Macosquin Abbey, formally known as ''Clarus Fons'', was a
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
Monastery in
County Londonderry
County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...
,
Northern Ireland in the
United Kingdom. The Monastery was located on Abbey Lane,
Macosquin,
Northern Ireland.
The abbey may have owned the churches at Burt and
Agivey.
History
There may have been a
monastic establishment in
Macosquin as early as the 6th century, however, the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of the Clear Springs was founded in 1217 by monks from the
monastery of Morimond, a daughter house of
Citeaux in
France. Earlier spellings of the village's name are ''Moycosquin'' and ''Moycoscain''.
Dissolution
By 1539 the abbey had fallen into a state of disrepair.
The Abbey site was occupied at the beginning of the 17th century by a
plantation of the
London Guild of Merchant Taylors. While
Agivey was granted to the
Ironmongers’ Company of London.
[All Ireland Sources` Newslette]
Volume 3, No. 7, July 2001.
The last remains of the Abbey
buildings
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and funct ...
were removed in the 18th century and the
Protestant Church of
Saint 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 of ...
probably occupies the Abbeys site and may have reused the foundations. Also a Lancet from the 13th century is installed in Saint Mary.
List of known Abbots
References
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Monasteries in Northern Ireland