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| My outgoing track cycling to Carrowmore 37.5km, 296m elevation gain |
I guess that you have already guessed that I collect greenways in Ireland (North or South). Greenways are a bit of a novelty here - when we first moved to the South in 1984-85 there was only one way-marked long distance walk and no "greenways" as such. Covid did a lot to change that, with folk looking for alternative but safe ways of maintaining health.
And so I discovered the Monasteries of the Moy Greenway and, naturally, had to experience it. I biked to Sallins and thence by various trains to Ballina, the Salmon Capital of Ireland. The route starts in Ballina in Belleek Woods which is one of the largest urban woodlands in Europe.
North Mayo is home to at least six historic abbeys of which four form the basis of the Monasteries of the Moy and my route. The map below enumerates my main points of interest.
(A) Augustinian Abbey Ballina. This Franciscan Abbey is thought to have been built on the site of a former religious site called the Augustinian House of St. Mary of Ardnaree. The current remains are thought to have been founded by Tadhg Riabhach Ó’Dubhda (O’Dowd), King of Uí. My photo is from the other side of the Moy.
(B) Rosserk Friary was built by the Joyce family circa 1440 for the Friars of the Franciscan Third Order Regular. It is one of the finest and best preserved Friaries in Ireland. There is uncertainty as to when the Friary was dissolved but there are reports that Friars remained in the area in 1606.
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| Rosserk Friary |
(C) Moyne Abbey. This friary was consecrated in 1462 and is still almost perfect, except the roof and some buildings on the North side. It was burned in 1590 by Sir Richard Bingham, the English Governor of Connaught, during the Tudor reconquest and Protestant Reformation
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| Moyne Abbey |
(D) Round Tower, Killala. Not strictly an abbey, but historic all the same.
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| Round Tower, Killali |
(E) Rathfran Dominican Abbey, just north of Killala so technically not part of the greenway which ends at Killala. This abbey was founded in 1274 by the de Exeter family. Rathfran once had a fine east window of which only the side piers and their well moulded angle shafts remain. In 1438 indulgences were granted to those who could donate money to allow the building of a refectory and bell-tower. It was dissolved in 1577 and granted to Thomas de Exeter, and burned by Sir Richard Bingham’s army in 1590.
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| Rathfran Abbey |
The ruins of the 5th and 6th abbeys which I did not visit, are on the shores of Lough Conn, south of Ballina: Straide Abbey, Foxford and Errew Abbey, Crossmolina.
My landmark (F) was my destination Carrowmore beach - a beautiful sandy strand backed by dunes of long grass which I deemed not suitable for camping.
Visible from hereabouts are (G) the Gazebo on the hill opposite Carrowmore, and (H) the odd shaped mountain Aghaleague: I visited neither.
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| stock photo of the Gazebo |
The Gazebo is worthy of mention: it is one of the most conspicuous or curious sculptures being formed of a double arch of rough stones. From Carrowmore it is visible on the horizon only as a somewhat squat building with daylight shining through, and that patch of daylight was only just discernible to the naked eye (with my long distance glasses on). It is even less discernible in my photos which says something about the camera resolution on my Pixel 10 Pro compared with the human eye.
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| looking south from Carrowmore: Aghaleague on the left ? |
Speaking of the abbeys, in my musings whilst cycling I wondered at the lives of the men that financed and built these ornate and comprehensive structures and at the lives of the men that served in them faithfully under the rules of their order. Compare the significant edifices of these Abbeys with the capricious Gazebo - the former a deep religious expression, the latter probably a man's folly. Which set me thinking about the religious community of which I am a part, albeit sometimes reluctantly.
The building of the abbeys and their estates may have been initially funded by landed gentry as acts of contrition then maintained by the religious order as a service to God. Our community estate was similarly funded and is now maintained as a service to God. Each of the abbeys had their heyday, and each their demise by over enthusiastic but misled megalomaniacs. We have witnessed the recent demise of communities similar in purpose to ours: what does that say of our community?
You can check out the rest of my photos here.
