Irish Dominican Photographers
Rathduff Church (Friarstown) (3)
THE ABBEY AT KNOCKMORE
James Ware, in his list of Irish Abbeys, lists a certain Abbey of Knockmore in his list from County Mayo. Unusually he makes absolutely no comment about its ownership, history, founder or name. It is situated near an area still called Friarstown but there is no claim by any of the Orders to have ever had a presence in the area.
The wider area is already home to two Dominican Priories and two Franciscan Friaries – The Dominicans at Straide (f. 1252) were seven miles south, the Third Order of Saint Francis were at Rosserk (f. 1440) which lies seven miles north, and, the Observant Franciscans were at Moyne (f. 1460) nine miles northwards. The second Dominican community was twelve miles to the north at Rathfranpark (f. 1274). Whilst there is no doubt that the local Lord, FitzJordan, was a generous sponsor of the friars it is unlikely that the local population could have supported a fifth mendicant house in the area. Even today the eastern shore of Lough Mask would have the densest population in Mayo; the total population would have been unlikely to have been able to support five mendicant communities.
Back to the abbey and, it would be safe to assume that this was a church served out of one of the other communities. The Franciscans lived seven miles north and the Dominicans seven miles south – the locals know nothing about it, and certainly had not linked either Dominicans or Franciscans to the area. O’Heyne says that he heard that there was a Dominican community founded by O’Gara at Knockmore but knew nothing of it. Hubert Knox, in his work, NOTES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE DIOCESES OF TUAM KILLALA AND ACHONRY, lists Knockmore as a Dominican possession writing; Knockmore, in parish of Kilfree, founded by O’Gara in the I4th century. It had only a trifle of land. It is in Mount Irvine townland. His contemporary, Ambrose Coleman, simply states that there is no evidence of the existence of a Dominican foundation in this place. Knox adds nothing other than the names of townlands to what O’Heyne wrote.
The church building is quite large but lacks any ornamentation. The standard of the stone and style indicates that the building is somewhere after 1500. The late date would be consistent with the period when the Franciscans were reforming and founding new houses. Roughly about the time of the construction the Bishop of Killala, Bernard O’Connell (1432-1461), was active in reforming the Franciscan communities. Rosserk refused to reform and Moyne was founded instead with the Bishop’s support. The fact that only twenty years elapsed between the two foundations is unusual. There was great tension between the communities and it would have been unlikely that the Bishop would have given his consent to another foundation; so it is improbable that Knockmore was Franciscan.
Purely by a process of elimination the abbey might have been staffed by the Dominicans – or – maybe it was never an abbey at all! The Diocese has a history stretching back beyond its sixteenth century records and this may have been a normal diocesan church. A whisper in O’Heyne is the only support for that and there are no other sources that suggest anything about its foundation. But, the fact that a truth is only said once does not render it untrue!
Rathduff Church (Friarstown) (3)
THE ABBEY AT KNOCKMORE
James Ware, in his list of Irish Abbeys, lists a certain Abbey of Knockmore in his list from County Mayo. Unusually he makes absolutely no comment about its ownership, history, founder or name. It is situated near an area still called Friarstown but there is no claim by any of the Orders to have ever had a presence in the area.
The wider area is already home to two Dominican Priories and two Franciscan Friaries – The Dominicans at Straide (f. 1252) were seven miles south, the Third Order of Saint Francis were at Rosserk (f. 1440) which lies seven miles north, and, the Observant Franciscans were at Moyne (f. 1460) nine miles northwards. The second Dominican community was twelve miles to the north at Rathfranpark (f. 1274). Whilst there is no doubt that the local Lord, FitzJordan, was a generous sponsor of the friars it is unlikely that the local population could have supported a fifth mendicant house in the area. Even today the eastern shore of Lough Mask would have the densest population in Mayo; the total population would have been unlikely to have been able to support five mendicant communities.
Back to the abbey and, it would be safe to assume that this was a church served out of one of the other communities. The Franciscans lived seven miles north and the Dominicans seven miles south – the locals know nothing about it, and certainly had not linked either Dominicans or Franciscans to the area. O’Heyne says that he heard that there was a Dominican community founded by O’Gara at Knockmore but knew nothing of it. Hubert Knox, in his work, NOTES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE DIOCESES OF TUAM KILLALA AND ACHONRY, lists Knockmore as a Dominican possession writing; Knockmore, in parish of Kilfree, founded by O’Gara in the I4th century. It had only a trifle of land. It is in Mount Irvine townland. His contemporary, Ambrose Coleman, simply states that there is no evidence of the existence of a Dominican foundation in this place. Knox adds nothing other than the names of townlands to what O’Heyne wrote.
The church building is quite large but lacks any ornamentation. The standard of the stone and style indicates that the building is somewhere after 1500. The late date would be consistent with the period when the Franciscans were reforming and founding new houses. Roughly about the time of the construction the Bishop of Killala, Bernard O’Connell (1432-1461), was active in reforming the Franciscan communities. Rosserk refused to reform and Moyne was founded instead with the Bishop’s support. The fact that only twenty years elapsed between the two foundations is unusual. There was great tension between the communities and it would have been unlikely that the Bishop would have given his consent to another foundation; so it is improbable that Knockmore was Franciscan.
Purely by a process of elimination the abbey might have been staffed by the Dominicans – or – maybe it was never an abbey at all! The Diocese has a history stretching back beyond its sixteenth century records and this may have been a normal diocesan church. A whisper in O’Heyne is the only support for that and there are no other sources that suggest anything about its foundation. But, the fact that a truth is only said once does not render it untrue!