Shrule Abbey is a former monastery and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

located in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, Ireland.

Location

Shrule Abbey is located to the southwest of

Shrule Shrule (, also anglicised to ''Shruel'', usage deprecated) is a village in County Mayo in Ireland.Shrule
Placenames Databa ...

village, north of the Black River and south of St. Colman's Church.

History

According to tradition, Christianity was brought to Shrule by

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

himself in the 5th century AD. He founded a church at Donaghpatrick and left a disciple, Felartus, in charge. The ancient abbey of Cloghvanaha (Irish for "blessed stone") is believed to have grown from this site. Shrule was formerly under the jurisdiction of Cong Abbey, then in 1152 it was placed under Annaghdown Abbey. The abbey was replaced by St. Colman's Church (Teampall Cholmain) c. 1200 as the main place of worship in Shrule. Clogvanaha is mentioned in the ecclesiastical taxation of 1306.

Building

Little remains of this ancient abbey: only a rectangular mound (11 × 13.4 m; 12 × 14.7 yd) with masonry rubble visible in places.

References

{{Reflist Christian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Religion in County Mayo Archaeological sites in County Mayo National monuments in County Mayo