In the Western part of Ireland, in Clare County you can find the ruins of Quin Abbey. Long time ago, in 13th century, in 1278, it was the Anglo-Norman fortress. It didn’t last long. By the year 1318 it was totally destroyed. The abbey was built in 15th century on the remains of this fortress. Monks were living there till 1820.
That’s how it looks like nowadays.
GPS coordinates for Garmin/Navitel: N52.819101 W8.863233
In 16th century the monastery was attacked, damaged and fell into disrepair. It was described as “one great church, now ruinous, covered with slate, and a steeple greatly decayed”. Happily, by the end of the century, MacNamaras family regained the control of the abbey and started repairing and restoring the building. In 14 years the building became suitable for living again.
In the middle of 17th century, Cromwellians (military conflict of England and Ireland in 1649-1653, when Oliver Cromwell’s English forces invaded Ireland) destroyed the abbey and killed the monks, including the members of MacNamaras family.
In 1671 the monastery was was again restored. Since that time its population changed several times up to 1760, when the only one monk remained living there. That monk had several successors, the last of them was Father John Hogan of Drim. He kept living there till his death in 1820. By that time all buildings were ruined by neglect.
Since 1880 Quin Abbey is a National Monument of Ireland. Despite of the rich invasion and destruction history, these ruins are considered to be one of the most intact Franciscan monasteries in Ireland. Let’s see what we can find there!
Stairs (view from below)
Stairs (view from above)
Floors of the second storey are covered by a green grass. It is very nice when you touch it!
Nice monastery passages.
It’s clean and maintained in ideal condition. 40-50 years old man keeps an eye on this building. There is a small booth selling maps and postcards. Who is this guy? The owner of this castle or just a gate keeper…
Take some time to sit on the grass and look out of the monastery windows. It gives a really exciting feeling of diving into the ancient history.
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