Shrule Abbey is a former monastery and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

located in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, Ireland.

Location

Shrule Abbey is located to the southwest of

Shrule Shrule (, also anglicised to ''Shruel'', usage deprecated) is a village on the N84 road in County Mayo in Ireland. The county boundary between Mayo and County Galway follows the course of the Black River on the south side of the village. The r ...

village, north of the Black River and south of St. Colman's Church.

History

According to tradition, Christianity was brought to Shrule by

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

himself in the 5th century AD. He founded a church at Donaghpatrick and left a disciple, Felartus, in charge. The ancient abbey of Cloghvanaha (Irish for "blessed stone") is believed to have grown from this site. Shrule was formerly under the jurisdiction of

Cong Abbey Cong Abbey also known as the Royal Abbey of Cong, is a historic site located at Cong Mayo, in Ireland's province of Connacht. The ruins of the former Augustinian abbey mostly date to the 13th century and have been described as featuring some of ...

, then in 1152 it was placed under Annaghdown Abbey. The abbey was replaced by St. Colman's Church (Teampall Cholmain) c. 1200 as the main place of worship in Shrule. Clogvanaha is mentioned in the ecclesiastical taxation of 1306.

Building

Little remains of this ancient abbey: only a rectangular mound (11 × 13.4 m; 12 × 14.7 yd) with masonry rubble visible in places.

References

{{Reflist Christian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Religion in County Mayo Archaeological sites in County Mayo National Monuments in County Mayo