Abbeys of Waterford

Walsh c. lxii., p. 679

Acnaddagain St Dagan the brother of St Libba of Glendaloch and of St Menoc usually called Dagan of Inverdaoile in Wexford where he governed that monastery is said to have been the disciple of St Pulcherius of Leathmore who took his pupil under his care when but a small boy He remained for many years at Liathmore until becoming duly qualified and approved by his holy preceptor he formed the establishment of Inverdaoile Dagan is said to have made excursions to other countries and to have visited Rome He was promoted to the episcopacy before the death of St Molua probably about the year 600 His see was called Achad Dagan which seems to have been another name for Inverdaoile or a part of it St Dagan was an ardent supporter of the Irish practices relative to the paschal question His zeal on this point was so great that on the occasion of a visit to Britain and meeting with Lawrence archbishop of Canterbury and other Roman missionaries he refused not only to eat in their company but even under the same roof with them Notwithstanding his warmth of temper in this respect he is represented as a man of a very mild disposition and was greatly esteemed for his sanctity as appears from his having been consulted by St Molua on the choice of a successor and from it is said his having performed many miracles St Dagan died on the 13th of September AD 610 and was buried at Inverdaoile Ardmore See diocese of The holy bishop St Declan the founder died AD 527 St Ultan son of Ere succeeded it seems only as abbot He was the disciple of Declan and had been before he was called to Ardmore at the monastery of Coning a place near Clonmel Concerning his transactions little or nothing else is known AD 1174 the abbot Eugene was a subscribing witness to the charter granted to the monastery of Finbhar in Cork

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AD 1203 died Moel ettrim O Duibhe rathra who having erected and finished the church became bishop of Ardmore The remains of two ancient churches are still to be seen here one on a cliff near the sea in ruins the other about a mile north west of the former and is very ancient A handsome gothic arch separating the body of the church from the chancel yet remains and the pillars supporting it denote the antiquity of the building On the west end of this church are figures in alto relievo done in free stone venerable through their antiquity viz Adam and Eve with the tree and serpent the Judgment of Solomon There is also a fine round tower upwards of one hundred feet in height and forty five in circumference In the churchyard is a small low building called the dormitory of St Declan Ballivony in the barony of Decies without Drum and in the parish of Stradbally It is supposed that the knights Hospitallers possessed this building which measures one hundred and fifty feet in length by ninety broad There are the remains of several large out offices the ground plan of which resembles that of a religious edifice Bewley in the barony of Decies without Drum and in the parish of Killmolash and two miles south east of Lismore The ruins of a monastic building are here which it is said belonged to the knights of 6t John of Jerusalem Baillendesert in the barony of Upperthird and parish of Desart St M aidoc of Ferns built an abbey here of which there is no account See diocese of Ferns Cappagh in the barony of Decies without Drum parish of White church and about three miles west of Dungarvan Here are the remains of an ancient building said to have belonged to the knights Hospitallers Carrickbeg in the barony of Upperthird and parish of Desart A monastery was founded here for conventual Franciscans in the year 1336 by James earl of Ormond and the first friar was admitted on Saturday the festival of SS Peter and Paul Stephen de Barry was appointed minister William Naisse keeper and friar John Clynne who was the annalist of Kilkenny its first warden AD 1347 a charter was granted to the founder permitting him to alienate a messuage and ten acres of land with their appurtenances to these friars for the purpose of erecting thereon a monastic house and by the assistance of various charities they built a church dormitory and cloisters all of which were small having left the other offices unfinished AD 1385 the king seized into his hands two carucates of land

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which James late earl of Ormond had granted to this monastery without obtaining the royal license William Cormack the last prior surrendered in the thirty first of King Henry VIII being then seized of a church and steeple a chapterhouse dormitory hall three chambers a kitchen stable two gardens and sundry closes containing four acres also twelve messuages ten gardens one hundred and twenty acres of arable land twenty of pasture and six of meadow with their appurtenances annual value 53s 4d besides reprises This friary with appurtenances and twenty acres of land in the town of Carrick was granted to Thomas earl of Ormond This monastery was dedicated to St Michael The steeple still remains and is a curious structure about sixty feet in height rising from a single stone like an inverted coue the point beginning several feet from the ground towards the middle of the side wall of the church Cathuir Mac Conchaigh a town in the Munster Decies St Mochel loc was honored here See Killmallock county Limerick Clashmore in the barony of Decies within Drum See Clonrane county Westmeath St Pulcherius of Lcathmore ordered Cuanchear whom he had raised from the dead to erect this monastery This celebrated abbey existed to the time of the general suppression when its property was granted to Sir Walter Haleigh Crooke in the barony of Gualtiere and four miles east of Water ford Here is a ruined castle which belonged to the knights of St John of Jerusalem and which was founded in the thirteenth century by the Baron of Curraghmore See Kilbarry in this county AD 1348 Friar William de Fyncham was commendator In the twenty seventh of Elizabeth a lease of this commandery was granted to Anthony Power for the term of sixty years at the annual rent of 12 lis 10d Irish money Domnachmore This place is now unknown A St Ere a disciple of St Senan's of Iniscathy presided here as bishop Dungarvan in the barony of Decies without Drum is pleasantly situated the sea flows as far as its walls is a sea port market town and parliamentary borough Abbey of regular canons Archdall so calls them but they did not exist in Ireland until they were introduced by Imar and St Mala chy of Armagh They were known by the name of canons of St Augustine previously to this time This place was anciently known as Achad Garbhan This St Garbhan it is supposed gave his name to this city he is called the disciple of St Finbhar of Cork but it does not sufficiently

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appear that he was the founder of a religions establishment in this place Dun means a fortress and Achad signifies a field so that it may have gotten its name from a chieftain There were many saints of this name one of whom a hermit dissuaded St Coemgen of Glendaloch from entering on a long journey The Augustiniau friary was founded by Thomas Lord Offalay who was justiciary of Ireland in 1295 The family of Magrath endowed it with a castle and some lands contiguous and the O Briens of Cumme ragh who held the rectorial tithes of the parish were great benefactors to it AD 1312 Roger was prior In the thirty seventh of the good Queen Elizabeth a lease of this friary with sixty two acres in the vicinity of Dungarvan and various other property was granted to Roger Dalton The cells of this abbey occupied considerable space The remaining walls of the church and steeple shew it to have been a neat edifice The steeple is about sixty feet high supported by a curious vault with ogives passing diagonally from one angle to another and forming a cross with four other arches which constitute the sides of the square of the building An hospital for lepers was built here and endowed under the invocation of St Brigid No other account is extant of this building Inisdamhle an island in the Suir and in the country of the Desii and Hy Kinsellagh St Findbhar who is distinct from the saint of Cork and who was the fellow student of St Pulcherius probably founded or governed the monastery of this island The memory of this St Findbhar was celebrated on the 4th of July AD 821 the Scandinavians or Danes plundered Inisdamhle AD 824 they again ravaged its monastery AD 952 the Danes again plundered Inisdamhle Killbarry in the barony of Middlethird and within the liberties of the city of Waterford The knights Templars were established here in the twelfth century Their possessions when the order was suppressed were given to the Hospitallers AD 1327 30 and 37 Friar William de Fynchin was commendator AD 1348 the grand prior of Killmainham granted to the said Friar William the commanderies of Killbarry Killure and Crooke with every emolument thereunto belonging for the space and term of seven years the said William annually paying thereout twenty four marcs of silver and all dues visitations and other burdens also keeping those houses in thorough repair and properly supporting the brethren AD 1368 Richard Walsh the master together with the mayor of

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Waterford and many others were slain in battle with the Poera and the O Driscols Killunkart in the barony of Decies within Drum The ruins of a building which is said to have belonged to the knights of St John of Jerusalem are still to be seen here Killure in the barony of Gualtiere and two miles east of Water ford In the twelfth century the Templars had this preceptory AD 1327 to 1337 William de Finchin was preceptor or commen dator AD 1339 William le Brun was commendator AD 1348 William de Fynchin was again in office The thirty second of Elizabeth this commandery was seized of the rectory of Kilbride with all its tithes valued annually at 15s Irish money and containing the two townlands of Quillen and the town lands of Kilbride and Monewee the glebe land of the rectory also the townland of Kill St Lawrence containing sixty acres and a water mill annual value besides reprises 15s Irish money parcels of the possessions of this commandery &c In the thirty fifth of the good queen a lease of this commandery was granted to Nicholas Aylmer for the term of fifty years at the annual rent of 13 6s 8d Irish money Killmboynan In the nineteenth of Elizabeth an inquisition found that a stone house adjacent to the Guild hall and bounded on the west by Milk street on the east and south by St Peter's street on the north by the ground of Patrick Morgan was of old parcel of the possessions of this priory which James Keating the prior with the consent of his brethren gave and granted to the mayor and commonalty of the city of Waterford when incorporated AD 1413 and was of the annual value of 6s 8d besides reprises There is no further account of this priory Lismore in the barony of Coshmore and Ooshbride A traveller says Smyth would scarcely suppose this town to have been an university an Episcopal seat and much less a city with its cathedral and twenty other churches This city of Lismore was graced with a castle on the verge of a hill upwards of sixty feet perpendicular from the river which king John built in 1185 In the office of St Cataldus the Irish bishop of Tarontum who once enriched the halls of Lismore with the treasures of his eruflition the following words are repeated Adolescens Cataldus liberalibus disci plinis eruditus ad eam brevi doctrinae excellentiam pervenit ut ad ipsum audiendum Galli Angli Scoti Theutones aliique finitimarum aliarum regionum quamplurimi Lismoriam convenient

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Bonaventure Moroni has described this conflux of students in the following verses Undiquo conveniunt proceres quos duce trabebat discendi studium major num cognita virtus an laudata forct Celeres vastissima Rheni jam vada Teutonici jam deservere Sicambria Mittit ab extreme gelidos Aquilone Boemos albis ct Arverni coeunt Batavique frequentes et quicunquc cojunt alta sub rupe Gebcnnas Non omnes prospectat Arar Rhodani que fluenta Helvetios multos desidcrat ultima Thule Certatim bi properant divcrso tramite ad urbem Lesmoriam juvenis primos ubi transigit anuos Alas 1 the glory of Lismore has faded under the sway of British misrule Its twenty churches have disappeared known only to the historian by their fame Its castle is sometimes tenanted by the absentee duke of Devonshire who occasionally visits those estates that have been plundered from the ancient inheritors St Carthag was the founder of Lismore See diocese of Having been driven from Rathenin St Carthag established himself at Lismore In the Acta Sanctorum by the Bollandists the following passage is found relative to his proceedings at Lismore Cunctis ergo Deum in Sanctis laudantibus ad locum eis conces sum scilicet Lismorum nomine pervenerunt ac cellulas contemplationi aptas sibi construxerunt A description of similar cells has been given when treating of High island county Galway and of Innismurry county Sligo Such it appears were the cells of St Columba at Hy and of St Gall at Brigents which afterwards became so celebrated for its wealth and Bplendor as appears from the life of this sainted Irishman by Wallifrid Strabo which has been published by Messingham Tempore subsequent caepit virtutum cultor eximius Gallus Ora torium construere mansiunculis pergyrum dispositis ad fcommanendum fratribus quorum jam duodecim Monastici sanctitate propositi roboratos doctrina et exemplis ad aeternorum desideria concitavit Doctor Lanigan seems to have forgotten when unwilling to attribute to some Irish saints the number of monasteries which they founded that the simple construction of those cells enabled the holy founders to build them without delay or expense hence it is that so few of those ancient structures remain and are only to be found in the western isles of Ireland Such too has been the Laura of the Egyptian monks which was

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composed of many cells divided from each other every monk providing for himself thus differing from the Ceenobium in which the inmates lived in society and possessed all things in common St Cornelli a virgin whose cell was situated in this place foretold to St Carthag the future importance of his establishment at Lismore AD 702 the school of Lismore was in the zenith of its reputation AD 703 died the abbot Ronain AD 755 died the abbot Condath In 778 died the anchorite Suar leeh AD 812 the town was plundered AD 831 the Danes plundered and sacked Lismore AD 833 they renewed their ravages AD 903 Cormack Mac Cullenan king of Munster bequeathed to this abbey a gold and silver chalice and a vestment of silk AD 913 the Danes plundered the abbey AD 936 died the abbot Ciaran AD 1040 died Corcran Cleireach the celebrated anchorite he was a famous divine and so greatly excelled all western Europe in religion and learning that every contest throughout the kingdom was referred to his decision AD 1095 died the anchorite Scanlan O Cnaimsighe A cell for an anchorite belonged to the church of Lismore and was endowed with the lands of Ballyhausy a burgage in Lismore six stangs of land a field and two small gardens the whole of the value of 10 AD 1135 Domnhal O Brien king of Dublin died a professed monk in this abbey AD 1154 Teige Gille died in this abbey Was a man held in general esteem for purity of manners AD 1173 This year Raymond and Earl Richard Strongbow wasted and plundered the Decies Lismore suffered considerably and the spoilers admirable reformers indeed extorted a large sum from the bishop to prevent the church from being burned Strongbow sent the spoils by sea to Waterford under the convoy of Adam de Hereford whom Gilbert son of Turgesius the Danish king of Cork with a fleet of thirty five sail pursued The Danes were defeated and Gilbert himself slain AD 1174 the son of Strongbow plundered Lismore AD 1178 the English forces plundered and burned Lismore AD 1207 Lismore with its churches was wholly consumed by an accidental fire Hospital The lands of this hospital were unknown at the time of the suppression It was founded for lepers under the invocation of St Brigid

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AD 1467 the master of this hospital usually styled prior was in his 120th year Molana a small island in the river Blackwater anciently called Darinis St Molanfide founded this monastery in the 6th century St Finnian of Clonard when thirty years old visited the venerable St Caiman of Darinis Here also the founder of Ross lived for some time See Fachtnan diocese of Ross Breccan is said to have been abbot of Darinis in the seventh century St Gobbhan was abbot of Darmis either here or in Darinis in the county Wexford Raymond le Gros who with Strongbow plundered Lismore is said to have been interred in this island AD 1287 Peter the abbot having died Philip O Fartyr was elected AD 1309 John was abbot AD 1350 Dionysius was abbot AD 1397 the abbot sued Thomas de Mandeville for three carucates of land On the suppression queen Elizabeth granted this abbey and its possessions to Sir Walter Raleigh who assigned them to the earl of Cork The nave and choir of this abbey still remain Adjacent thereto are several walls in a ruinous state and the structure itself built m the pointed style appears to be very ancient Mothell in the barony of Upper Third St Brogan founded the abbey of Mothell See Rostuirc Queen's county Some assert that this house was subsequently possessed by Cistercians but it is more probable that it belonged to the canons regular of St Augustin AD 1296 Adam was abbot AD 1343 died the abbot Thomas AD 1350 on the death of abbot David of happy memory Patrick succeeded AD 1359 Patrick having resigned Maurice O Calith succeeded AD 1491 Rory O Rhoman was abbot Edward Power the last abbot surrendered in the thirty first of Henry VTQ The possessions of this abbey were 889 acres thirty two messuages three rectories value 11 6s 8d with other appurtenances all of which were granted to Butler and Peter Power at the annual rent of 6 4s Irish money A parcel of these possessions form a part of the estate of Simon Digby Esq Rhincrew in the barony of Coshmore and Coshbride and in the parish of Temple Michael A castle here is said to have belonged to the knights of St John of Jerusalem

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At Ihe suppression it was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh Walter was a favorite for some time but having incurred the displeasure of the queen he was sent to the tower of London where he lay seventeen years His apartment there is shewn by one of the attendants or wardens Waterford the seat of a bishop the capital of the county a parliamentary borough is indebted for its origin to the Danes who walled and fortified the town with towers and a castle Priory of St Catharine was founded by the Danes when their conversion took place for Augustine canons of the congregation of St Victor AD 1111 Waterford was destroyed by fire AD 1210 Pope Innocent III confirmed the possessions of this house AD 1378 David was prior AD 1456 Thomas the prior was appointed bishop of Down and Connor AD 1491 Thomas Cor was made prior Edward Power was the last prior Its property consisted of 670 acres besides other lands nof enumerated twelve messuages rectories annual value 33 8s all of which with tithes &c were granted to Elizabeth Butler alias Sherlock for the term of twenty one years at the annual rent of 117 5s 8d These possessions subsequently became part of the estate of Simon Bigby Esq Hospital of St Stephen This house was founded for lepers which the family of Power endowed John earl of Morton confirmed this edifice to the poor of the city Priory of St John the Evangelist John earl of Morton arrived at Waterford in the year 1185 when he founded this priory for Benedictines confirmed to them certain lands in the charter which he gave it is called his alms house and it was made a cell to the abbey of SS Peter and Paul in the city of Bath Somersetshire Peter de Fonte was a munificent benefactor to this house AD 1202 King John granted letters of protection to the monks of this house AD 1260 Thomas was prior AD 1315 King Edward H granted a charter to this priory Sir Nicholas Bath was the last prior The possessions of this house were extensive consisting of sixteen carucates of land value one marc $25 each 212 other acres seventy two messuages with a reversion of forty other ones parcels of which were granted to the heirs and assigns of William Lincoln and James

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Rice The others were given by Elizabeth to William Wyse knight Henry and James Wysc Monastery of St Saviour The Dominicans were introduced into Waterford AD 1226 Their house was built on the site of an ancient tower then waste The steeple was a very strong building Their monastery was called Elack Friars The present county court house has been erected on its site AD 1277 a general chapter of the order was held here AD 1309 another chapter was held here AD 1334 a liberate issued bearing date January 13th for the payment of thirty five marcs as one year's pension to the Dominican friars of Waterford Dublin Drogheda Cork and Limerick AD 1335 59 liberates also were issued AD 1400 Henry IV granted an annual pension for ever of thirty marcs to these houses William Martin was the last prior The possessions of his priory were granted for ever to James White at the annual rent of 4s Irish money AD 1756 the fathers of this house were James Sexton prior Patrick Bray and James Shesty Dominican nunnery In compliance with the wishes of the citizens of Waterford this nunnery was founded and was dedicated to St Catharine of Sienna AD 1742 Benedict XIV of illustrious memory issued a brief approving or remedial by which the original proceeding was rendered legitimate the erection of the convent and the profession of Catharine as well as the novitiate of Maria Pilkinton being thereby ratified and liberty given to the prioress to admit novices to the habit of the order and have them professed AD 1756 the sisters were Maria Anastasia Wyse prioress Char lotto Wise Maria Mean Katharine Ayeres Margaret O Dunne and Jane O Flaherty In 1758 through the reduction of their revenues they were obliged to disperse The following year Maria Anastasia Wyse departed this life at Dublin in a house of her own order Franciscan friary Lord Hugh Purcel in 1240 founded this monastery and having died the same year was interred on the right of the high altar AD 1244 October 15th king Henry HI granted the sum of 20 annually payable on the feast of all saints to buy tunics for the friars minor of Waterford Dublin Cork Athlone and Limerick Franciscans AD 1293 Edward I granted a further sum of thirty five marcs to be paid annually to the said friars AD 1317 a provincial chapter of the order was held here AD 1469 another chapter held here

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John Lynche was the last prior In the thirty first of Henry VIII he surrendered the friary containing a church and steeple cemetery hall six chambers a kitchen two stables a bakehouse four cellars and sundry other buildings within the precincts and of the annual value besides reprises of 5 6s 10d In the thirty third of Henry it was with an acre of meadow and a yearly rent of 10 payable out of the city of Waterford and 20s yearly issuing out of the said lands granted for ever to Patrick Walsh the master of the hospital of the Holy Ghost at the annual rent of 8s and a fine of 151 13s 4d Irish money