Fenagh is a tiny village.The ruins fill
it. And, as so often, in Ireland, where the dead are held dear, the old holy
place is filled and surrounded by a still-used graveyard.
The general view shows this well. On a fine autumn day.
The "holy family" engraving is one of the gravestones. There were many really
beautiful ones at Fenagh.
There was also a lovely "Mary" shrine. And a moving carving of the Crucifixion..
The nave is barred off, sadly. So it was not possible to enter and pray within
the abbey. A great loss to a pilgrim.
Also a view across the fields to the other part of the abbey. I was not suitably
shod that day to expore further.... Maybe next time.....
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This monastery is one of the most ancient monastic sites in Ireland. Its origins
are obscure, but they go back to the earliest days of Celtic monasticism. The
founder was St. Caillin who was supposed to have arrived in Fenagh from Dunmore
in Co. Galway in the 5th century (according to the Book of Fenagh). He was given
his monastic site by the head of the local princely family of Ua Ruairc
(O'Rourke), of which family in turn he became the ecclesiastical patron. The
Abbey had a famous monastic school. An editor of the 'Annals of the Four
Masters' (one of writers, Peregrine O'Duigenan, was from Castlefore in Fenagh)
stated that the monastery at Fenagh was "celebrated for its divinity school,
which was resorted to by students from every part of Europe".
Fenagh Abbey
A ruined late medieval church of St.Caillin on the site of an early christian
monastery founded by St.Caillin. Note its beautiful rose window.
Nearby is another ruin most likely residential accommodation for the priests of
Fenagh. The abbey was used for a time for Protestant worship until the present
church was built nearby in circa 1798. About two miles from Ballinamore, it is
steeped in history. It was the site of an abbey from the fifth o sixth
century.The present day abbey ruins date from the fifteenth century and are well
worth a visit.