Religious house - Augustinian canons

The National Monuments Service's description

On a low ridge on NE outskirts of Aughrim village. There was an early monastery at Aughrim (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 158) which 'Colgan supposes to have been built by St. Conall' (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 565). This may be one and the same as the 'Abbey' marked on OS 6-inch maps, though the name itself probably refers to the priory of Augustinian canons founded in the late 12th or early 13th C (Egan 1960, 29; Gwynn and Hadcock ibid.). On 1st ed. of OS 6-inch map, it is marked as a small circular area defined by a broken line but by the time of 3rd ed. (1946), a cross-symbol appears. Apart from an area of uneven ground to W of the 19th-C C of I church and rectory, no visible surface trace survives. The latter buildings may, in fact, occupy part of the site (but see GA087-053001-). A castle (GA087-055----) lies 195m to NW. (ASGAP 171:13; Nolan 1901b, 123)

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999).

Date of upload: 05 August 2010