Religious house - Augustinian canons

The National Monuments Service's description

Close to the shoreline of Ballysadare Bay, in the grounds of the limestone quarry and concrete works complex at Abbeytown. This Augustinian abbey is surrounded and largely covered by quarry debris. The visible remains consist of the N wall of the nave (L 13.6m) and chancel (L c. 6m) of the church, and the lower part of a tower (6.35m N-S; 3.7m E-W; H c. 6m) which was inserted between them. The walls are built of random-rubble set in a lime mortar. The N wall of the church is covered by debris and ivy, but a drawing made in 1917 (SMR (1989) file) shows an arched recess or opening just E of the tower. The crossing-tower rises from two substantial cross-walls. In the centre of each cross-wall is an opening (Wth 3.55m) covered by a pointed arch of dressed stone; these openings link the nave with the chancel. The underside of each arch has a rib rising from tapering corbels; on the chancel side the corbels have a terminal vine-leaf motif. A barrel vault (H 3.5m) covers the central area of the tower between the openings. The internal ground level is raised with quarry debris to the level of the corbels. The remains are those of the abbey of St Mary of the Canons Regular of St Augustine which existed by the middle of the 13th century but whose foundation date is not known (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 160; M. B. Timoney 2002, 150). The N wall could be 13th century, though no datable features are evident, but the tower is a 15th/16th century insertion. In 1585-6 the abbey consisted of 'a partly thatched church, a dormitory, two ruined buildings, three cottages, with gardens, cemetery, etc.' (ibid.). A large piece of window tracery (SL020-109016-), probably from here, is in the graveyard of St Fechin's church on the site of an early monastery (SL020-109005 -) c. 250m to the E (M. B. Timoney 2002, 157-8, n. 14). There is a lead and silver mine (SL020-107----) c. 350m to the W.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Date of upload: 18 January 2008

This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 1/1994).