but the fate he merited soon overtook him, for he fell by the troops of Thomond.h 1164. This abbey was put into the same miserable state this year.i 1170. It was plundered again about this time.k Tomgrany is now a parish church. h Id. and O'Halloran, vol. 2, p. 294. 1 Act. SS. p. 634. Id. access in Dublin. This passage is of great value, and cannot be a fabrication of Colgan, though it is probable that he has quoted the wrong Annals,* It runs thus: "A.D. 964, Cormac O'Killeen, Coarb of the Saints Kiaran, Coeman, and Cronan, bishop sage, a man of great age, who erected the church of Tuaim Greine, together with its tower, died. It is to be lamented that we have not the original Irish of this passage, as it would show that a Cloig Teach (round tower) was erected at Tuaim Greine, in the third quarter of the tenth century. This passage must be looked for in the more ancient original Annals. "It will further appear from a passage given by Keatinge in the reign of Brian Boromh, that the tower of Tuaim Greine was not built for the first time in the Abbacy of Cormac O'Killeen, but rebuilt or repaired, as can be inferred from the words employed, Cloigtheach Thuama Greine do athnuadhadh le Brian, i.e. The round tower of Tuaim Greine was renewed by Brian.' This passage can be easily reconciled with the one published by Colgan, for the fact was that Saint Cronan's little tower, which had been shattered by lightning at various periods, and patched up as often, was no longer large or strong enough to answer the purposes of the monastery, which had in the course of three or four centuries sprung up at Tuaim Greine, and Brian thought proper to extend his patronage to the aged abbot to have it rebuilt. The antiquary has to lament that even the site of this tower is not now known at Tuaim Greine. "The present church of Tuaim Greine is of no antiquity, and there is nothing there by which the antiquarian can be interested but a rude castle, which was built by the O'Grady's, hereditary herenachs of Tuaim Greine, and lords of the territory of Hy Donghaile, in which it is situated. This castle is mentioned in the College list of the castles of Thomond, as belonging to Edmond O'Grady, who had another castle at Moyno, and another at Scariffe. "The little town of Scariffe, which is shewn on the Down survey as a village even then of some importance, belongs to this parish. It is mentioned in the "Annals of the Four Masters" at the year A.D. 1598, as a castle taken from the Attorney of the Bishop of Meath's son (Brady) by Taidg O'Brien. It is also mentioned in the same Annals at the year 1564. The holy well of Saint Cronan, the patron of Tuaim Greine, is situated in the centre of the townland of Currakyle.-Your obedient servant, JOHN O'DONOVAN." The Irish text of this passage is found in the "Chronicum Scotorum." The translation is as follows: "A.D. 964, Cormac Ua Cillin, of the Uib Fiachrach Aidhne, Comarb of Ciaran and of Coman, and Comarb of Tuaim Grene; and it was by him the great church of Tuaim Grene was built and its Cloightech (round tower). Sapiens et senex, et Episcopus, quievit in Christo. See also Petrie's "Round Towers," p. 375. 96 COUNTY OF CORK. Abbey Mahon,1 near Timoleague, in the barony of Barryroe, and close to the shore of the bay of Court M'Sherrie; the monks of the Cistertian order founded an abbey here at their own expense; the Lord Barry endowed it with eighteen plowlands, which constitute the parish of Abbey Mahon; but the building was never finished, for the suppression of monasteries taking place, those lands were seized by the crown. The walls of the church are yet standing. This house has been mistaken for that of de Sancto Mauro, alias de Fonte vivo.1 Abbey Shrowry,2 To the west of Skibbereen, in the barony of Carbury. Here are the ruins of a parish church, which is said to have been a religious house, but nothing appears of it in our authors.m Ballybeg a small walk from Buttevant, in the barony of Orrery and Kilmore. Philip de Barry founded a priory here for regular canons following the rule of St. Augustin, and dedicated it to St. Thomas, the favourite saint of that age; he endowed it in the year 1229, in remembrance of which, his equestrian statue in brass was erected in the church. David, his grandson, enlarged the revenues belonging to the priory in the year 1235, and was made a Knight, but was killed in the year 1262." David de Cardigan was prior in the reign of King Henry III. and John de Barry in the following reign.o The possessions belonging to this house were, in the 16th year of Queen Elizabeth, granted for the term of 21 years to 1 Smith's Cork, vol. 1., p. 253. m Smith's Cork, vol. 1, p. 281. Lodge, vol. I, p. 194, 195. King, p. 218. n 'Abbey Mahon-The ruins of Abbey Mahon are close to the bay of Court Mac Sherry, in the parish of Abbey Mahon, in the barony of Ibane and Barryroe, to which it gives name. It is one mile and a half E. S. E. from Timoleague, in the County of Cork. This parish is situated on the north-west side of Court Mac Sherry bay on the south coast. It formerly constituted part of the parish of Lisle, from which it was separated on the erection of an abbey by some_Cistertian monks, which stood close to the shore, and was endowed by Lord Barry with eighteen ploughlands, but was not entirely complete at the general suppres sion of monasteries when its possessions were seized by the crown and granted to the Boyle family, and are still the property of the Earl of Shannon. 2 Abbey Shrewry was situated in the parish of Abbey Shrewry, on the northern bank of the river IIen, one mile west of Skibbereen, in the eastern division of the barony of West Carbery, in the county of Cork. This parish is situated near the southern coast on the road from Cork to Baltimore, and is intersected by the river IIen, on the north of which may be seen the ruins of this religious house from which it took its name. 3 Ballybeg-The venerable remains of this monastery, known as the Abbey of St. Thomas, are situated on the river Awbeg, about one mile from Buttevant, in the parish of Ballybeg, in the barony of Orrery and Kilmore, county of Cork. |