INCH ABBEY
The site of Inch Abbey beside the marshy bank of the River Quoile was carefully chosen, as it is within sight of Downpatrick Cathedral and Mound. It was John de Courcy who founded the abbey of Erenagh, south of Downpatrick during the course of his campaign to conquer Ulster. It is appropriate therefore that the location is on the site of a much earlier monastery known as Inis Cumhscraigh, which was surrounded by a large earthwork discovered by means of aerial photography, and which was already in existence by the yeare 800.
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Inch abbey was founded by John de Courcy in recompense for burning down the abbey of Erenagh in 1177. The remaining monks of Erenagh appear to have had this new monastery founded for them in 1180, when they were affiliated to Furness Abbey in Lancashire. It is thought that Furness sent brethren to help build the abbey and provided additional brethren to strengthen the community in 1187, when the erection of essential buildings had been completed. The effective result was the replacement of an Irish community with a largely English one. There had previously been a monastery at Inch, called Inis-Cumhscraigh. It had been established in AD 800, was plundered by the Vikings in 1001, raided by the Irish in 1149 and had become defunct by 1153. In 1177 the surrounding district was conquered by John de Courcy and it is thought that the monastic buildings may have been completely destroyed at this time. |
The site of the earlier monastery was probably in the area of the parish graveyard, north of the present ruins of Inch Abbey. From the time that the monks arrived from Furness, the monastery remained a centre of strong English influence, refusing to accept Irish men into the community.
The abbey church was constructed in the gothic style c. 1200. The presbytery is dominated by lancet windows and the clustered pier in the chapel was far more sophisticated than any that existed in Ireland at that time.
In 1318 the monks of Inch were accused of hunting Irishmen with spears and singing Vespers in the evening. After 1400 the church was truncated, the early gothic church was reduced to a singular rectangular chapel and the transepts were cut off by a solid stone screen.
The value of the abbey at the time of the Dissolution is unknown, but it is likely to have been a very small figure. The abbey was suppressed in 1541 and the site was granted to Gerald, earl of Kildare. By the nineteenth century the ruins were badly ruined and overgrown. In the 1870s a considerable quantity of stained glass exhibiting foliage and animals was found inside the chancery, although there is no trace of animals or figures in the stonework. The ruins are situated on an islet in the Quoile Marshes and are accessible to the public.