery was dedicated to St Cor ban This saint is suppossd to be the Cerban of Kilcerban near Tarah in Meath who died AD 500 This church was afterwards dedicated to the Virgin Mary AD 1446 Thomas de Burgo bishop of Clonfert with the consent of his chapter granted this chapel with some land adjoining to the friars of the third order of St Dominick at the earnest entreaty of John Fitzrery vicar general of that order and his brethren Pope Eugene IV confirmed the donation by bull directed to the abbot of Vianova or abbey Gormogan in the diocese of Clonfert The bishop died the same year In this church of the Rosary of the blessed Virgin there was a statue of the immaculate mother of our Redeemer of which John O Heyne thus speaks The frequent miracles which God performs through that statue daily confirm the Catholics in the true faith and in the veneration of the Queen of Heaven Killcolgan in the baron of Doonkillen and diocese of Kilmacduach St Colgan or Colga was the brother of St Foila a holy virgin of the house of Hy Fiachra in South Connaught Another branch of this family of Hy Fiachra is the O Dowda of Tireragh North Connaught

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Saint Colga was the son of Aidus or Hugh a great grandson of Dathy or David the king of Ireland who was killed by lightning at the foot of the Alps while on a military expedition in that country The festival of Colga is marked at the 20th of February Kilcolgan in the diocese of Clonfert over which another Colga a disciple of St Columbkille presided and to whom Adamnan introduces the sainted abbot of Hy as speaking about his diocese His feast is also observed on the 20th of February Killconnell see Tearmondearbhill county Mayo gives its name to the barony and is seven miles west of Ballinasloe An ancient abbey or church over which St Conall presided or it was dedicated to him Of this saint scarcely any record remains except that ho is spoken of as the brother of the holy virgin Athracta whose name we shall meet with in another place Conall is supposed to have been a bishop His festival is marked at the 18th of March A monastery for Franciscan friars was founded in Killconnell about the year 1400 by William O Kelly whose death is recorded in the obituary of the abbey as having occurred in May 1464 At the dissolution of monasteries it was granted to Charles CaV thorpe AD 1604 the Catholics repaired this monastery Saint Conall is called one of the four beautiful saints of Ireland The reform of the strict observance was received in this abbey about the year 1460 The property of this house was given to Lewis Brisket Esq by queen Elizabeth for the term of fifty years at the annual rent of 32s Irish Killcoonagh in the barony of Clare St Cuanna was maternal brother to St Carthag of Lismore Having governed Killcoonagh either as abbot or pastor he is supposed to have been the abbot of Lismore immediately succeeding Carthag and perhaps as bishop Another saint of this name occurs in the Irish calendars who was a disciple of Saint Columba and whose church was situated in the county of Sligo also called after him The festival of St Cuanna is observed on the 4th of February the year of his death being unknown i Tipraid prince of Hy Fiachra is said to have given the site of this religious foundation Kilcreunata called the nunnery of the Chaste wood was founded by Cathal Crovbh dearg O Connor AD 1200 for Benedictine nuns The cells of Inchmean in Mayo and Ardcarn in Roscommon were afterwards annexed to this nunnery

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AD 1301 died the lady abbess Fynola Penelope daughter of Felym O Connor Derbhill O Connor was the last abbess At the suppression of monasteries it was granted to Richard earl of Clanrickard Killfaile in the diocese of Kilmacduach St Faila or Foila whose memory is revered in this church was the daughter of Hugh or Aidus great grandson of Dathy king of Ireland Three brothers of hers are reckoned among the Irish saints Colgan Aidus and Sorar The year of her death is not known Her festival is observed on the 3d of March The reputation of this holy woman is very great as her church has been the resort of pilgrims during centuries Killine Bondina AD 1428 was built this monastery for Franciscans of the third order which according to Wadding became one of the most considerable houses of that order Killoebhain in the diocese of Clonfert It is related that St Mac cecht of Domnach Loebhain made the famous relic called Finfai dheach He was one of the artificers of St Patrick The relic was a bell St Patrick is recorded to have distributed bells for the use of the churches and an officer called aistire in Irish which means a bellman existed in his time Thus at Armagh St Sinell is styled Cam panarius the Latin of the Irish word referred to It is then apparent that bells existed in the early ages of the Irish church There has been one preserved on Croagh Patrick in Mayo which is said to have belonged to the apostle Bells have been first invented iu a town of Italy called Campana Kilmacduach called after St Colman the son of Duach a bishop's see Maurice Heyan bishop of this see erected AD 1283 a monastery here for canons regular of St Augustine AD 1289 John was abbot There is a holy well in this place with a circular inclosure The church of this building though small was a very handsome one The pillars and arches from the entrance to the altar and east window are finished in an elegant style and the angles at the east end are worked in pillars Tbe round tower of Kilmacdnagh leans seventeen feet and a half from the perpendicular The celebrated tower of Pisa in Italy leans only thirteen feet Killmac Dara off the coast of Connemara and in the parish of Moy rus This saint is known by the name of Senach the son of Dara The island is an inviolable sanctuary dedicated to this saint Here his statue of wood remained for ages until Malachy O Quely archbishop of

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Tnam caused it to be buried under ground probably to prevent asseverations which were customary and which the clergy strove to prevent The bronze cross of the saint still exists and his altar is still preserved in the parish church His festival is observed as patron of Moyrus on the 16th of July though marked in the Irish calendars at the 28th of September The little church of MacDara measures fifteen feet in length and eleven broad and its walls two feet eight inches thick are built of stones of great size and its roof of the same material The circular stone house of this saint built without cement and in the same style still remains but greatly dilapidated it is an oval of twenty four feet by eighteen and its walls are seven feet in thickness MacDara is venerated as the principal saint of the western coast of Ireland Kiltullagh a cell of the third order of St Francis was built here some time before the year 1441 Kilmurry in the barony of Beallymoe was given to Gilleduff O Cahan for a certain term of years by Elizabeth It was a mendicant friary Kinalckin a commandery of knights hospitallers was founded here in the thirteenth century by O Flaherty AD 1310 John was prior John de Blohely was prior and a third John succeeded who sued John de Burgh for a townland in Tullagh M Ruskyn of which John O Leyn bishop of Clonfert had unlawfully disseized the former prior A Franciscan friary was founded here before the year 1325 AD 1359 Hugh Bernard was provincial of the Franciscans in Ireland AD 1438 John O Heyn the provincial was made bishop of Clonfert AD 1447 John With minister of the order was elected bishop but was not consecrated Loughreagh a market town in the barony of Doonkillen Carmelite friary Richard de Burgo earl of Ulster founded this monastery in the year 1300 for the Carmelites under the invocation of the Virgin Mary This abbey was granted to Richard earl of Clanrickard A leper house was also founded in this town Maghele St Abban who died AD 630 built three churches in this plain Meelick in the barony of Longford and four miles east of Clonfert O Madden lord of the country founded this abbey for conventual Franciscans

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ciscans The situation of it was delightful and the building itself spacious and beautiful During the winter months the friary was surrounded by the inundations of the river Shannon In the year 1203 William do Burgo the conqueror of Connaught marched at the head of a great army into that province and on to llee lick profanely converted the church into a stable round which he erected a castle of a circular form wherein he was seen to eat flesh during the whole time of lent The monastery of Meelick was granted to Sir John King who assigned it to the earl of Clanrickard Muck enis in Lougk dearg and bordering on the county of Gal way The festival of St Regulus is held here on the 16th of October Ivar a northman or Dane having arrived at Limerick proceeded along the Shannon with his followers and set fire to this establishment AD 946 In this year they were defeated by Comgall II and again in 948 this king defeated them in another battle in which the Danish king Blacar and a thousand of his men lost their lives Pallice eleven miles north west of Portumna A friary for Carmelites under the invocation of the Virgin Mary was founded at Kal tragh na Pallice by Bermingham lord of Athenry in the fourteenth century August 27th thirty first of Elizabeth a grant was made to John Rawson of this monastery with a church and chapel in ruins a quarter of land sixty acres of arable and sundry other lands in the county to hold the same forever in free soccage at the annual rent of 8 12s 7d Irish money Portumna a town on the river Shannon in the barony of Longford The Cistercians of Dunbrody having forsaken this cell 0 Madden the dynast of the country gave it with the approbation of the former possessors to the Dominicans who erected a convent and church dedicated to the blessed Virgin and to SS Peter and Paul they also erected a steeple cemetery and all other necessary buildings Pope Martin V confirmed by bull their possessions and granted in November 1426 indulgences to all who contributed towards the building The walls are still nearly entire and shew that the monastery of Portumna was not an ignoble structure When de Burgo wrote his Hibernia Dominicana the earl of Clanrickard was in possession of the property belonging to this abbey Among the brothers of this abbey Malachy O Loghlin Richard O Madden Edmund MacEgan and de Burgo adds another to the number Christopher Walsh were men of publicly acknowledged virtue Christopher Walsh was a missionary apostolic having studied in Spain

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and having returned to Ireland he suffered much during the usurpation of Cromwell The sisterhood of the order bnilt a hut for him in which he lay concealed He was beloved by all for his candor and religion Christopher died AD 1 707 Rathmat or Kill Fursa Saint Fursey founded this establishment It was situated near Lough Corrib and in the deanery of Annadown Saint Fursey is call 3d one of the four beautiful saints of Ireland His acts as a missionary aro elsewhere noticed He is said to have had visions in which he saw the bishops Becan and Meldan whom he thought on their approaching him to be dead from them he received much instruction concerning the dreadful effects of pride and of disobedience to superiors of every description the duties of ecclesiastics and monks but particularly the nature and heinousness of inward and spiritual or sacrilegious sins They told him that some glory in what they have received from God as if they acquired it by their own labor Others afflict their bodies by abstinence and fasting abstinence nowadays is ridiculed by the adversaries of the Catholic church who glory in the Bible and nothing but the Bible should they read in that sacred volume of the fall of man they will find that the only law which the Lord God imposed on man the masterpiece of creation was the law of abstinence and are shocked at the slightest external transgressions while they think nothing of pride which drove angels from heaven because according to St John Crysostom those proud spirits refused to adore the divine Word when the Eternal Father revealed the incarnation in time nor of avarice ie the desire of knowing good and evil by which our first parents forfeited the bliss of the terrestrial paradise nor of envy which induced Cain to kill his brother Abel nor of false testimony by which our Saviour was condemned and thus they regard those that are the most grievous in tho sight of God as sins of the lightest description And those saints added it is not enough to chastise the body unless the BOul be cured of malice and iniquity Charity said they is the root and source of all good works St Fursey is said to have had those visions in the year 627 having probably founded Rathmat two or three years previously It seems he resigned the administration of this house as we find him announcing over Ireland what he saw and heard in those visions and for ten years preaching and exhorting the people to repentance There are no traces of this monastery Ross a monastery for conventual Franciscans was founded in this place which is in the diocese of Tuam AD 1431 It is a very solitary place surrounded on all sides by water

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AD 1470 the reform of the strict observance was introduced Rosserelly in the barony of Clare situated on the river of Ross The Lord Granard founded this monastery for the strict observants AD 1498 AD 1509 a chapter of the Franciscan order was held here At the suppression of religious houses this monastery was granted to the earl of Clanrickard AD 1604 the Roman Catholics repaired the abbey of Rosserelly its ruins which still remain show it to have been a very extensive building it has been lately purchased by the archbishop of Tuam Sleushancogh a monastery of conventual Franciscans which was at the suppression of religious houses granted to Sir Francis Sammes or Symes Teagh Saxon two miles west of Athenry This ancient establishment was burned by lightning in the year 1177 Its name tells its purpose and shews that Ireland was at one time the mart of literature and the home of the Saxon stranger A friary of small dimensions was erected in the reign of Henry VH of England by a member of the Bourke family for Franciscans of the third order It was with its appurtenances granted to the burgesses and commonalty of Athenry Temple Moyle another friary of the third order of St Francis founded after the year 1441 It was granted to Edmond Barrett Tombeola in the barony of Ballynahinch a monastery of Dominicans founded by O Flaherty about 1427 assisted by the friars of Athenry There were usually eight members in this house Though the building was wholly demolished in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign and the stones even of the church were made use of towards building a castle in the neighbourhood the friars remained till they were expelled by the Cromwellians Richard Martin of Dangan had been the possessor of its property when De Burgo wrote Tuam in the barony of Tuam is a market town and borough and the archiepiscopal see of Connaught Saint Jarlath is the patron saint Three abbots of Tuam are expressly mentioned AD 808 died the abbot Cellach son of Eochad AD 877 died in October Nuadat Hua Bolcain abbot and anchorite

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AD 879 died Cormac son of Kieran abbot of Tuam and prior of Clonfert Priory of St John the Baptist Tirdelvac O Connor king of Ireland founded this priory about the year 1140 the order of which is not known The property of this abbey was granted to Richard earl oi Clanrickard Abbey of the Holy Trinity was founded by a member of the Do Burgo family about the beginning of the reign of Henry HI of England for Premonstre canons AD 1204 William Bourke burned the churches of Tuam His death has been noticed at Knockmoy The posterity and followers of this man have supplanted the O Connors O Flaherties and the Celtic tribes of Connaught and their Celtic descendants have been with some few exceptions reduced to the condition of hewers of wood and drawers of water Such has been the bitter fruit of those unnatural dissensions which have prostrated the energies of the kingdom and rendered triumphant the adventures of the Anglo Norman invaders Giolla Chriost O Laghtnan abbot of this house was drowned in the Irish sea AD 1251 August 20th twentieth of Elizabeth this monastery and its possessions half an acre of land and two quarters containing eighty acres of arable and twenty of pasture with the tithes of corn were granted to the burgesses and commonalty of Athenry AD 1134 the town of Tuam was stormed and the cathedral burned by the Dalcassians AD 1164 the cathedral was again burned The cathedral was it seems erected between the years 1130 and 1150 when Aod O Hoissin became bishop of Tuam In this pious undertaking he was assisted by Turlogh O Connor king of Ireland Of this church the chancel only remains and that portion of it makes us acquainted with the general stylo of its architecture and shews that it was not only a larger but a more splendid structure than Cormac's church at Cashell and fully worthy of the monarch by whom it was chiefly erected The chancel is a square of twenty six ieet in external measurement and the walls four feet in thickness Its east end is perforated by three circular headed windows each five feet in height and eighteen inches in width externally but splayed on the inside to the width of five feet These windows are ornamented with zig zag and other mouldings both within and without and are connected with each other by stringcourse mouldings of which the external one is ornamented with paterae

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In the south wall there is a window similarly decorated but of smaller size The great feature of this chancel is its triumphal arch which is considered the most magnificent specimen of its kind remaining in Ireland It is composed externally of six semicircular concentric and recessed arches of which the outer is twenty feet six inches wide at its base and nineteen feet five inches in height and the inner fifteen feet eight inches in width and sixteen in height The shafts of the columns which with the exception of the outermost at each side are semicircular and unornamented but their capitals which are rectangular on a semicircular torus are very richly sculptured chiefly with a variety of interlaced tracery and in two instances with grotesque human heads The imposts are at one side very richly sculptured with a scroll and other ornaments and at the other side present a kind of inverted ogive and these imposts are carried along the face of the wall as tablets The bases are unadorned and consist of a torus and double plinth The arch mouldings consist of the nebule diamond frette and varieties of the chevron tho execution of which is remarkable for its beauty The cross of Tuam which justly ranks as the finest monument of its class and age remaining in Ireland has been noticed elsewhere See the transactions of Aod O Hoissin archbishop of Tuam