54°20′12″N 5°43′46″W / 54.3366178°N 5.7295675°W / 54.3366178; -5.7295675

Inch Abbey
Signage at the abbey site

Inch Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery on the outskirts of Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland.

By the year 800 a monastery existed at this location.[1] Its name is derived from the Irish word inis, meaning 'island', referring to the fact that the monastery was originally surrounded by the River Quoile.

The present day ruins were founded by Anglo-Norman John de Courcy in the twelfth century[2] at the site of the previous monastery which had operated from the 9th until earlier in the 12th century.[3] One 12th century romanesque style carved stone survives at the site.[4] De Courcy established the monastery as penance for his destruction of Erenagh Abbey in 1177.[5]

It is served by Inch Abbey railway station, which is operated by the Downpatrick and County Down Railway.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Meehan, Cary (2004). Sacred Ireland. Somerset: Gothic Image Publications. p. 217. ISBN 0 906362 43 1.
  2. ^ "Inch Abbey". Tourism Northern Ireland. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Cistercian Abbeys: INCH". The Cistercians in Yorkshire Project. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  4. ^ Meehan, pg. 217.
  5. ^ "Home page of the Cistercians in Yorkshire Project".
  6. ^ "Downpatrick & County Down Railway".
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