
Perhaps the best-known abbey in Ireland is located in Ballintober off the N84 between Castlebar and Ballinrobe in County Mayo. It was founded in 1216 by Cathal Crobhdearg O’Connor (1153-1224), king of Connacht, for Canons Regular of St Augustine, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Situated close to the site of the early Christian monastery, where St Patrick is supposed to have blessed a well, it was constructed in the transition style from Hiberno-Romanesque to Gothic. After it was burned in 1265, however, it was repaired in the new Gothic style. Despite being suppressed by Henry VIII in 1534, wrecked by Cromwellian soldiers in 1653, and enduring the Penal Laws in the eighteenth century, the abbey served as a place of worship almost uninterrupted from its inception to the present day — a record which is unique. It has correctly been called ‘the abbey that refused to die’.
Some refurbishment work on the building took place in 1846, but this had to be abandoned because of the Great Famine. Further restoration work, under the direction of Dublin architect George C. Ashlin, took place in 1889-90. A full restoration was undertaken in 1962 under the leadership of Fr Thomas Egan, with Percy Le Clerc (1914-2002) of the Office of Public Works as architect. This was completed in time for the 750th anniversary in 1966 of the abbey’s foundation.
The church is cruciform in design, with nave, transepts and choir. There are three round-headed Hiberno-Romanesque windows in the eastern wall and a round-headed archway south of the chancel. The chancel has three bays of ribbed vaulting on corbels. Stone carvings with interlacing birds and animals decorate the arches of the chancel and the capitals. The arches of the triple east window by the French artist De Loire have beautiful carved decoration. There are two aumbries under the east window. The nave has eight pointed windows, with a fine carved limestone west doorway. The elaborate altar-tomb, with a canopy surrounded by carvings of the twelve apostles at the base, of Tiobóid na Long (Theobald of the Ships) Burke, the son of Grace O’Malley who was created Viscount Mayo in 1627, can be seen in what was the mortuary chapel of the De Burgos and now the sacristy. There is a piscina projecting from the wall in both side-chapels south of the nave, as well as a sedilia. The Stations of the Cross (1972) are by Imogen Stuart, as well as stained glass windows illustrating St Patrick on his way to Croagh Patrick by William Early, and St Brigid by George Walsh in the north transept, with St Colmcille by George Walsh in the south transept. The abbey also has a statue of the Virgin and Child by Oisín Kelly. The cloister area and chapter house are on the south side. Beautiful landscaped grounds, with many features about events from the life of Jesus, including Stations of the Cross, surround the abbey. Ballintober Abbey is a popular location for weddings.
The excavations, which preceded the 1966 restoration, unearthed a portion of the cloister arcade, some domestic buildings, a hospice for pilgrims on the way to Croagh Patrick and a portion of the pilgrimage-roadway known as Tóchar Phádraig (Patrick’s Causeway). In 1987, the Tóchar Phádraigfrom Ballintober to Croagh Patrick opened as a 33km pilgrimage route, and is now recognised as one of Ireland’s National Pilgrim Paths. The abbey, one of the jewels of County Mayo, is open all year. (www.ballintubberabbey.ie)
Bernard O’Hara’s latest book, Exploring Mayo, is available worldwide as an eBook from the Amazon Kindle application. The print version of this book and some of his other books can be obtained by contacting www.mayobooks.ie.
Bernard O’Hara’s book, Killasser: Heritage of a Mayo Parish is on sale in the USA and UK as a paperback book at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or Barnes and Noble. It is also available as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).
An earlier publication, a concise biography of Michael Davitt, entitled Davitt published in 2006 by Mayo County Council, is available as Davitt: Irish Patriot and Father of the Land League by Bernard O’Hara, which was published in the USA by Tudor Gate Press (www.tudorgatepress.com) and is available from Amazon.com and Amazon .co.uk. It can be obtained as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone) from amazon.com and amazon co.uk (Kindle and Kindle Fire) and from barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).