Efforts ongoing to save 13th century abbey from ruin
A campaign has been launched to conserve and preserve an abbey built over 700 years ago in East Cork.
The Augustinian Canon Abbey in Carrigtwohill, located in St Mary’s Cemetery, is believed to have been built during the Cambro-Norman era in the early 1200s.
In an effort to prevent the abbey from falling into further ruin and to learn more about its history, the Carrigtwohill & District Historical Society has engaged the services of a team of specialist conservationists.
Phase one of the project will see the team undertake a geophysical survey to determine the extent of the ruins and cloister which may still exist below ground.
The Carrigtwohill & District Historical Society’s overall goal is to see the abbey included in the National Monuments register as a legally protected structure. The survey will be the initial phase of the undertaking.
To help fund the project, the society has set up a GoFundMe page with a target of €55,000. Donations can be made at gofundme.com/f/saving-carrigtwohill-augustinian-canon-abbey.
The Manor of Carrigtwohill with its village can be traced to Cambro-Norman origins when William, son of warrior Philip de Barry, who by a grant of King John on 24 February 1206, obtained Barrys Court coming under the jurisdiction of Olethan (Castlelyons, or Castle Lehan).
Barryscourt Castle was one of three cantreds (subdivisions) of land in Cork (known then as Corcaia) granted to William de Barry that day. The others were Muscherie and Dunegan.
A spokesperson for the Carrigtwohill & District Historical Society said: “The Augustinian Canon Abbey of Carrigtwohill is known to have been allied to the same order at Ballybeg, whose construction commenced there circa 1229, but there is no mention of Carrigtwohill.
“Whatever the truth may be, the question is, which came first; Carrigtwohill, or Ballybeg? It is the considered opinion, as the King’s grant of 1206 did not mention Ballybeg, it was Carrigtwohill that must be the senior religious house,” added the spokesperson.