Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB24/04/019

Address :
Cistercian Abbey ruins (Church Street) Greyabbey Newtownards Co. Down BT22 2NQ

Townland:
Rosemount

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Religious House

Former Use
Religious House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
Yes

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
149/15

IG Ref:
J5830 6813

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Owner Category

Central Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

Extensive early gothic ruins of a 13th century Cistercian abbey with 15th century additions. The ruins are sited to the north west of the village of Greyabbey. The abbey is rubble built and there are significant remains of the cruciform church to the N and refectory to the S, with foundation ruins of the sacristy, chapter house and day room between both. The W gable of the nave is largely intact with a low pointed arch doorway with dog’s tooth ornamentation and a bellcote of the seventeenth century. The N and S walls of the nave still retain many pointed arch window openings as does the chancel gable. The S wall of the nave is supported on three large flying buttresses which were added as a safety measure in c.1907. The tower or crossing section between the nave and chancel still has the remains of large equilateral arches set on corbels. Inside the nave are many memorials to the Montgomery family, dating back to the 1600s. There is a pointed arch ‘sedile’ (seat for priest) recess in the S wall of the chancel next to a smaller ‘piscina’ recess (for washing vessels). There is a thirteenth century sandstone effigy of a lady set in a recess in the N wall of the chancel, with a much damaged effigy of a knight in the south chapel attached to the E of the N transept. Substantial portions of the W wall of the refectory and the S gable are still standing, with large pointed arch (lancet) window openings in the gable. To the N of the church is a graveyard with many varied headstones dating from the 1630s onwards. This ruin is now a Scheduled Monument in state care.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

This abbey was founded in 1193 by Affreca, the daughter of Godred, King of Man, and wife of John de Courcy, the Norman conqueror of the east of Ulster. The church, said to have been founded as an act of thanksgiving by Affreca for a safe landing after a storm at sea, was originally called the Abbey of St. Mary of ‘Jugum Dei’ or ‘Yoke of God’, the name ‘Greyabbey’ being a later reference to the off white habits worn by the Cistercians. The church may have been a daughter house of the Cistercian abbey of Holm Cultram in Cumbria, an area with which de Courcy and Affreca both had family connections. Architecturally it is the first fully Gothic style building in Ireland, with window and door openings pointed rather than round headed. In the course of the 1300s Greyabbey came under the protection of the O’Neills of Clandeboy, who appear to have reroofed the chancel and inserted two traceried windows, probably in the fifteenth century. In 1541 the Henrican reformation caught up with Greyabbey and the monastery was dissolved. The abbey lands were granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare, but in 1572 they were seized by Sir Brian O’Neill of Clandeboy who burnt the buildings for fear that they would be fortified against him by Queen Elizabeth. In 1607 Greyabbey and its estates were granted to Sir Hugh Montgomery, branches of whose family have lived on the estate ever since. Some time during the seventeenth century the nave was re-roofed and used as a parish church until 1778, when a new church was built just to the NW. In 1907 the Montgomery family gave the abbey to the Commissioners of Public Works who excavated the site and strengthened the bowed south wall of the nave. The abbey is at present in the care of the Environment and Heritage Service. The graveyard to the north of the church contains many headstones dating from the 1630s onwards, among which is that of Rev. James Porter, the minister of Greyabbey Presbyterian church, executed in 1798 for (supposedly) treasonable activities. References- Primary sources 1 A.J. Hughes and R.J. Hannan, 'Place-Names of Northern Ireland Vol. Two, County Down II- The Ards', pp. 197-200. [The authors of the Place Names have listed all the known medieval
references to the Grey Abbey.] 2 Montgomery’s MSS ‘History of the Ards’ (1688), p. 6-7 etc. [Original MS in the Linenhall Library, Belfast] 3 Walter Harris, 'The Ancient and Present State of The County of Down' (1744), pp.49-51 [Harris describes the abbey remains at the `time the nave was being used as a parish church.] 4 Jacques Louis de Bourgrenet (Chevalier de la Tocnaye) 'A Frenchman’s walk through Ireland 1796-7', trans. John Stevenson (Belfast 1917, reprinted by Blackstaff Press 1984) 5 Site & Monuments Record - Dow 011:010 Secondary sources 1 J.J. Philips, "Grey Abbey Illustrated" in 'The Irish Builder', Vol.XVI, No.350, p.196, 15 July 1874. 2 J.J. Philips, "Grey Abbey Illustrated" in 'The Irish Builder', Vol.XVI, No.355, pp.263-64, 1 Oct 1874 3 J.J. Philips, "Grey Abbey Illustrated" in 'The Irish Builder', Vol.XVI, No.356, pp.283-85 [?] 1874 4 J.J. Philips, "Grey Abbey Illustrated" in 'The Irish Builder', Vol.XVI, No.376, p.225, 15 Aug 1875 5 J.J. Philips, "Grey Abbey Illustrated" in 'The Irish Builder', Vol.XVI, No.380, p.287, 15 Oct 1875 6 'Archaeological Survey of County Down' (HMSO, 1966), pp.275-283 7 'Grey Abbey' (DOE NI publication, 1997) 8 R.S.J. Clarke (compiler) 'Gravestone Inscriptions Vol.12, County Down, Barony of Ards' (U.H.F. Belfast, 1975), pp.3-84 9 Bob Trayte "The Greyabbey and village" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.16' (1992), pp.2-4 10 Jim Blaney "The Reverend James Porter" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.20' 1996, pp.19-25. 11 Bill Wilsdon 'The sites of the 1798 Rebellion in Antrim and Down' (Belfast 1997)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Extensive early gothic ruins of a 13th century Cistercian abbey with 15th century additions.

General Comments

Date of Survey

26 November 1997