![Inch Abbey sign, Downpatrick, February 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Inch_Abbey_sign%2C_Downpatrick%2C_February_2010.JPG)
Inch Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery on the outskirts of
Downpatrick
Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
It was founded by
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to:
*Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066
* Anglo-Norman language
**Anglo-Norman literature
* Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
John de Courcy
{{Infobox noble
, image = Sir John de Courcy (1150-1219).jpg
, caption =
, alt =
, more = no
, succession =
, reign =
, predecessor =
, successor =
, ...
in the twelfth century at the site of a previous monastery which had operated from the 9th until earlier in the 12th century. De Courcy established the monastery as penance for his destruction of Erenagh Abbey in 1177.
Its name is derived from the
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
word ''inis'', meaning 'island', referring to the fact that the monastery was originally surrounded by the
River Quoile
The Quoile (; ) is a river in County Down, Northern Ireland.
Course
The river begins its life as the Ballynahinch River which flows from west of the town of Ballynahinch to Annacloy where it is known as the Annacloy River. This then becomes ...
.
It is served by
Inch Abbey railway station
Inch Abbey railway station (often shortened to just Inch) is a station on the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, a heritage railway in Northern Ireland. It is the terminus of the railway's ''North Line'' and serves Inch Abbey, a ruined mona ...
, which is operated by the
Downpatrick and County Down Railway
The Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) is a five-foot, three-inch (1,600 mm) gauge heritage railway in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is operated by volunteers and runs passenger trains using steam and diesel locomotives, diesel ra ...
.
References
{{commons category
Monasteries in Northern Ireland
Religious buildings and structures in County Down
Cistercian monasteries in Northern Ireland