Killone Abbey Explained

Building Name:	Killone Abbey
Native Name Lang:	ga
Map Type:	Ireland
Religious Affiliation:	Augustinian Pre-Reformation Catholic
Website:	http://www.newhall.ie
Groundbreaking:	founded c.1189 (or monks founded 1120)
Materials:	sandstone

Killone Abbey (Irish: Mainistir Chill Eoin^[1]), situated in Killone, some 5 kilometres south of Ennis, County Clare, was a nunnery and abbey of Canonesses Regular founded in 1190 by Donal Mor O'Brien (Donal ‘the Great’ O’Brien), King of Thomond and Munster and dedicated to Saint John. It lies on the banks of Killone Lake.

The ruins of the abbey, accessible through land used for grazing cattle, are located in the grounds of Newhall House and Estate and include substantial remains of the abbey church together with a crypt. A narrow stone stairway leads between the altar and the east window to a ledge atop the remains of the south wall of the church, where an overview of the grounds may be seen with care.

Saint John's Holy Well

Today, there is an outside mass each year in June held by the local parish.^[2]

Access

The abbey and graveyard is privately owned,^{[3] [4]} part of Newhall Estate, owned by the Commane family,^{[5] [6]} and as protected sites under national monument legislation, guardianship is vested in the Office of Public Works. As it is private land, access is available with the owner's permission. Killone Abbey is linked to Clare Abbey by the Pilgrim's Path, a footpath through Ballybeg forrest.^[7]

See also

• List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Clare)

Sources

• Glichrist, R., Gender and Material Culture: The Archaeology of Religious Women, (London, 1994)
• Ó Dálaigh, B., ‘Mistress, Mother and Abbess: Renalda Ní Bhriain c.1447-1510’ in North Munster Antiquarian Journal, 32, (1990) pp 50-63.
• O’Keeffe, T.  An Anglo-Norman Monastery: Bridgetown Priory and the Architecture of the Augustinian Canons Regular in Ireland, (Cork, 1999)
• Westropp, T.J., ‘The Augustinian Houses of the County Clare: Clare, Killone and Inchicronan’ in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, (1900) pp 118-135.

External links

• Ruins of Killone Abbey
• Lawrence Collection Killone Abbey 1890

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cill Eoin/Killone . Logainm.ie . 8 July 2021 . en.
2. Web site: 1 May 2024 . Mass at St John's Well – a very special occasion . 1 May 2024 . Clarecastle Community Development.
3. Web site: 16 June 2015 . National Monuments, Dáil Éireann debate . 2 May 2024 . The Oireachtas.
4. Web site: 11 May 2024 . Municipal District of Ennis Committee Meeting (item 6, no. 1) . 11 May 2024 . Clare.
5. Web site: Oireachtas . Houses of the . 2015-06-16 . National Monuments – Tuesday, 16 Jun 2015 – Parliamentary Questions (31st Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas . 2024-05-06 . www.oireachtas.ie . en-ie.
6. Web site: 23 Feb 2024 . Newhall Estate .
7. Web site: 1 May 2024 . Mass at St John's Well – a very special occasion . 1 May 2024 . Clarecastle Community Development.