GREY ABBEY

From Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)

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Description of County Down | Down Cathedral | Grey Abbey | Bangor | Down Map

GREY ABBEY.—This once famed edifice, the ruins of which now alone remain, was built in the year 1193 by Africa, wife of the Norman Knight, John De Courcy, and daughter of Godfred, king of the Isle of Man, for a community of Cistercian monks. The extent and character of the remains give evidence of its former splendor, the stately windows of Gothic structure showing a beauty of design and richness of art, though now overgrown with ivy, and crumbling in decay. The cells, dormitories and other buildings for the uses of the former inmates are wholly in ruins, only enough remaining to trace the compass of ground occupied by the entire structure. The vicinity of the ruins is highly picturesque, and is much frequented by visitors. The Abbey was destroyed during the great rebellion of 1641, and was partly restored by the first Lord Montgomery in 1685, into whose hands it had fallen.

Greyabbey, County Down

Greyabbey

Description of County Down | Down Cathedral | Grey Abbey | Bangor | Down Map

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