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Donegal Abbey

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Coordinates:54°39′01″N8°06′55″W/ 54.6504°N 8.1152°W/54.6504; -8.1152
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A view of the Abbey looking towardsDonegal Bay.

Donegal Abbey(Irish:Mainistir Dhún na nGall) is a ruinedFranciscanPrioryinDonegalin Ireland. It was constructed by theO'Donnell dynastyin the fifteenth century and remained a center ofClassical Christian educationeven after its destruction during theNine Years War.It is sometimes referred to asDonegal Friary.

It was built in 1474 on the orders of the leading Gaelic lord of the area, the ruler ofTyrconnellHugh Roe O'Donnell,the First, and his wifeFinola O'Brien.

In theNine Years' War,the Abbey was used for a meeting between the rebel leadership and envoys of the Spanish KingPhilip II.The Abbey was the scene of fighting during the 1601Siege of Donegalwhen a force led byRed Hugh O'Donnellattempted to capture the town from Crown forces led by the Gaelic warriorNiall Garve O'Donnell.[1]During the fighting Niall Garve's younger brotherConn O'Donnellwas killed.

Description[edit]

The abbey is located in the town ofDonegalinCounty Donegal,Ireland. It is situated at the mouth of theRiver Eske,where it empties intoDonegal Bay,to the west of the town centre.[2]

History[edit]

Donegal Abbey was founded in 1474 byFinola O'Donnell(néeO'Connor,also known as Nuala O'Donnell), and her husbandHugh Roe O'Donnell.Finola was a member of a powerful family of princes inLeinster,[3]while Hugh was the king ofTyrconnell,what is nowCounty Donegal.[4]According to a 17th-century account in Latin by one of the abbey's friars, translated to English byCharles Patrick Meehan,[5]Finola made a journey of around 100 miles (160 km) with a number of women to the monastery atRoss Errilly FriaryinCounty Galway,whereFranciscanmonks were holding a provincial chapter. The purpose of her journey was to request the founding of a Franciscan monastery in Tyrconnell.[3]Her request was initially refused, but according to the account she replied: "What! I have journeyed a hundred miles to attain the object that has long been dearest to my heart, and will you now venture to deny my prayer? If you do, beware of God’s wrath, for I will appeal to His throne and charge you with the loss of all the souls which your reluctance may cause to perish in the territory of Tirconnell!".[5]This plea was successful, and a number of Franciscans agreed to accompany her back to Tyrconnell.[5]They began building the abbey, at a site next to the wharf in Donegal, which the account described as "a lovely spot, and sweetly suggestive of holy meditations".[5]

Later in 1474, before the abbey was completed, Finola O'Donnell died. Hugh Roe married again, to Fingalla O'Brien, and she continued Finola's work, ensuring that the monastery, church cloisters and other features were completed successfully. The abbey was dedicated that same year. In 1505, Hugh Roe O'Donnell died and was succeeded by his son,Hugh Oge.Fingalla withdrew from public life after the accession of her son, living a life of austerity and prayer in a small house close to the abbey.[5]

By 1601, the town of Donegal was under the control of theEnglish crown,following an alliance made betweenSir Hugh O'Donnell,a descendant of the original Hugh Roe, and the English as part of theTudor conquest of Ireland.,[6]but the original condition of that was that his eldest son, SirDonal O'Donnellby his first marriage would be the Sheriff of Donegal rather than an English captain. In this way, he kept the English out, while managing dynastic survival. Shortly after theArmada shipwreckof 1588, Sir Donal O'Donnell was knighted and appointed asSheriffof Donegal by theLord DeputyWilliam FitzWilliam.[7]Sir Donal was the leading contender in the O'Donnell succession dispute of the 1580s which took place while his father was still alive. His personal jurisdiction covered "that part of Tirconnell from the mountain westwards, i.e. from Barnesmore to the river Drowes(i.e.Tirhugh),and also all the inhabitants of Boylagh and Tir Boghaine(i.e. Bannagh) ".[8]Faced with the eclipse of her son Hugh Roe's position,Iníon Dubhacted decisively. She raised the clans of Donegal which remained loyal to her husband and summoned large numbers ofRedshanksfrom theHighlands and Islandsof her native Scotland to confront her son's rival. Sir Donal was defeated andkilled in actionat theBattle of Doire Leathanon 14 September 1590. Meanwhile, Sir Donal O'Donnell was survived by his only son, Donal Oge O'Donnell.[9]But Sir Hugh's son by his second marriage,Hugh Roe O'Donnell,the Second, was strongly anti-English and began rebel activity from an early age. He was captured twice by English forces, escaping both times, before seeking an alliance withSpainwhich led to theNine Years' War.[10]In Hugh Roe's absence, Tyrconnell was ruled by a rival, his cousinNiall Garve O'Donnell,who made terms with the English government and set up his base at the abbey.[11]Hugh Roe attacked in 1601 to try to reclaim the territory, but was unable to do so. During the battle, on 10 August 1601, a fire broke out at the abbey which in turn ignited a store of gunpowder kept by Niall Garve. The resulting explosion destroyed most of the building and killed hundreds of Niall Garve's soldiers,[12]including his brotherConn Oge O'Donnell.[13]

Legacy[edit]

Monument to the Four Masters, located at the bridge over the Drowes River nearKinlough,near the homeland ofCú Choigríche Ó Duibhgeannáin

The abbey was not rebuilt, and remains in ruins, but the Franciscan friars set up a new base at a stone huts close to theRiver Drowes,nearBallyshannon.There, the monks of Donegal Abbey such asMícheál Ó Cléirigh,Cú Choigríche Ó Duibhgeannáin,andFearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaireworked between 1632 and 1636 in Donegal Abbey's most important legacy. After first acquiring many different antiquarian manuscripts anf monastic chronicles that recorded more than two thousand years ofIrish history,they combined the accounts from their memories and manuscripts into the vitally important primary historical source that has since been dubbed theAnnals of the Four Masters.[14]

In 1870, Fr.Charles Patrick Meehanwrote, "A silver chalice, of fine workmanship, now in the possession of an Irish priest inQuebec,bears the following inscription in Irish: 'Mary, daughter of Maguire, wife of Brian Oge O'Ruairc, caused this chalice to be made for her soul, for the Friars of Donegal, the age of Christ, 1633'. Inside the pedestal -- 'John O'Mullarkey, O'Donnell'ssilversmith,made me. "[15]

On 27 September 1992,Pope John Paul IIBeatifiedConcobhar Ó Duibheannaigh(c.1532-1612), a Franciscan priest from Donegal Abbey andBishop of Down and Conorwho washanged, drawn and quarteredoutside the walls ofDublinin February 1612, as one of the 24 officially recognizedIrish Catholic Martyrs.Hisfeast dayis June 20.[16][17]

References[edit]

  1. ^McGurk p.113-16
  2. ^"Donegal Franciscan Friary: Location Map".Monastic Ireland.Retrieved28 March2020.
  3. ^abGeorge Hill (2004).The Fall of Irish Chiefs and Clans and the Plantation of Ulster: Including the Names of Irish Catholics, and Protestant Settlers.Irish Roots Cafe. p. 24.ISBN9780940134423.
  4. ^Ellis, Steven G. (1998).Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1447-1603.Longman. p. 379.
  5. ^abcdeCharles Patrick Meehan (1870).The rise and fall of the Irish Franciscan monasteries, and Memoirs of the Irish hierarchy in the seventeenth century.J. Duffy. pp. 4–5.
  6. ^"Donnell".Celtic Radio.Retrieved28 March2020.
  7. ^Morgan 1999,p. 130.
  8. ^*Annals of the Four Masters(1998),Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (Annala Ríoghachta Éireann) from the earliest period to the year 1616 (compiled during the period 1632-1636 by Brother Michael O'Clery et al., and translated and edited by John O'Donovan in 1856,Dublin: De Burca,ISBN0946130-06-X
  9. ^O'Donnell 2018,p. 580-581.
  10. ^Arthur F. Kinney; David W. Swain; Eugene D. Hill; William A. Long (2000).Tudor England: An Encyclopedia.Routledge. p. 517.ISBN9781136745300.
  11. ^Padraig Lenihan (2014).Consolidating Conquest: Ireland 1603-1727.Routledge. p. 16.ISBN9781317868675.
  12. ^"The Destruction Of Donegal Friary".Our Donegal.Retrieved28 March2020.
  13. ^Darren McGettigan (2005).Red Hugh O'Donnell and the Nine Years War.Four Courts Press. p. 100.ISBN9781851828876.
  14. ^"Donegal Franciscan Friary".Monastic Ireland.Retrieved28 March2020.
  15. ^Charles Patrick Meehan (1870),The Rise and Fall of the Irish Franciscan Monasteries,page 289.
  16. ^"Bishop Bl. Conor O'Devany, O.F.M."Catholic-Hierarchy.org.David M. Cheney.Retrieved22 January2012.
  17. ^Kate Newmann."Conor O'Devany profile".Dictionary of Ulster Biography.Retrieved22 January2012.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Lennon, Colm.Sixteenth Century Ireland.Gill and MacMillan, 1994.
  • McGurk, John.Sir Henry Docwra, 1564-1631: Derry's Second Founder.Four Courts Press, 2006.
  • Morgan, Hiram (1999),Tyrone's Rebellion,Boydell Press
  • O'Donnell, Francis Martin (2018).The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell: a hidden legacy.Washington DC: Academica Press LLC.ISBN978-1-680534740.
  • Rowan, Alistair.North West Ulster: The Counties of Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone.Yale University Press, 1979.

54°39′01″N8°06′55″W/ 54.6504°N 8.1152°W/54.6504; -8.1152

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