Killagha Abbey of Our Lady of Bello Loco, also called Kilcolman Abbey, is a ruined Augustinian abbey and former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

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 ...

. The abbey is 1 km north-west of Milltown, near the River Maine.

History

The abbey was founded in circa 1216 on the site of an earlier monastery, which had been erected by

Saint Colman Colmán or Colman is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Medieval Irish people * Colmán Bec (died ''c''. 585), Irish dynast * Colmán mac Cobthaig (died ''c''. 622), Irish king * Colmán mac Lénéni (died ''c ...

. This earlier foundation gave rise to the abbey sometimes being called Kilcolman, meaning Church of Colman. The abbey was established by

Geoffrey de Marisco Geoffrey de Marisco (died 1245) was the justiciar of Ireland. He held considerable power in Ireland during the reign of King John and the early reign of Henry III. Among his activities were helping to prosecute wars against the native Irish ru ...

, Justicier of Ireland, an Anglo-Norman nobleman who had received large grants of land in

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

from

John, King of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

. The abbey, dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, was occupied by

Canons Regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

of the Order of St Augustine until its suppression in 1576 during the

Reformation in Ireland The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English Crown at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage was known ...

. It was a very wealthy institution, owning large amounts of land across Munster, and the Prior of Killagha was a member of the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

. It paid the third highest rate of tax in the Diocese of Ardfert in 1302. The abbey had a lepper house and a hospital. The large east window was added in the 15th century. Killagha was a notable destination for pilgrims, and it became well known for its beautiful setting, hence the name 'Bello Loco'. Its distance from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

meant that it was dissolved later than most abbeys in Ireland. However, its proximity to the fortress at

Castle Maine Castle Maine, also recorded as Castle Magne and Castlemaine, was a medieval castle located at what is now Castlemaine, County Kerry. The castle, built in 1215, stood on a bridge over the River Maine (County Kerry), River Maine. A defensive struc ...

during the

Desmond Rebellions The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the FitzGerald dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and their allies, ...

brought it to the attention of

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, which gave orders for the establishment to be closed. Following the abbey's seizure by the Crown, the buildings and land were leased to Thomas Clinton, one of Queen Elizabeth I's officers in County Kerry. In 1583, the lease was given briefly to Sir William Stanley. On 12 December 1588, the Crown transferred the abbey and its estate to Captain

Thomas Spring of Castlemaine Thomas Spring of Castlemaine (died 1597) was an English Protestant soldier, politician and Constable of Castle Maine in County Kerry, Ireland. Biography Thomas Spring was born in Lavenham, Suffolk, the son of Robert Spring. He was the grandson ...

, a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

nobleman who had served with distinction during the Desmond Rebellions and was a grandson of

Thomas Spring of Lavenham Thomas Spring (c. 1474 – 1523) (''alias'' Thomas Spring III or The Rich Clothier) of Lavenham in Suffolk, was an English people, English cloth merchant.Phil W Kaufman, ''American Traces in Anglian Places'' (Lulu.com), 19. He consolidated his fa ...

. The grant included a special clause to rebuild the domestic buildings of the abbey in a castle-like manner, so that the building could serve as a defensive structure. Captain Thomas Spring's son, Walter Spring, was

High Sheriff of Kerry High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

in 1609.

His grandson, Walter Spring, was raised as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and fought in the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...

. As a result, the abbey was attacked by a

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

army during the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, all then ...

. The fortified domestic buildings were demolished by cannon fire, while the church was partially damaged. Following the suppression of the rebellion, almost all of Walter Spring's lands were seized by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

and he was subsequently dubbed 'The Unfortunate'. Killagha Abbey was granted to a Cromwellian soldier, Major John Godfrey. Despite the readjustment of lands in Ireland under Charles II, the grant to Major Godfrey was confirmed in the

Act of Settlement 1662 The Act of Settlement 1662 ( 14 & 15 Chas. 2. Sess. 4. c. 2 (I)) was an act of the Irish Parliament in Dublin. It was a partial reversal of the Cromwellian Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652, which punished Irish Catholics and Royalists ...

. However, with the abbey's manor house destroyed, the abbey was no longer used as a dwelling place. The Godfrey family built a new stately home in Milltown in 1772, which they named Kilcolman Abbey, but was also known as Bushfield House. It was abandoned and demolished in 1977. Some of the materials were removed for the construction of nearby houses and the new manor house, and the abbey church gradually fell into disrepair and ruin. For the following 300 years, the land immediately surrounding the church was used as a cemetery. The abbey ruins are now protected as the Kilcolman Burial Ground.James Carmody, 'The Abbey of Killagha, Parish of Kilcoleman, County Kerry', ''The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland'', Fifth Series, Vol. 36, No. 3, 296

References

{{Historic Irish houses Buildings and structures in County Kerry Religion in County Kerry 1216 establishments in Ireland Augustinian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Tourist attractions in County Kerry Ruins in the Republic of Ireland Former populated places in Ireland ** Ruined abbeys and monasteries