Ballybeg Monastery

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Northwest view of the bell tower at the west end of the nave

The Ballybeg Monastery ( Irish Prióireacht an Bhaile Bhig , English Ballybeg Priory ) was founded in 1229 by Philip de Barry as the priory of the Augustinian Canons consecrated to Thomas Becket in the Diocese of Cloyne in Ireland . The monastery was closed around 1541 during the Reformation . By the middle of the 18th century at the latest, the monastery was only a ruin. The columbarium belonging to the monastery is one of the best preserved medieval dovecotes in Ireland.

Geographical location

The monastery is about 200 meters south of the Awbeg River and about a kilometer south of the small town of Buttevant , which was owned by Philip de Barrys. At that time, locations in the immediate vicinity of rivers were preferred for the foundations of the Cistercians as well as those of the Augustinians, as they ensured the supply of fresh water and also made it possible to build watermills . In Ireland there is not infrequently rocky soil in the river valleys, which was preferred as a long-term suitable reason for the construction of heavy stone structures. The monastery in Ballybeg was built on the dry valley side of the Awbeg River. The floor is made of pale gray limestone , which was also used for the construction of the monastery.

history

Philip de Barry was one of the descendants of the Cambro Normans who conquered large parts of Ireland at the end of the 12th century. He was a nephew of Raymond FitzGerald and Robert FitzStephen , whom he also served as trustee . At the beginning of the 12th century he was one of the most important landowners in what is now County Cork . The land required for the foundation was donated in 1229. In 1235, the founder's grandson, David de Barry, increased the financial contributions. Two years later, further property was donated. Starting from Ballybeg, Crossmolina , another canon monastery was founded in the diocese of Killala around 1270 . In 1342, the Prior John FitzRichard was charged in Dublin with the mistreatment of a man. In the 15th century there were also some grievances in connection with the dependent monastery in Crossmolina. In 1401 John Baret was deposed as prior in Crossmolina, a little later in 1410 appointed prior in commendam of Ballybeg, then provost in commendam of Killala, where he gave up his habit and led a worldly, unbound life, which later led to an indictment .

The monastery was appraised in 1541 during the Reformation. At the time, it owned over 200 acres and 14 parishes valued at over £ 54 but valued at just over £ 12 because of the rebellions. The goods were lent in 1568 by Elizabeth I to Viscount Barrymore, a descendant of the founder. Around 1573 the monastery was given to George Bouchier for a lease of over £ 41 a year. After the latter could not pay this, Stephen Water became the next tenant in 1583. At that time the possessions still included Crossmolina. 1622 belonged to the estate a total of 2060 Irish acres (just over 13 km²). Since the middle of the 18th century at the latest, the monastery was only a ruin. But the middle part of the nave and the tower at the west end of the nave were still used as an agricultural residence until the beginning of the 20th century.

architecture

View from the monastery garden to the columbarium

Of the single-nave church, which stretches for more than 50 meters in an east-west direction, only the remains of the wall around the former choir window and the western end, in front of which a tower was built, the vault of which partially covers the two lancet windows . The northern wall of the nave has not been preserved and the southern wall only partially, although these are only remnants of the later reconstruction. The two arches on the inside of the lancet windows meet at an ornate capital decorated with foliage and sculptures of three human heads. The execution is similar to that of the west window of the church in Gowran , but it is less competently executed. The lancet windows are dated to the end of the 13th century, the tower built in front to the 14th or 15th century.

Nest boxes within the columbarium

On the south side of the nave there is a monastery garden with a side length of approx. 27 meters. After Leask, the entrance to the chapter house can still be seen on the east side of the monastery garden . At the north-west corner of the monastery garden there is a late medieval residential tower with four floors. To the south-east of the church stands the columbarium, isolated at some distance, which is of medieval origin but has not yet been able to be dated precisely.

The Ballybeg East Dovecote is a columbarium housed in a round tower that is approximately 8.5 m high and approximately 4.75 m in diameter inside, with walls approximately 1.14 m thick. On the inside of the outer wall up to a height of approx. 4.5 m, a total of 11 levels with 32 nesting boxes per level for the pigeons are housed. Above this, the interior gradually narrows as stone slabs are pushed forward, until only a circular space remains at the top for the pigeons to fly in and out.

literature

  • Richard R. Brash: An Account of Some Antiquities in the Neighborhood of Buttevant, in the County of Cork . In: Transactions of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society . tape 2 , no. 2 . Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1853, p. 265-276 .
  • Harold G. Leask: Irish Churches and Monastic Buildings II . Gothic Architecture to AD 1400. Dundalgan Press, Dundalk 1960, pp. 145-145 .
  • Aubrey Gwynn , R. Neville Hadcock: Medieval Religious Houses in Ireland . Longman, London 1970, ISBN 0-582-11229-X , pp. 159 .
  • Geraldine Carville: The Occupation of Celtic Sites in Ireland by the Canons Regular of St Augustine and the Cistercians . Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan 1982, ISBN 0-87907-856-1 .
  • Denis Power, Sheila Lane: Archaeological Inventory of County Cork . Vol. IV - North Cork, Part 2. Dúchas The Heritage Service, Dublin 2000, ISBN 0-7076-6483-7 , pp. 545-546 .

Web links

Commons : Ballybeg Priory  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c Gwynn, p. 159.
  2. ^ Brash, p. 34.
  3. ↑ Information board on site: Near the church is one of the finest surviving medieval dovecots in Ireland.
  4. ^ Power et al., P. 545
  5. ^ A b Goddard Henry Orpen: Ireland under the Normans 1169-1333 . tape III . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1920, pp. 119-120 .
  6. ^ Carville, pp. 49, 95, 109.
  7. ↑ For the family tree see Richard Roche: The Norman Invasion of Ireland . Anvil Books, 1995, ISBN 0-947962-81-6 , pp. 106-107 .
  8. ^ Gwynn, p. 168.
  9. ↑ Gwynn, pp. 159,168.
  10. ↑ Power et al., P. 546.
  11. ^ Power et al., P. 545.
  12. ↑ a b c Leask, p. 146.
  13. ↑ Information board on site: The church's original west gable, with its two very fine lancet windows, was incorporated into a tall tower in the 14th or 15th century [..] .
  14. ↑ Power et al., P. 546; Leask, p. 146.
  15. ^ Brash, p. 266.


Coordinates: 52 ° 13 ′ 10 "  N , 8 ° 40 ′ 12.2"  W.