Magherabeg Monastery

The nave, completely overgrown with ivy, faces east

The Magherabeg Monastery ( English Magherabeg Friary , Irish Mainistir na Machaire Bige ) was founded around 1430 by Niall Garbh Ó Domhnaill as a house for secular terces of the Franciscan Order in the Diocese of Raphoe in Ireland . In 1601 the monastery was occupied by the troops of Niall Garbh Ó Domhnaill, who supported the English during the Nine Years' War . Ownership of the monastery then passed to Sir Paul Gore.

The monastery is close to Donegal Bay , about one kilometer south of the Franciscan Monastery of the First Order, founded in 1474 near the city of Donegal . Today it is located in a small park in the middle of a tree population on the N15.

The first written record of the Thirds in Ireland is dated 1426. The movement became particularly popular in Gaelic Ireland, and the Observant Brothers of the First Order often paved their way. In Donegal, however, the Terziaren were there several decades before the founder's wife, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and her son Aodh Rua Ó Domhnaill succeeded in founding a monastery for observant Franciscans, which became one of the most influential Franciscan houses in the 15th century and should be the 16th century.

The walls of a church with the interior dimensions 28.65 × 6.73 meters and the foundation walls on the north side of the adjoining buildings have been preserved. A separation of the choir cannot be seen. The north and south walls rise up to 5.2 meters in some places, but the gables have not been preserved. The east window was probably divided into three parts by tracery . Some repairs were made in 1981.

literature

• Aubrey Gwynn , R. Neville Hadcock: Medieval Religious Houses in Ireland . Longman, London 1970, ISBN 0-582-11229-X .
• Brian Lacy: Archaeological Survey of County Donegal . Donegal County Council, Lifford 1983, ISBN 0-9508407-0-X .

Web links

Commons : Magherabeg Friary  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ^ Gwynn, p. 273.
2. ↑ Grid square G 92 77: Ordnance Survey (ed.): Discovery Series 11 . Dublin 1993, ISBN 0-904996-50-6 .
3. ^ Colmán N. Ó Clabaigh: The Franciscans in Ireland, 1400–1534 . Four Courts Press, Dublin 2002, ISBN 1-85182-548-7 , pp. 85, 99 .
4. ↑ Lacy, pp. 340–341, entry 1897.

Coordinates: 54 ° 38 ′ 28.2 "  N , 8 ° 7 ′ 4"  W.