Nendrum monastery

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Nendrum Monastery is the ring structure in the center of the picture

The Nendrum Monastery ( Irish Naondroim ) is a Mochaoi-founded complex of the IroScottish Church on Mahee Island , the largest island in Strangford Lough , in County Down , Northern Ireland . Mochaoi, who is said to have been converted by St. Patrick, died in the late 5th century. The name Nendrum goes back to a drumlin , an ice age elevation.

The monasteries, founded in the 6th and 7th centuries, laid the foundations of Christianity in Ireland and at the same time were small protourbane centers. They attracted all kinds of craftsmen because they provided work. Initially inhabited by 12 monks, the monasteries consisted of huts made of wood and wickerwork or stone. The most important building was the small church in the center. The monks sometimes lived in cells called beehive huts because of their shape .

From the 7th to 9th centuries, the Ulster annals record a succession of bishops and abbots for Nendrum. The custom of building the monasteries within Duns or Raths (Ringforts) was not an advantage, because they did not offer protection against the Viking raids, which were frequent at the time . In 987 the "Herenagh of Oendrium" (an abbot of Nendrum) was burned in his home, probably in connection with a Viking raid. A small Benedictine abbey was founded by John de Courcy in the 12th century and the church was the parish center in 1306. Nendrum seems to have been replaced by a more accessible facility at Tullynakill on the mainland in the 15th century.

  • Nendrum monastery

  • Nendrum monastery

  • Plan of the Nendrum Monastery

  • Church foundations and remnants of round towers

Before the excavation in the 1920s, the base of a round tower and the ruins of the church were all that could be seen of Nendrum. When the archaeologists dug deeper, they discovered an important monastery. Nendrum was built in the middle of a pre-Christian council , which was surrounded by an irregularly concentric triple wall ring. Inside the cashel were a school, workshops, the cemetery, the church, a round tower and a vertical sundial . One of the more important finds was the bronze-coated iron "Bell of Nendrum". Outside there was a small tide mill and a mooring, probably for fishing boats.

Originally, access to the island was only possible through a ford at low tide . Mahee Island and thus Nendrum can now be reached via a dam built in the 19th century. Close by is Castle Espie , a zoo and wild bird reserve especially for geese .

literature

  • HC Lawlor: The Monastery of Saint Mochaoi of Nendrum. The Belfast natural history and philosophical society, Belfast 1925 (obsolete)
  • Northern Ireland. Ministry of Finance: An archaeological survey of County Down. HMSO, 1966
  • JS Andrews: The Bell of Nendrum. Blackstaff Press Ltd., 1969 (novel, June 1985 edition) ISBN 0-85640-341-5

Web links

Commons : Nendrum Monastery  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 54 ° 29 ′ 48 "  N , 5 ° 38 ′ 26"  W.