Corcomroe Abbey
Corcomroe Abbey (Irish: Mainistir Chorca Mrua) is an early 13th-century Cistercian monastery located in the north of the Burren region of County Clare, Ireland, a few miles east of the village of Ballyvaughan in the Barony of Burren. It was once known as "St. Mary of the Fertile Rock", a reference to the Burren's fertile soil. The Gothic ruins feature stone carvings that are considered to be among the finest in a Cistercian church in Ireland. The abbey appears in W.B. Yeats' play The Dreaming of Bones. They constitute a National Monument and are open to the public. Geography Location The ruins are located around 800 metres east of the village of Bellharbour in Glennamannagh, a valley of the Burren. The closest large village is Ballyvaughan, a few miles further west. The L1014 road passes close by the abbey. About a kilometer from the abbey are the ruined churches of Oughtmama. Although no stream was present at the site, several wells are located in the townland where the abbey stands, which probably provided water to the monastic foundation. History A band of Cistercian monks came to the area from the abbey at Inislounaght in County Tipperary in the late 12th century. Sources vary as to the exact founding date (1180–1200). The foundation is attributed either to Donal Mór Ua Briain (Donald O'Brien), the patron of a number of other religious structures in the historic Thomond region, who died in 1194 or his successor Donough Cairbreach. If it is true that Corcomroe established a daughter-house in 1198 at Kilshane (County Limerick) the former is more likely. Alternatively, Kilshane may have been the first attempt by this group of monks to set up a monastery and after that failed in 1200, Corcomroe may have been the site of their second try. On stylistic grounds, the founding is thought to have occurred around 1205–10. Construction of the abbey used local limestone. Legend maintains that the building was indeed commissioned by King Conor na Siudane Ua Briain (see below). According to the legend, Ua Briain executed the five masons who completed the abbey to prevent them from constructing a rival masterpiece elsewhere. The documentary evidence on Corcomroe Abbey is scanty. Moreover, since the Cistercians did not engage in pastoral work to the same extent as some other orders, few traditions on the abbey were maintained by local folklore. In 1226, a papal mandate addressed to the Bishop of Kilfenora and the abbot of Corcomroe shows that the abbey was integrated into the Cistercian network at that time and that the abbot was an important functionary in the local church. Another missive, from 1359, concerned the finances of the archdiocese of Tuam and the diocese of Kilmacduagh. In between, in 1228, the relationship with the mother-house at Inislounaght was ended and Corcomroe became subservient to Furness Abbey. This was part of an attempt by the order to bring the more remote houses of the order in Ireland under closer control. In 1227, 1280 and 1287