History
Creevelea Friary was founded in 1508 by Eóghan O'Rourke, Lord of West Bréifne, and his wife Margaret O'Brian, daughter of a King of Thomond, as a daughter foundation of Donegal Abbey. The friary was accidentally burned in 1536, but was rebuilt by Brian Ballach O'Rourke. In 1590, Richard Bingham stabled his horses at Creevelea during his pursuit of Brian O'Rourke, who had sheltered survivors of the Spanish Armada. Dissolved c. 1598. [6]
Sir Tadhg O'Rourke (d. 1605), last King of West Bréifne and Thaddeus Francis O'Rourke (d. 1735), Bishop of Killala are buried here. Another house was built for the friars in 1618 and Creevelea was reoccupied by friars in 1642. The Franciscans were again driven out by the New Model Army during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in the 1650s. [7] After the Restoration, the Franciscans returned and continued to live in thatched cabins nearby. During the early 18th-century, pioneering antiquarian and Celticist Charles O'Conor of Bellanagare, a descendant of the local Gaelic nobility of Ireland, received his early education at a hedge school taught by the surviving Friars. [9] Although it was once widely assumed that Gaelic Ireland completely missed Renaissance humanism and the revival of interest in the Classics, O'Conor later recalled that he was taught the Latin language using the grammar of Corderius, and the writings of Ovid, Suetonius, and Erasmus. O'Conor recalled that he was also taught the playing of the Celtic harp, as well as fencing and dancing. [10] According to Tony Nugent, the surviving Franciscans also used a Megalithic tomb site in the nearby townland of Sranagarvanagh, or in Connaught Irish Srath na nGarbhánach, as a Mass rock, also during the 18th-century. A walking track has since been built to the site under a Fás scheme. [11] The Abbey Church remained in use as living quarters until 1837.
County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county, which had a population of 35,199 according to the 2022 census.
Manorhamilton is the second-largest town in County Leitrim, Ireland. It is located on the N16 26 kilometres (16 mi) from Sligo and 41 kilometres (25 mi) from Enniskillen.
Timoleague Friary, also known as Timoleague Abbey, is a ruined medieval Franciscan friary in Timoleague, County Cork, Ireland, on the banks of the Argideen River overlooking Courtmacsherry Bay. It was built on the site of an early Christian monastic site founded by Saint Molaga, from whom the town of Timoleague derives its name. The present remains date from roughly the turn of the fourteenth century and were burnt down by British forces in the mid-seventeenth century, at which point it was an important ecclesiastical centre that engaged in significant trade with Spain.
Kilcrea Friary is a ruined medieval abbey located near Ovens, County Cork, Ireland. Both the friary and Kilcrea Castle, located in ruin to the west, were built by Observant Franciscans in the mid 15th century under the invitation of Cormac Láidir MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry, as protection from English troops.
Dromahair is a village in County Leitrim, Ireland. Dromahair is 10 km (6 mi) from Manorhamilton and 17 km (10 mi) from Sligo town.
Sir Brian O'Rourke was first king and then lord of West Breifne in Ireland from 1566 until his execution in 1591. He reigned during the later stages of the Tudor conquest of Ireland and his rule was marked by English encroachments on his lands. Despite being knighted by the English in 1585, he would later be proclaimed a rebel and forced to flee his kingdom in 1590. He travelled to Scotland in early 1591 seeking assistance from King James VI, however, he was to become the first man extradited within Britain on allegations of crimes committed in Ireland and was sentenced to death in London in November 1591.
Quin Abbey, is a ruined Franciscan abbey in Quin, County Clare, Ireland. It was built for Fathers Purcell and Mooney, friars of the Franciscan order.
Patrick O'Hely was an Irish Franciscan priest from Creevelea Abbey, near Dromahair, County Leitrim, and illegal and underground Bishop of Mayo, who was tortured and executed as part of the Elizabethan era religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Bishop O'Hely was Beatified, along with his fellow Franciscan Friar and companion in martyrdom, Conn Ó Ruairc, by Pope John Paul II along with 15 other Irish Catholic Martyrs on 27 September 1992. Their martyrdom is commemorated every year on 20 June.
Jamestown is a village on the banks of the River Shannon in the south of County Leitrim, Ireland. It lies some 5 km east-south-east of the county town, Carrick-on-Shannon. It was named after King James VI & I.
Sir Frederick Hamilton was a Scottish soldier who fought for Sweden in the Thirty Years' War in Germany and for the Covenanters in Ireland, Scotland, and northern England. He built Manorhamilton Castle, County Leitrim, Ireland. His son Gustavus became the 1st Viscount Boyne.
Parke's Castle, also known as Newtowne Castle, is a 17th century semi-fortified manor house. It is situated on the shores of Lough Gill, in County Leitrim, Ireland. The castle is built on the site of an earlier, 16th century O'Rourke tower house. The castle and bawn had been purchased by Captain Robert Parke in the 1630s. He had been granted some of the former O'Rourke lands as part of the Plantations.
The Kingdom of West Breifne or Breifne O'Rourke was a historic kingdom of Ireland that existed from 1256 to 1605, located in the area that is now County Leitrim. It took its present boundaries in 1583 when West Breifne was shired and renamed Leitrim, after the village of Leitrim, which was an O'Rourke stronghold. The kingdom came into existence after a battle between the ruling O'Rourke clan and the ascendant O'Reillys caused the breakup of the older Kingdom of Breifne and led to the formation of East Breifne and West Breifne. The kingdom was ruled by the O'Rourke clan and lasted until the early 17th century, when their lands were confiscated by England.
Donegal Abbey is a ruined Franciscan Priory in Donegal in Ireland. It was constructed by the O'Donnell dynasty in the fifteenth century and remained a center of Classical Christian education even after its destruction during the Nine Years War. It is sometimes referred to as Donegal Friary.
Ennis Friary was a Franciscan friary in the town of Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. It was established in the middle of the 13th century by the ruling O'Brien dynasty who supported it for most of its existence. Following the suppression of the monasteries in the 16th century, the friary continued to function for a while despite the loss of its lands. In the early 17th century, the buildings were handed over to the Church of Ireland as a place of worship. It was used as such until the late 19th century. After the construction of a new Church of Ireland building, the friary fell into ruin. Managed by the Office of Public Works since the late 19th century, it was formally returned to the Franciscan Order in 1969.
Lislaughtin Abbey is a medieval Franciscan friary and National Monument located in County Kerry, Ireland.
Ardfert Abbey, also known as Ardfert Friary, is a ruined medieval Franciscan friary and National Monument in Ardfert, County Kerry, Ireland. It is thought to be built on the site of an early Christian monastic site founded by Brendan the Navigator. The present remains date from the mid-thirteenth century, with the residential tower being added in the 15th century. The friary was dissolved in 1584.
Kinalehin Friary, originally a medieval charterhouse or Carthusian monastery and later a Franciscan friary, is a National Monument located in County Galway, Ireland.
Wicklow Friary, also called Wicklow Abbey, is a ruined Franciscan friary located in Wicklow, Ireland, active in the 13th to 16th centuries.
Thaddeus (‘Thady’) Francis was an Irish Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Killala from 1707 to 1735. He had been the chaplain for a time to Prince Eugene of Savoy.
Events from the year 1508 in Ireland.
