Kilmacduagh Monastery

Kilmacduagh Monastery ( Irish Cill Mhic Dhuach ) is a ruined abbey in the village Kilmacduagh, 5 km west of the town of Gort in County Galway in Ireland.

The monastery said to have been founded in the 7th century by Saint Colman MacDuagh of the Iroschottischen Church of the King Guaire was the land of Connacht. Kilmacduagh has one of the finest collections of monastery ruins in Ireland. The churches have been looted in the 13th century. Nevertheless, it was from the 17th to the 19th century, alternating with Kilfenora bishopric.

The cathedral, whose earliest part was built in the 11th century, replaced a wooden church.

The ( oblique ) round tower is one of the best preserved in Ireland. It is 30 m high, has a deviation of 60 cm from the vertical and dates from about the 12th century.

Mary Temple is a small church of the 13th century, built from the stones of an earlier church. Part of the Church of John the Baptist is probably older than the cathedral.

The Glebe House ( parsonage ) may have been the house of an abbot. It dates from the 14th century and was later rebuilt. Some time ago it was restored.

The O'Heynes Church was built in the first half of the 13th century. The church has a beautiful archway above the pulpit with rich stonework, standing on pillars with floral and animal ornamentation. The clan O'Heynes, after which the church is named, leads than those ancestors King Guaire Aidhne, who gave the land for the monastery, and was built in 1520 also by the Guaire named Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara.

Source

• The Office of Public Works, Irl