Skreen () is a small village and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

, Ireland. The village is in a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of the same name.

History

Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (; , ''Adomnanus''; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and Christian saint, saint. He was the author of the ''Life ...

, the first biographer of St

Columba Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey ...

(Colmcille) and one of his successors at

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

, first served as abbot at Skreen Abbey, which allegedly acquired its name from the relics of Adomnán. The abbey was possessed by

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

raiders in the ninth century, who pillaged and razed it. Besides his Columba biography, Adomnán is known for the the "Law of the Innocents", protecting women, children, and other non-combatants from being casualties of war. The name Adamnan is, according to ''

Cormac's Glossary ''Sanas Cormaic'' (; or ''Sanas Chormaic'', Irish for "Cormac's narrative"), also known as ''Cormac's Glossary'', is an early Irish glossary containing etymologies and explanations of over 1,400 Irish words, many of which are difficult or outda ...

'', an Irish diminutive of Adam. It is generally pronounced in three syllables, but its proper Irish pronunciation is ''Awnaun'', the "d" and the "m" being both aspirated. In the life of St Farannan, published by Colgan, we are informed that Tibraide, lord of Tir Fhiachrach, bestowed on St Columba a place called ; but that it was subsequently called from a shrine that saint erected there. From this shrine, the parish of Skreen in County Sligo derived its name. There, he is called Awnaun, and his well, Toberawnaun (which gives name to a townland), lies a little south of the old church.P. W. Joyce, ''Irish Names of Places'', p. 156. The Abbey, of which there is no remaining trace, was located at the site of the present Skreen

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church, next to which are an old graveyard and the extensive remains of the medieval church. Within the ruin is the gravesite of Reverend Gabriel Stokes, a 19th-century

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

of the Church of Ireland parish and father of mathematician Sir George Stokes. In the graveyard may be found many fine 18th-19th-century limestone box tombs, the most celebrated of which is the 1824 Alexander Black tomb, carved by "Old Frank" Diamond. His descendants are still, after seven generations, in the stonecutting business on the Coast Road. Also in the parish are the considerable ruins of Ardnaglass Castle, originally a possession of the O'Dowds, then the MacSweeneys, and after the Cromwellian conquest the Joneses and the Blacks. It is just off the Coast Road on Protestant lane. It is now owned by Gerry Clarke. There are two churches in Skreen, one

and the other

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 ...

. The Spiritual Life Institute, a Catholic order consisting of "apostolic hermits", also has a retreat centre in Skreen.

People

Thady Connellan Thady Connellan () (1780–1854) was an Irish school-teacher, poet and historian. Life He was born in Skreen, County Sligo, and was a relative of the scholar Owen Connellan. He started a school of his own, but had more success when he becam ...

(Tadhg Ó Coinnialláinn) Poet (1780-1854) *

Sir George Gabriel Stokes Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, (; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903) was an Irish mathematician and physicist. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent his entire career at the University of Cambridge, where he served as the Lucasi ...

Mathematician and physicist (1819–1903). * John Whitley Stokes, Archdeacon of Armagh, elder brother of the previous (1801-1883). * William Tirry (1609-1654),

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

References

Towns and villages in County Sligo Civil parishes of County Sligo {{Sligo-geo-stub

History

People

See also

References