Religious house - Carmelite friars

The National Monuments Service's description

Secure references date only from the late 16th century, although it is listed as Belathnaony in the Register of Clonmacnoise (O’Donovan 1856-7, 456). It is described as Carmelite or Fransciscan, but it was probably a Carmelite dependency of Slew or Slewseancough (Eglish), Co. Galway (GA061-080001-), although the identity of this house might be ascribed to a church site at Monasternalea (GA033-050001-) (Beggan 2016). A large territory between Oonagh, Dundonnell, Tullaghan (Turloughmore) and Knock is indicated as church land on the Strafford map of c. 1636 (Simington 1949, Athlone). As the property of a suppressed monastery it was leased to Edmund O'Fallon in 1567 and the lease required him to construct a masonry corn mill. An inquisition of 1603 describes the precinct as a church and other buildings with a cemetery, an orchard and 15 acres (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 287). William Mc Edmond had 68 acres at Bellaneany, a subset of Oonagh, in 1641, but Sir Thomas Newcommen is the recorded owner of the O’Fallon acres in the 1660s (Simington 1949, 105).
Situated on a gentle S-facing slope. The remains consist of the foundations of a church (int. dims 15.9m E-W; 6m N-S) which had a wall (Wth 2.85m; max. surviving H 2.5m) containing a passage and the base of a spiral stairs, inserted 4.2m from its W end. A pointed doorway (Wth 1.35m), now destroyed, led through the inserted wall. Attached to the church at N and E are grass-covered paddocks (RO051-025002-) (dims c. 20m x c. 20m) defined by earthen banks (Wth 2-4m; H 0.5m) with at least two rectangular house sites (RO051-026006-; RO051-025011-) (dims 8m x 5m) associated and a roadway (RO051-025007-) (Wth 5-9m; L c. 80m) bordered by earthen banks leading N from the complex. The road once extended further N (L c. 100m) (CUCAP: BDK 46-7). Architectural fragments were moved to Dundonnell (RO051-045----) c. 600m to the SW, and a stoup (RO051-025004-) at the Roman Catholic church of Bellaneeny c. 450m to the E may be from this location.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 24 August 2010
Amended: 7 October, 2019

References

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1949 Books of survey and distribution. County of Roscommon. Dublin. Stationery Office.

O'Donovan, J. 1856-7 The Registry of Clonmacnoise: with notes and introductory remarks. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 4, 444-60.

Egan, Rev. P.K. 1954-6 The Carmelite cell of Bealaneny. Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 26, 19-25.

Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1970 (Reprint 1988) Medieval religious houses of Ireland. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Beggan, G. 2016 The Carmelite House of Holy Cross, Slewshancogh, Diocese of Elphin. Journal of the Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society, vol. 14, 111-5.