The Augustinian abbey in Abbeyside, Dungarvan, was built by the McGrath family in 1290. The O'Brien family was a great benefactor of this church.
The surviving building consists of a chancel built in the 13th century and a tower erected in the 15th century.
After the suppression of the monasteries under king Henry VIII, the friars were sent away and their lands confiscated.
In 1654, the building was attacked and destroyed by the Cromwell's army.
A wonderful archway in the north wall is the entrance to the nave. At its threshold there's a slab commemorating a member of the McGrath family and reads the following Latin words
"Hic iacet Donaldus Macrah qui obiit XXVII die mensis Marcii anno do' MCCCC Septuagesimo"
that mean
"Here lies Donaldus Macrah who died on 27th March in the year of the Lord 1470".
The chancel is aligned to the east (85°).
A modern church dedicated to St. Augustine was built in 1820 on the foundations of the abbey and fragments from the earlier building are incorporated in the new construction.
The churchyard has some very nice gravestones.
|