Killone Abbey

Situated on a steeply inclined shelf overlooking the N shore of Killone Lough within a graveyard (CL041-062002-). Accessible only by foot from gates c. 1km to N and S at the edge of Newhall estate. Listed as ‘Convent’ in the RMP (1996), Collins (2007) gives the following history. ‘…established in the 1180s, probably by Donal Mor O’Brien, as a nunnery following the rule of St. Augustine. Killone nunnery first appears in the Annals of Inishfallen in 1260, when it is recorded that “Slaney, O’Bryan’s daughter, abbess of Kill Eoin, chief in devotion, alms-deeds and hospitality of all women in Munster, died.” Slaney is believed to have been the sister of the king of Thomond, Donchad Cairbreach, who founded the nearby Ennis Friary. The nunnery receives a possible mention in papal taxation records of 1302 (although it may perhaps have been confused with another monastic house) and is again noted in 1584, when it was dissolved by the Crown. A satirical poem on the tribes of Ireland, written in 1617, tells of Lady Honora O’Brien, who in her youth had followed the religious life at Killone but ran off with Sir Roger O’Shaughnessy, with whom she had two children before the pope gave dispensation for their marriage. The nunnery at Killone is rarely mentioned in the documentary sources of the 17th century and appears to have been left ruinous since then.’

The buildings are set around a small almost square cloister (13.5m N-S; 16.5m E-W). The church (int. dims. 26.17m E-W; 8.56m N-S; ext. dims. 37m E-W; c. 10m N-S), built of coursed limestone, is at N and comprises a nave and chancel. The steep E-facing incline allowed for a crypt under the chancel at the E end of the church. The nave was shortened by the insertion of a gable wall and bellcote towards the W end. The remaining space W of this wall has evidence of a fire-place and may have been the living quarters after the nunnery had been dissolved. The central part of the S wall is virtually gone except for an elaborate doorway which is probably reconstructed. A plain doorway is opposite this on the N wall. The rest of the N and S walls have wall-walks with the remains of a parapet. A double-light lancet window in the N wall is in a reconstructed embrasure. The E window is an elaborate two-light transitional window with a walkway through it, accessed through a lintelled doorway at the N end of the E wall and leading to the wall-walk in the S wall. The E end of the S wall has a rebuilt rectangular window and there is a pointed doorway with a rebate on the S side leading into the E range. The cloister and the W ranges are quite denuded and overgrown. The E range is best preserved with several small but interesting windows including two round-headed lights looking into the cloister and a double ogee-headed light dating from the 15th century. Some other windows are now blocked. The crypt (int. dims. 9.12m E-W; 7.3m N-S) was entered through an intramural stairway from the E range or through a doorway in the E wall of the church. It has a pointed vault with evidence of wicker centring and has a pointed doorway with external chamfer in the E wall. A plain window N of the doorway lights the crypt. Local tradition suggests that the nuns were buried in this crypt but it is now paved with graveslabs of the MacDonnell family dating from 1799. Two medieval graveslabs lie in the nave (CL041-062005-, CL04-062006-) and a font (CL041-062007-) stands in the middle of the cloister. A holy well (CL041-062003-) lies c. 200m to the E. Killone Abbey is a National Monument in state care, no. 176. (Westropp 1900, 126-33; Collins 2007)