Sligo Abbey () was a Dominican convent in Sligo, Ireland, founded in 1253. It was built in the Romanesque style with some later additions and alterations. Extensive ruins remain, mainly of the church and the cloister.

The site is managed by the Office of Public Works and opens on a seasonal basis - March 17 to November 5 is the 2023 season. Sligo Abbey is open daily from 10.00 am - 6.00 pm, with last admissions at 5.15 pm. The ruins are located in Abbey Street, Sligo, but when it was still functioning, the convent lay outside the town's limits and its location was then usually described as "near Sligo".

History

Sligo Abbey, was a Dominican Friary, founded in 1253 by Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly, who was Justiciar of Ireland from 1232 to 1245. His purpose allegedly was to house a community of monks to pray for the soul of Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, whom he was rumoured to have killed. The Dominicans were a poor choice for such a task as their specialty is preaching rather than praying. FitzGerald built a substantial Norman abbey, with all the essential parts and endowed it with lands.

In 1414 the buildings were damaged in an accidental fire. The abbey did not have sufficient means for the reconstruction and appealed to the pope for help. At that moment three men competed with each other in the Vatican Standoff: Benedict XIII was pope in Avignon, Gregory XII in Rome, and John XXIII in Pisa. As England supported John, this was the pope the abbey addressed. Their letter reached John at the Council of Constance (1414–1418). John replied by sending an apostolic letter from Constance granting indulgences of ten years to all who would visit the church on the feast of the Assumption and the day of Saint Patrick and contribute to its restoration. The friary was rebuilt in 1416 by Prior Brian, son of Dermot MacDonagh, tanist (prince) of Tirerrill and Collooney. There were 20 friars at the abbey at that time.

When the Dissolution of the Irish monasteries that had started in 1530 in the Pale, began to menace monasteries in the West of Ireland, Donogh O'Connor Sligo in 1568 obtained a letter from Queen Elizabeth that exempted Sligo Abbey on condition that the friars would become secular priests.

During Tyrone's Rebellion (1594–1603) the abbey was damaged when Richard Bingham, president of Connaught, besieged Sligo Castle in 1595, which was held by Hugh Roe O'Donnell's men. Bingham stationed six companies of troops and horses in the Abbey, and dismantled the rood screen, using it and other timber from the building to build a siege tower for his unsuccessful attack on the castle. After the war, at the beginning of the 17th century, the abbey and its lands were granted to Sir William Taaffe in consideration of his services to Queen Elizabeth. Sir William was the grandfather of Theobald Taaffe, 1st Earl of Carlingford.

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This engraving is of low quality. Much of the ruins are hidden behind a wall.

400px|left|The Abbey ruins in 1791

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thumb|left|alt=Walls and tower of a ruined church|The church, seen from Abbey Street

In 1608 only one friar was left in the abbey, Father O'Duane, who died in this year. However, Father Daniel O'Crean arrived from Spain before O'Duane's death and built up a new community, succeeding so well that in 1627 Ross MacGeoghegan, provincial of the Dominical Order in Ireland, held a provincial chapter in Sligo.

During the Irish Confederate Wars (1641–1653) the convent was attacked and burned by Sir Frederick Hamilton in the summer of 1642. Some of the friars were killed.

In 1697 when King William reigned alone, the Irish Parliament passed the Banishment Act, which specified that all ordinaries (bishops) and regular clergy (e.g. monks) must leave the country before 1 May 1698. It did not affect the parish priests, who are classified as secular priests. The Dominicans of Sligo left Ireland for Spain, led by their prior, Father Patrick McDonogh. The abbey stood then empty.

thumb|alt=An architectural plan of the ground floor|Ground plan

In the 18th century some friars came back to Sligo and stayed in the abbey. In 1760 when Father Lawrence Connellan returned from Louvain to Sligo, he found that the buildings had deteriorated so far that it was necessary to find other accommodation. In 1783 he obtained a lease in High Street and moved there. In the second half of the 18th century, the friars built a chapel in Pound Street. In 1803 a new friary was built. In 1846 Father B. J. Goodman, prior of the friary and provincial of the order, built the Neogothic Holy Cross Church in High Street, and in 1865 another residence for the friars was built behind that church in Dominick Street.

The abbey grounds were used as cemetery. The buildings were quarried for reusable stone. In 1893 Evelyn Ashley, to whom the abbey had come from Lord Palmerston, vested part of it in the Board of Works and the rest followed in 1913, donated by his son Wilfrid William Ashley. The Board then did work on the ruins, freeing them from ivy, bushes and trees growing on it.

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!colspan=3|Timeline

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|1253||Founded by Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly.

thumb|alt=Two sides of the ruined cloister |The southern and the eastern arcades of the cloister

See also

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

<gallery>

File:Sligo Abbey Friary - Cloisters.jpg|alt=A dark barrel-vaulted corridor with an arcade on the left|Inside the cloister-walk

File:Sligo Priory of the Holy Cross Choir East Window 2015 09 08.jpg|alt=A late gothic window with tracery|The late Gothic east window

File:Sligo_Priory_of_the_Holy_Cross_Refectory_Window_2015_09_08.jpg|alt=A late gothic window|Refectory window above the cloister

File:Sligo Priory of the Holy Cross O’Craian Tomb 2015 09 08.jpg|alt=a late gothic canopy tomb in a niche of the wall|The O'Craian monument

File:O'Connor_Mural_in_Sligo_Abbey.png|alt=A mural monument in late renaissance style showing a man in armour and a woman kneeling in prayer|The O'Connor Mural

</gallery>

Notes

References

  • http://monastic.ie/history/sligo-dominican-priory/
  • http://heritageireland.ie/visit/places-to-visit/sligo-abbey/ – Official site at Heritage Ireland
  • http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/sligo/sligo/sligofriary.html – Sligo Friary on the Irish Antiquities website
  • http://www.ecclesiasticalireland.org/sligo/index.htm – Sligo Abbey on the Ecclesiastical Ireland website