Inch Abbey (1 of 2) near Downpatrick County Down Northern Ireland
Inch Abbey is a large 12th and 13th Century ruined Cistercian Abbey near Downpatrick County Down Northern Ireland standing on the Northern Bank of the River Quoile. The site was originally on an island on the Quoile Marshes.
On the Game of Thrones theme - Robb Stark camped here in Season One of Game of Thrones.
It was founded in 1180 by the Norman Knight John de Courcy who led the 1177 Anglo-Norman invasion of East Ulster. It was erected as an act of repentance for the destruction of the Abbey of Erinagh 3 miles to the South by de Courcy in 1177.
The Pre-Norman Celtic monastic settlement here, known as Inis Cumhscraigh, was in existence by the year 800. In 1002, it was plundered by the Vikings led by Sitric, King of the Danes, who came up the Quoile with a fleet from the sea. The Vikings plundered the site again in 1149. The buildings of the early monastery would have been timber made.
Inch Abbey was shut down in the dissolution of the monasteries in the Mid 16th Century and has been in a ruin for more than 450 years.
A very interesting place well worth a visit - best accessed by the Downpatrick and County Down Railway's nearby station.
Inch Abbey (1 of 2) near Downpatrick County Down Northern Ireland
Inch Abbey is a large 12th and 13th Century ruined Cistercian Abbey near Downpatrick County Down Northern Ireland standing on the Northern Bank of the River Quoile. The site was originally on an island on the Quoile Marshes.
On the Game of Thrones theme - Robb Stark camped here in Season One of Game of Thrones.
It was founded in 1180 by the Norman Knight John de Courcy who led the 1177 Anglo-Norman invasion of East Ulster. It was erected as an act of repentance for the destruction of the Abbey of Erinagh 3 miles to the South by de Courcy in 1177.
The Pre-Norman Celtic monastic settlement here, known as Inis Cumhscraigh, was in existence by the year 800. In 1002, it was plundered by the Vikings led by Sitric, King of the Danes, who came up the Quoile with a fleet from the sea. The Vikings plundered the site again in 1149. The buildings of the early monastery would have been timber made.
Inch Abbey was shut down in the dissolution of the monasteries in the Mid 16th Century and has been in a ruin for more than 450 years.
A very interesting place well worth a visit - best accessed by the Downpatrick and County Down Railway's nearby station.