Kilmacduagh Monastery: A Ruined Monastic Complex in Ireland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Ireland
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Irish
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Monastery
On this page13 sections
History
Kilmacduagh Monastery is a ruined monastic site in Ireland, at Kilmacduagh in County Galway near Gort. It was reportedly founded in the early seventh century by Saint Colman MacDuagh on land granted by his cousin, King Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin of Connacht, although the precise foundation date remains uncertain. Saint Colman became the monastery’s abbot and bishop, serving in both roles until his death.
The Early Monastery
Only one of Saint Colman’s successors before the arrival of the English is known by name. Indrect, who died in 814, is the earliest recorded successor identified in the surviving historical tradition. The foundation legend says that Saint Colman chose the site where his girdle fell as he walked through the woods of the Burren. Later traditions connected the gem-studded girdle with the O’Shaughnessys, although it was subsequently lost.
Saint Colman’s crozier was also associated with the O’Shaughnessys in one tradition and with the O’Heynes in another. The crozier is now held by the National Museum of Ireland. A further local belief holds that no man can die from a lightning strike within the Diocese of Kilmacduagh.
Diocesan and Augustinian Phases
During the twelfth century, Kilmacduagh became the centre and bishop’s seat of the Diocese of Kilmacduagh. A diocese is an ecclesiastical district governed by a bishop, and its bishop’s seat is the principal centre from which that district was administered. From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, Kilmacduagh alternated in this role with Kilfenora.
The early monastery suffered repeated raids and was finally ruined by William de Burgh, an Anglo-Norman lord active in thirteenth-century Ireland, in the early thirteenth century. Owen O’Heyne, a local lord who died in 1253, later founded the Augustinian abbey of St. Mary de Petra. Augustinian canons followed the Rule of Saint Augustine and lived together in a religious community. The abbey is also attributed to Bishop Maurice Ileyan, who died in 1283, although architectural evidence connects him only with the later east range.
During the Reformation, the sixteenth-century religious and political transformation that altered church institutions and property in Ireland, the abbey was granted to the Earl of Clanricarde. The site is now National Monument No. 51. The former diocese is incorporated into the United Dioceses of Tuam and Limerick in the Church of Ireland and into the Diocese of Galway in the Roman Catholic Church.
Remains
Kilmacduagh consists of a group of ruined ecclesiastical buildings traditionally called “the seven churches.” The group includes the former cathedral or Abbey Church, the Church of Mary, the Church of Saint John the Baptist, the Abbot’s House, Teampuil Beg Mac Duagh, the Monastery Church or O’Heyne’s Church, and the round tower. The buildings occupy the graveyard and its surrounding area, with structures positioned east, north, and northeast of the principal church.
Churches and Monastic Buildings
Abbey Church
The Abbey Church, also known as the former cathedral or Teampuil Mor, stands within the graveyard. Its earliest surviving part was built in the eleventh century and replaced an earlier wooden church. The building therefore belongs to a later phase of the site’s history than the traditional seventh-century foundation.
Church of Mary
The Church of Mary, also called Teampuil Muire or the Lady’s Church, is a small thirteenth-century building east of the road. Its walls were constructed with stones taken from an older church, giving the building a material connection with an earlier phase of the complex.
Church of Saint John the Baptist
The Church of Saint John the Baptist, or Teampuil Eoin Baiste, stands north of the graveyard. Part of the structure is probably older than the cathedral, placing it among the earlier surviving elements of the complex.
Abbot’s House
The Abbot’s House, known as Seanclogh, stands farther north near the road. It forms part of the group of buildings traditionally gathered under the name “the seven churches,” although that description includes structures other than churches.
Teampuil Beg Mac Duagh
Teampuil Beg Mac Duagh is another of the buildings associated with the monastic complex and its traditional seven-part grouping.
Monastery Church
The Monastery Church, also called O’Heyne’s Church or O’Heyne’s Abbey, lies about 180 metres northeast of the graveyard. It dates from the thirteenth century, probably its first half. Its chancel arch, the structure separating the altar area from the nave, has elaborate stone carving carried on columns decorated with floral and animal motifs.
Bishop’s Residence
The Glebe House dates from the fourteenth century. It served as a bishop’s residence, was altered at a later stage, and has since been restored. Its surviving form reflects the continuing ecclesiastical use of Kilmacduagh after the medieval building phases.
Round Tower
The round tower stands about 15 metres southwest of the cathedral. Irish round towers are tall, generally circular stone towers associated with medieval ecclesiastical sites. The construction date of this tower is uncertain, with proposed dates in the tenth and twelfth centuries. It rises more than 30 metres, with another estimate placing its height at almost 35 metres, and leans more than half a metre from the vertical. It is regarded as one of Ireland’s best-preserved and tallest complete round towers.
The tower has a single doorway about 7 metres above ground level. It was described as a refuge for monks during attacks and raids, with access reached by a ladder that could be withdrawn during an assault. The tower was repaired in 1879 under the supervision of Sir Thomas Deane, with financial support from Sir William Henry Gregory of Coole Park.
