Inch Abbey 3.93

Inch Abbey is a large, ruined monastic site 0.75 miles north-west of Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north bank of the River Quoile in a hollow between two drumlins and featuring early Gothic architecture. The site is mostly in State Care and is at grid ref: J477455, off the main road to Belfast.Pre-Norman siteThe site was originally on an island in the Quoile Marshes. The pre-Norman Celtic monastic settlement here, known as Inis Cumhscraigh, was in existence by the year 800. In 1002 it was plundered by the Vikings led by Sitric, King of the Danes, who came up the Quoile with a fleet from the sea. The Vikings plundered the settlement again in 1149. Its large earthwork enclosure has been traced from aerial photographs. On the ground, the early bank and ditch can be followed along the line of trees on the eastern boundary of the site, and partly along the western boundary. The buildings of the early monastery would have been made of timber.Norman EstablishmentInch Abbey was established as a Cistercian house by John de Courcy and his wife Affrica. Inch, or Iniscourcy, was erected as an act of repentance for the destruction of the Abbey at Erinagh (or Erenagh) (3 miles (4.8 km) to the south) by de Courcy in 1177. It was colonised directly by monks from Furness Abbey in Lancashire in 1180, along with some of the monks from Erinagh. The Cistercian monastery was located near to the river in the southern area of the Early Christian earthwork enclosure.