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Movilla Abbey ( ga, Mainistir Mhaigh Bhile "Monastery of the Plain of the Notable Tree") in
Newtownards
Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtownard ...
,
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 ...
, is believed to have been one of
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
's and
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 ...
's most important monasteries. Movilla should not be confused with Moville in County Donegal.
Founding
The Abbey of Movilla was founded in 540 by
St. Finnian (d. 579) under the patronage of the king of the
Dál Fiatach
Dál Fiatach was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic dynastic-grouping and the name of their territory in the north-east of Ireland during the Middle Ages. It was part of the over-kingdom of Ulaid, and they were its main ruling dynasty for most of Ulaid's ...
. It survived as a place of Christian witness for over a thousand years, until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1542.
The name Movilla is an Anglicized form of the Irish ''magh bile'', which means “the plain of the ancient tree,” so called because on the site where the abbey was built,
pagans Pagans may refer to:
* Paganism, a group of pre-Christian religions practiced in the Roman Empire
* Modern Paganism, a group of contemporary religious practices
* Order of the Vine, a druidic faction in the ''Thief'' video game series
* Pagan's ...
had previously worshipped a
sacred tree
A sacred tree is a tree which is considered to be sacred, or worthy of spiritual respect or reverence. Such trees appear throughout world history in various cultures including the ancient Greek, Hindu mythology, Celtic and Germanic mythologies. T ...
. Finnian's association with Movilla was memorialized in the
Book of Armagh
The ''Book of Armagh'' or Codex Ardmachanus (ar or 61) ( ga, Leabhar Ard Mhacha), also known as the ''Canon of Patrick'' and the ''Liber Ar(d)machanus'', is a 9th-century Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin. It is held by the L ...
as “''vir vitae venerabilis qui jacet in miraculis multis in sua civitate Maghbile''” (A man of venerable life who reposes in many miracles in his city of Movilla). At the time of Finnian's death in 579, Movilla was recognised as a great monastic foundation.
History
Finnian's legacy ensured that Movilla Abbey flourished. By the seventh century, it had become one of the greatest monasteries in Ireland - a thriving centre of
Celtic Christianity
Celtic Christianity ( kw, Kristoneth; cy, Cristnogaeth; gd, Crìosdaidheachd; gv, Credjue Creestee/Creestiaght; ga, Críostaíocht/Críostúlacht; br, Kristeniezh; gl, Cristianismo celta) is a form of Christianity that was common, or held ...
, a community of worship, prayer, study, mission and trade. The Abbey's reputation was enhanced by virtue of the fact it had a complete copy of the Bible (the Latin
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
), which Finnian had obtained from Rome. At the time, it was the only complete copy of the Bible in the whole of Ireland, and served to enhance Movilla's reputation nationally, as a unique centre of learning. Movilla's most famous student was St.
Columba
Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...
, a pupil of Finnian's. Columba became a
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
while at Movilla and is said to have performed his first miracles there, turning water into wine for the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
. After completing his training, Columba eventually went on his own way, but returned to Movilla to visit his old teacher in the 550's. This was to be a significant visit, as it led to what is thought to be the world's first recorded wrangle over copyright.
During his stay at Movilla, Columba asked Finnian if he could spend some time examining the Abbey's precious copy of the Scriptures. Columba was keen to have a copy of his own, but he knew that Finnian would not permit him to copy it, so he began to transcribe it secretly without his permission. He had almost completed his task when Finnian found out what he was doing. Finnian insisted that Columba surrender the 'pirate' copy, but Columba refused. In order to seek redress, Finnian took the case to
Diarmait mac Cerbaill
Diarmait mac Cerbaill (died ) was King of Tara or High King of Ireland. According to traditions, he was the last High King to follow the pagan rituals of inauguration, the ''ban-feis'' or marriage to goddess of the land.
While many later stor ...
, the High King of Ireland. He pronounced his famous verdict: 'To every cow belongs her calf, to every book its copy. The copy belongs to Finnian.' Columba returned his copy in bad grace, and because he disagreed with King Diarmaid's ruling against him, he reportedly instigated a successful rebellion of the
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into the ...
clan against the King. The battle, called the
Battle of the Book, was claimed to have caused around 3,000 casualties.
In addition to being a Christian centre of prayer, learning and mission, Movilla was known for its flourishing work in crafts, particularly bronze and glass. In 1980-81, R.J. Ivens and M.J. Yates excavated the area near the Movilla Road before it was realigned. They said: 'Without doubt the most important finds from the early monastery were those illustrating the skills of the craftsmen, who worked in iron, bronze and glass. There was much industrial debris - lumps of slag, broken pieces of crucible and fragments of scrap metal, all informative but perhaps not very exciting. But a few objects do stimulate the imagination. For example, a trial-piece, on which the bronzesmith rehearsed his designs of triangles, scrolls and arcs, and a glass-headed pin, decorated with discs and trails of different coloured glass. The technical and artistic sophistication of such objects is certainly at variance with the impression of material poverty given by the simple timber houses and rather crude pottery...The excavation of a very small part of what was once an extensive monastic settlement has thus given...an insight into the skills of the early Christian craftsmen.'
In the seventh century,
Pope Honorius I
Pope Honorius I (died 12 October 638) was the bishop of Rome from 27 October 625 to his death. He was active in spreading Christianity among Anglo-Saxons and attempted to convince the Celts to calculate Easter in the Roman fashion. He is chiefl ...
sent an epistle to a number of
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
churchmen, encouraging conformity to the
Roman
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 letter ...
dating of
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
and cautioning against the
Pelagian
Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius ( – AD), an ascetic and philosopher from th ...
heresy. It is believed that one of the recipients was St. Cronan of Movilla, whom
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
, in his list of recipients, specified as Cromanus.
In the early eighth century, the bishop at Movilla was Colman, son of Murchu, who wrote a hymn to St. Michael the Archangel. It begins:
''In Trinitate spes mea fixa non in omine''
''Et archangelum deprecor Michaelem nomine''
In the Trinity my hope is fixed not in an omen,
And the archangel I beseech, Michael by name.
Movilla began to decline after it was sacked by the
Danes
Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
Danes generally regard t ...
in 823, and was united with
Bangor Abbey
Bangor Abbey was established by Saint Comgall in 558 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland and was famous for its learning and austere rule. It is not to be confused with the slightly older abbey in Wales on the site of Bangor Cathedral.
His ...
in the tenth century. It was somewhat revitalized in 1135 when
St. Malachy of
Armagh
Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...
established a group of
Augustinians
Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
in the abbey, but it never recovered its former glory. In 1306 the monastery at Movilla had one of the lowest valuations of church property in the area, at two and a half marks. Movilla was so poor that the ruling Anglo-Normans had no interest in taking it over and left Irishmen as abbots.
The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1542. During the reign of Elizabeth I,
Brian O’Neill, chief of the
O'Neills
O'Neills Irish International Sports Company Ltd. is an Irish sporting goods manufacturer established in 1918. It is the largest manufacturer of sportswear in Ireland, with production plants located in Dublin and Strabane.
O'Neills has a long re ...
of
Clandeboye
Clandeboye or Clannaboy (from Irish language, Irish ''Clann Aodha Buí'', "family of Hugh the Blond") was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising what is now south County Antrim, north County Down, and the barony of Loughinsholin, Northern Irelan ...
, burned Movilla, along with other abbeys in the
Ards
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...
in his campaign to prevent the English from using Irish abbeys for their military
garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
s.
Abbey Ruins and Movilla Cemetery
Nothing visible remains today of Finnian's Celtic Abbey. What ruins still standing are those of the (15th Century) Augustinian church, which comprises two gables, placed about 150 feet apart. Inside, the church measures 107 feet by 21 feet. In the east wall, there once was a three-light window, two of which have largely been blocked up. The third window remaining is
Romanesque in style. At the top of the arch are two small carved heads. In the west wall are two lights with
trefoil
A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four rin ...
heads and
transoms showing signs of
tracery
Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...
.
The existing ruins can only be accessed through the entrance to Movilla Cemetery, on Old Movilla Road. On the north wall of the Augustinian abbey ruin are several tapered sandstone grave slabs with large crosses carved in relief in various designs. Those for men depict swords, while those for women depict a
shear
Shear may refer to:
Textile production
*Animal shearing, the collection of wool from various species
**Sheep shearing
*The removal of nap during wool cloth production
Science and technology Engineering
*Shear strength (soil), the shear strength ...
(sickle) and
withe
Withe is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Chris Withe (born 1962), English footballer
*Jason Withe (born 1971), English footballer and manager
*Peter Withe
Peter Withe (born 30 August 1951) is an English former football m ...
(willow).
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 ...
in origin, the slabs date from the tenth to the thirteenth century. One of them bears the inscription “Or Do Dertrend,” which translates as “a prayer for Dertriu,” who, presumably, was a tenth-century abbot of Movilla.
There are also numerous memorials from the early seventeenth century, two of which are especially notable: the tomb of the Corry Family, which is designed as a small Doric temple; and the Parr
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
, built in 1860 in the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style.
The surrounding Movilla Cemetery (managed by
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Ards and North Down Borough Council is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ards Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. The first elections to the authority were on 22 May 2014 and it ...
), is still in use and is the site of twenty-one
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
burials from
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and twenty-four from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, seven of which remain unidentified. Some of the more recent burials include that of Colonel Robert Blair
Paddy Mayne
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne, (11 January 1915 – 14 December 1955) was a British Army officer from Newtownards, capped for Ireland and the British Lions at rugby union, lawyer, amateur boxer, and a founding member of the ...
, one of the most highly decorated British soldiers in World War II; and that of
Ottilie Patterson
Anna Ottilie Patterson (31 January 1932 – 20 June 2011) was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Biography
Anna Ottilie Patterson was ...
(Barber), the
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
singer most noted for her performances with the
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber OBE (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with " Petite Fl ...
Band in the 1950s and '60s.
The Abbey Stone
In 1886, W. J. Patterson offered this information to the ''Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club'':
Some years ago, a curious stone object was dug up in the burial ground which surrounds the ruins of the old Abbey Church of Movilla near Newtownards, Co. Down. It was found under the following circumstances: A gentleman living in the neighbourhood, wishing to construct a family burial vault, had an excavation made to the depth of eight or ten feet, until the solid slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
rock which underlies the clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
of the cemetery was reached. At the bottom of the excavation, resting on the rock, was found large stone coffer. . . .The measurements are as follows:--Length, 3 feet 8 inches; width, 2 feet 8 inches; height, 1 foot 10 inches. Inside measurements—26 inches long, 14 inches wide, and about 15 inches deep. Its general appearance is that of a clumsily made oblong trough on which the only attempt at ornamentation consists of some shallow panels worked on the outside. Within the upper edge, there is a ledge sunk about an inch, which may have been for the purpose of receiving a stone lid.
Many who examined the stone believed it to be an early
baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism.
Aspersion and affusion fonts
The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...
“hastily buried for security on the approach of some party of Danish pirates.” Others have speculated the object was a chest, or coffer, for the safe keeping of church valuables, which would accord with the fittings for a stone lid and comport with the Viking theory. Another theory is that the object was the base of a sculptured cross and that the hollow part was the mortice in which the end of the cross had stood. Patterson, however, rejected that idea on the grounds that the size of the block would have been totally disproportionate to the large socket; in fact, for a cross to have stood in the object's base, it would have required a shaft, or stem, 26 inches wide by 14 inches thick and “would have been of such a weight as to have burst out so frail a base, if the cross got the slightest lean to either side.”
Preservation
Movilla Abbey, church of Augustinian Canons, is a State Care Historic Monument in the
townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...
of Movilla, in
Borough of Ards, at grid ref: J5035 7440.
Gallery
File:Ruins Of Movilla Abbey.jpg, Movilla Abbey Ruins
File:Movilla Abbey engraved stones.jpg, Probable monastic grave slabs 10th-13th Century
File:Grave Of Paddy Mayne.jpg, Grave Of Col. Paddy Mayne
File:Movilla Abbey Cemetery.jpg
See also
*
Abbeys and priories in Northern Ireland (County Down)
References
{{Commons category, Movilla Abbey
External links
Northern Ireland Tourist Board information on Movilla
Christian monasteries in Northern Ireland
Ruins in Northern Ireland
Religion in County Down
Buildings and structures in County Down
Archaeological sites in County Down
Newtownards
Monasteries dissolved under the Irish Reformation