Religious house - Augustinian canons

The National Monuments Service's description

At the NW end of a graveyard (LF006-032-001-). A monastery was founded here by St Colmcille and the early church was ‘Teampull Choluim Cille’. The Augustinian rule, presumably of Arrouaise, was subsequently introduced and the early monastery became the priory of St Mary probably before 1170; by 1540 it was dissolved (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 154, 179). In 1567 it was leased to Christopher Nugent, Lord of Delvin and in 1570 to Thomas Philipps (Nicholls 1994, vol. 2, 134, 198). In 1605 Mary, Lady Delvin, the widow of Christopher Nugent, and her son, Sir Richard Nugent were granted the 'late monastery or priory of canons of the Holy-Island' (Cal. pat. rolls Ire., Jas I, 74). All that survives is the S wall (L 19.2m; wall T 0.9m) of the building marked 'Abbey' on OS 6-inch maps. It may have been part of the N range. It is featureless except for the remains of a window at its W end, which is similar to that in the nave of the church (LF006-032003-) that lies in the graveyard c. 30m to the SE. A bronze bell, reputedly from this site, is now in St Columbkille's (RC) Church (built 1834) in Aghnacliff village. A holy stone (LF006-033----) is c. 150m to the SSE and a fortification (LF006-034----) is c. 330m to the SE. (ITA Survey 1944; Columb 1978, 282-6; 2002, 27-56; O'Donovan 2003, 29)

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 5 June 2013