Killagha Abbey of Our Lady of Bello Loco, also called Kilcolman Abbey, is a ruined

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

abbey and former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The abbey is situated one and a half miles north-west of Milltown on the banks of the River Maine.

History

The abbey was founded in circa 1216 on the site of an earlier monastery, which had been erected by

Saint Colman Colmán or Colman is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Medieval Irish people * Colmán Bec (died ''c''. 585), Irish dynast * Colmán mac Cobthaig (died ''c''. 622), Irish king * Colmán mac Lénéni (died ''c'' ...

. This earlier foundation gave rise to the abbey sometimes being called Kilcolman, meaning Church of Colman. The abbey was established by Geoffrey de Marisco, Justicier of Ireland, an

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 1066 ...

nobleman who had received large grants of land in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

from

John, King of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

. The abbey, dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

, was occupied by

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...

of the Order of St Augustine until its suppression in 1576 during the

Reformation in Ireland The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English administration at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage wa ...

. It was a very wealthy institution, owning large amounts of land across Munster, and the Prior of Killagha was a member of the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...

. It paid the third highest rate of tax in the

Diocese of Ardfert The Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe (usually simply referred to as the Bishop of Ardfert) was an episcopal title which took its name after the village of Ardfert and townland of Aghadoe, both in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland. History The dioc ...

in 1302. The abbey had a lepper house and a hospital. The large east window was added in the 15th century. Killagha was a notable destination for pilgrims, and it became well known for its beautiful setting, hence the name 'Bello Loco'. Its distance from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

meant that it was dissolved later than most abbeys in Ireland. However, its proximity to the fortress at

Castle Maine Castle Maine, also recorded as Castle Magne and Castlemaine, was a medieval castle located at what is now Castlemaine, County Kerry. The castle, built in 1215, stood on a bridge over the River Maine. A defensive structure of considerable importanc ...

during the

Desmond Rebellions The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the Fitzmaurice/FitzGerald Dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and ...

brought it to the attention of

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

, which gave orders for the establishment to be closed. Following the abbey's seizure by the Crown, the buildings and land were leased to Thomas Clinton, one of Queen Elizabeth I's officers in County Kerry. In 1583, the lease was given briefly to Sir William Stanley. On 12 December 1588, the Crown transferred the abbey and its estate to Captain

Thomas Spring of Castlemaine Thomas Spring of Castlemaine (died 1597) was an English people, English Protestant soldier, politician and Constable of Castle Maine in County Kerry, Ireland. Biography Thomas Spring was born in Lavenham, Suffolk, the son of Robert Spring. He wa ...

, a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

nobleman who had served with distinction during the Desmond Rebellions and was a grandson of

Thomas Spring of Lavenham Thomas Spring (c. 1474 – 1523), (''alias'' Thomas Spring III or The Rich Clothier), of Lavenham in Suffolk, was an English people, English cloth merchant.Phil W Kaufman, ''American Traces in Anglian Places'' (Lulu.com), 19. He consolidated h ...

. The grant included a special clause to rebuild the domestic buildings of the abbey in a castle-like manner, so that the building could serve as a defensive structure. Captain Thomas Spring's son, Walter Spring, was

High Sheriff of Kerry The High Sheriff of Kerry was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kerry, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kerry County Sheriff. The sheri ...

in 1609. His grandson,

Walter Spring Walter Spring the Unfortunate (1620 – c.1678) was an Anglo-Irish Roman Catholic landowner involved in the Irish Confederate Wars. Biography Spring was the son of Thomas Spring, a lawyer. He was the grandson of Walter Spring, who had served as ...

, was raised as a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and fought in the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...

. As a result, the abbey was attacked by a

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

army during the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...

. The fortified domestic buildings were demolished by cannon fire, while the church was partially damaged. Following the suppression of the rebellion, almost all of Walter Spring's lands were seized by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

and he was subsequently dubbed 'The Unfortunate'. Killagha Abbey was granted to a Cromwellian soldier, Major John Godfrey. Despite the readjustment of lands in Ireland under Charles II, the grant to Major Godfrey was confirmed in the

Act of Settlement 1662 The Act of Settlement 1662 was passed by the Parliament of Ireland, Irish Parliament in Dublin. It was a partial reversal of the Oliver Cromwell, Cromwellian Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652, which punished Irish Catholics and Royalists f ...

. However, with the abbey's manor house destroyed, the abbey was no longer used as a dwelling place. The Godfrey family built a new stately home in Milltown in 1772, which they named Kilcolman Abbey, but was also known as Bushfield House. It was abandoned and demolished in 1977. Some of the materials were removed for the construction of nearby houses and the new manor house, and the abbey church gradually fell into disrepair and ruin. For the following 300 years, the land immediately surrounding the church was used as a cemetery. The abbey ruins are now protected as the Kilcolman Burial Ground.James Carmody, 'The Abbey of Killagha, Parish of Kilcoleman, County Kerry', ''The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland'', Fifth Series, Vol. 36, No. 3, 296

References

{{coord missing, County Kerry Buildings and structures in County Kerry Religion in County Kerry 1216 establishments in Ireland Augustinian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Tourist attractions in County Kerry Ruins in the Republic of Ireland Former populated places in Ireland ** Ruined abbeys and monasteries