Durrow () is a small rural village and
townland
A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
in
County Offaly
County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. Durrow is located on the
N52 off the
N6 road between
Kilbeggan (in County Westmeath) and
Tullamore (in County Offaly).
Durrow Abbey, surrounded by woods, is one of Ireland's most important early Christian monasteries founded by Saint Colmcille.
Some mistakenly assign
County Laois as the location of this particular monastic settlement due to the presence of a larger town in Laois called
Durrow.
Monastery
Iona was established in exile and during that time Colum Cille yearned for monasteries in Ireland. The poem 'An Exile's Dream' specifically indicates Durrow as location for a monastery. Durrow was then part of the territory of
Tethba, which now lies mostly in
County Longford. It was also located near one of Ireland's five ancient routes,
Slighe Mór. However, no accounts survive of what Colum Cille's monastery was like at its foundation. The monastic enclosure of Durrow can be seen in the aerial photographs of the surrounding lands. South of the monastery is evidence of
Early Christian burials, unearthed by excavation of burial mounds by the
National Museum of Ireland.
Bede
Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
mentions that many more monasteries sprang from Durrow.
Control
Patronage shifted during the millennium that followed the monastery's establishment. The Kings of Meath, Kings of Tethba and the MacGeoghegans, as well as chieftains known as Cinél
Fiachach supported the monastery. This support did not permit them to appoint its
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
, who was selected from
Colum Cille's own extended family at the start. Later rule of the Columban monasteries would be dominated by certain families who became
hereditary rulers forming