Direction Ireland

Creevelea%20Abbey

Northwest Ireland | County Leitrim

Creevelea Abbey is situated on the outskirts of Dromahair village in County Leitrim. It was founded in 1508 by Owen O'Rourke and his wife Margaret O'Brien being the last Franciscan friary built in Ireland before the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. Abbey was partly destroyed by an accidental fire in 1536, and restoration wasn't complete because it was suspended a few years later. In 1590, Sir Richard Bingham converted the church into the stable for horses of his soldiers. At the beginning of the 17th century the Franciscans came back to the abbey and carried out the necessary repairs but Cromwellian soldiers forced them to leave again in the 1650s. Friars returned to Creevelea once more, when ownership was granted to a man named Harrison but they left for good until the end of the 17th century. The church has a nave, choir, tower, transept and cloister. There are some interesting carvings on the cloister's pillars, for example, St Francis with the stigmata and St Francis in a pulpit with birds. Just 10 km from Creevelea Abbey (in Sligo direction) there is another tourist attraction, fortified manor house, Parke's Castle.

• OPENING HOURS AND TICKETS :
  • Freely accessible
• CAR PARK :
  • Roadside