Greyabbey
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Greyabbey or Grey Abbey is a small
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
,
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 208 acres) and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
located on the eastern shores of
Strangford Lough Strangford Lough (from Old Norse ''Strangr Fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet"PlaceNames N ...
, on the
Ards Peninsula The Ards Peninsula () is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north-east coast of Ireland. It separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel of the Irish Sea. Towns and villages on the peninsula include Donaghadee, Millisle ...
in
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 lies south of
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 ...
. Both townland and civil parish are situated in the historic
barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
of
Ards Lower Ards Lower (named after the former barony of Ards), alternatively known as North Ards, is a barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northern half of the Ards Peninsula in the north-east of the county, with the Irish Sea to its eas ...
. It is within the Ards and North Down Borough. It had a population of 939 people in the 2011 Census. Greyabbey is often associated with the
antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...
s trade, there being several specialist
antique shop An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of antiques. Antiques shops can be located either locally or, with the advent of the Internet, found online. An antiques shop can also be located within an anti ...
s in the village, as well as some interesting
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
and Victorian buildings. Of particular note is
Mount Stewart Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the Iris ...
Estate (
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
) as well as a traditional
coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...
.


History

The village (and townland) derives its name from Grey Abbey, 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 ...
abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...
-
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
located on the north side of the village, dating from 1193. Historically it was also called ''Monesterlee'' or ''Monesterlea'', which are
anglicisation Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
s of its
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 ...
name ''Mainistir Liath'' ("grey abbey/monastery"). It was founded by Affreca, daughter of Godred Olafsson, King of the Isles, and wife of
John de Courcy {{Infobox noble , image = Sir John de Courcy (1150-1219).jpg , caption = , alt = , more = no , succession = , reign = , predecessor = , successor = , ...
,
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 ...
conqueror of the province 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 ...
. The site of the abbey was on the Ards Peninsula, from Newtownards, at the confluence of a small river and Strangford Lough. Architecturally it is important as the first fully
gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
style building in
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 ...
; it is the first fully stone church in which every window arch and door was pointed rather than round headed. The abbey is located in the parkland of Rosemount House, home of the Montgomery family, to the east side of the village. Tradition says that Affreca founded the abbey in thanksgiving for a safe landing after a perilous journey at sea. The abbey was colonised with monks from Holmcultram in Cumberland, with which it maintained close ties in the early years. The construction of the stone church began almost immediately. In 1222, and again in 1237, abbots of Grey Abbey went on to become abbots of Holmcultram. The Latin name of the abbey is ''Iugum Dei'', which means "Yoke of God". Little is known of the abbey's history, although it appears to have been almost completely destroyed during the invasion of Edward Bruce (1315–18). No reliable sources concerning the value of the abbey foundation survive, but it is not likely to have been prosperous. The abbey was dissolved in 1541. In the same year part of the monastic property was granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare. The monastery was physically destroyed during the military operations of the Elizabethan era. In 1572, Bryan O'Neill burnt Grey Abbey to stop it being used as a refuge for English colonists trying to settle in the Ards Peninsula. During the 17th century the church nave was re-roofed and served as a parish church until 1778. In the late 19th century, repairs were executed by The Office of Public Works (The O.P.W.) Unfortunately, an excessive amount of concrete was used, the crudity of which is still obvious today. The remains of the abbey include the abbey church and some of the conventual buildings, dating from c.1193 – c.1250. The original plan of the monastery can be followed with ease through foundations and earthworks. The abbot's seat has been preserved. It is fitted inside a pointed arch and flanked by detached colonettes. Corbel tables are also a rarity in Ireland, but the Cistercians can boast two of them, one at Tintern and one at Grey. At Grey the corbels were inserted when the roof was raised, probably in the early fifteenth century. There are eight of them altogether, carved with oak leaves, human figures and animal heads. An outstanding effigy of a 'sword seizing' knight survives, thought to date from c. 1300 as well as an effigy of a woman carved in high relief and attired in thickly cut robes. Tradition relates that this is Affreca, who was buried in the abbey, but the style suggests that the effigy actually originated in the fourteenth century, a hundred years after her death. The ruins are now set in a private parkland, belonging to the eighteenth-century mansion, Rosemont House. The park is not accessible to the public.
Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influence ...
: on the morning of Pike Sunday, 10 June 1798, a force of
United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...
, mainly from Greyabbey, Bangor,
Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and t ...
, and Ballywalter, attempted to occupy the town of
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 ...
. They met with
musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
fire from the market house and were defeated. It is because of this association with the rebellion that the term "The Green Boys o' Greba" was given to the men of the village. GREBA is the name given to the village by the local residents, and also by those from the neighbouring areas. It is a localised "Ulster-Scots" terminology. The Rebellion of 1798 also affected the village in another form, with the death by hanging of the Rev James Porter, Minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Greyabbey, on 2 July 1798. The final resting place of Rev Porter is in the Old Graveyard, Greyabbey, which itself lies adjacent to the ancient Abbey ruins. On Tullykevin Road, in Greyabbey, there is a brass plate on a field post in remembrance of a pilot who crashed and died there during the
Second World War 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 ...
.


Churches

In the village are three places of worship, St Saviours Church of Ireland; Trinity Presbyterian Church; and First (Non-Subscribing) Presbyterian Church. Services in all three take place each Sunday, with various other associated meetings throughout the week. The local Roman Catholic place of worship is at St Mary Star of the Sea, Nunsquarter, Inishargy, with services each Saturday evening and Sunday morning, and also meetings throughout the week. St Saviour's is noted for having a peal of change-ringing bells, which for over 15 years were the lightest ring of bells in Ireland, until the installation of bells at
Dunmanway Dunmanway (, official Irish name: ) is a market town in County Cork, in the southwest of Ireland. It is the geographical centre of the region known as West Cork. It is the birthplace of Sam Maguire, an Irish Protestant republican, for whom the tr ...
. They remain the second-lightest peal in Northern Ireland.


Loyal Orange Lodge

A Loyal
Orange Lodge The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots people, Ulster Sco ...
, working under the authority of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland sits in the Orange Hall, Main Street, Greyabbey. It takes the title of Greyabbey Loyal Orange Lodge, number 1592, and is itself part of the Upper Ards District LOL No 11, in the County Down Grand Orange Lodge. It was first formed in the village in 1863 and has had continued membership to the present day. A Junior Orange Lodge also meets in the village and takes the title of Greyabbey Junior Loyal Orange Lodge, number 253, and works under the authority of the Junior Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland. The Junior Lodge was formed in 1977.


Bands

Greyabbey has had many musicians who have learned their skills through membership of the local bands. These bands, also known as "marching bands" have ranged from accordion, part-music flute, and the present-day first-flute. They take part in street parades, village festivals commemorating
Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...
, the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
, and the
Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and ...
as well as celebrating Orange Lodge Sunday Services. The village also has had the traditional Ulster Lambeg Drums as part of the music scene of the area. The history of these large percussion instruments goes back to the Marmite Wars in Ireland, circa 1990.


Notable natives

* Actress
Flora Montgomery Flora Anne Selina Montgomery (born 4 January 1974) is a Northern Irish actress. Early life and family Montgomery was born at her family's ancestral home in Greyabbey, County Down, the daughter of William Howard Clive Montgomery, OBE, of Rosem ...
is the daughter of William Montgomery of Rosemount House and was born and raised in Greyabbey, their ancestral house * Rev
Coslett Herbert Waddell Coslett Herbert Waddell (Rev.) (March 6, 1858 at Drumcro, County Antrim – June 8, 1919) was an Irish priest, (Church of Ireland), and botanist. He was related, via his mother Maria Langtry, to Lillie Langtry, the "Jersey Lily". He went to Lurg ...
, a botanist, lived in the village * Holly Hamilton, BBC journalist and presenter


Sport

The star of Ards Football Club's successful 1968/69 Irish Cup campaign came from the village. Billy McAvoy hit four goals in the Irish Cup Final replay when Ards, from the County Down town of Newtownards, defeated Distillery 4-2 after extra-time to win the cup for the third time in the club's history.Ards homing in on bright future
Belfast Telegraph, 16/02/16
This equalled the post-war record for the number of goals scored by one person in an Irish Cup Final, a record which still stands today, (2016). Senior football in the village is run under the auspices of the Rosemount Rec. Football Club, while a summer junior, (school-age), football tournament is organised by the Abbey Star Juniors Football Club.


Environment

There is a
DRD Water Service Northern Ireland Water Limited ( ga, Uisce Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Wattèr'') is a water company in Northern Ireland. Formerly an executive agency within Northern Ireland Executive, it became ...
wastewater treatment works at Greyabbey, which employs sophisticated membrane technology. This facility and a similar Works at
Kircubbin Kircubbin is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village had a population of 1,153 people in the 2011 Census. History The settlement was originally known as Kilcubin, which is thought to come from Irish ''Cill Ghobáin' ...
, were completed under the same £3.5 million contract. The original Greyabbey Wastewater Treatment Works was designed to treat wastewater for a population of 1,000. Since being upgraded, it is capable of treatment for a population of 2,500. The Works at Greyabbey helps to protect the marine environment in
Strangford Lough Strangford Lough (from Old Norse ''Strangr Fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet"PlaceNames N ...
. Two sea defences are located at Greyabbey on the eastern side of the Lough.


Civil parish of Greyabbey

The civil parish contains the village of Greyabbey and
Mount Stewart Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the Iris ...
house and estate.


Townlands

The civil parish contains the following townlands, aside from Greyabbey (with the localised meaning in parentheses): * Ballyblack ("Black's townland") * Ballyboghilbo ("Townland of the Cowturd") * Ballyboley ("Townland of the summer pasturage") * Ballycastle ("Townland of the Castle") * Ballyewry ("Townland of the place of Yew Trees") * Ballymurphy ("Townland of the Murphys") * Ballynester ("Townland of the Doorkeeper") * Ballyurnanellan ("Townland of the Yew of the Island") * Blackabbey * Bootown ("Booth's townland") * Boretree Island East * Cardy ("The Forge") *
Chapel Island Chapel Island is a limestone outcrop that lies in the Leven estuary of Morecambe Bay in England, less than from the shoreline at Bardsea in the area known as Ulverston Sands. It is located at ( OS grid ref. SD 321759). It is one of the Islan ...
* Cunningburn * Gordonall ("Gordon's lands") * Island South * Killyvolgan ("Central Wood") * Kilnatierny ("Lord's little wood") * Mid Island *
Mount Stewart Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the Iris ...
("Mount of the Stewarts") * Rosemount (a.k.a. "The Manor House") *
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
* Tullykevin ("Kevin's hillock")


Islands

Islands dotted around Strangford Lough and set within the Greyabbey Pish area include : Boretree Island; Boretree Rock; Chanderies; Chapel Island; Grabcock Island; Hare Island; Mid Island; Pattersons Hill; Peggys Island; Pig Island; South Island; Turley Rock; and Whassup Rock.


See also

*
List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland This is an alphabetical list of towns and villages in Northern Ireland. For a list sorted by population, see the list of settlements in Northern Ireland by population. The towns of Armagh, Lisburn and Newry are also classed as cities (see city sta ...
*
List of civil parishes of County Down In Ireland, Counties are divided into civil parishes which are sub-divided into townlands. The following is a list of civil parishes in County Down, Northern Ireland: A Aghaderg, Annaclone, Annahilt, Ardglass, Ardkeen, Ardquin B Ballee, Ba ...
*
List of townlands in County Down In Ireland, Counties are divided into Civil Parishes and Parishes are further divided into townlands. The following is a list of townlands in County Down, Northern Ireland: __NOTOC__ A Acre McCricket, Aghacullion, Aghandunvarran, Aghavill ...


References


Ballywalter Community OnlineCulture Northern Ireland
{{authority control Villages in County Down Townlands of County Down