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Cistercian Abbeys: FERMOY Name:
FERMOY Location: Fermoy town County:
Cork Fermoy was founded in 1170 by Donal Mor O’Brien, king of
Limerick, and was colonized with monks from Inishlounaght. Fermoy
abbey was situated in the valley of the Blackwater River. Its Latin
name was a reference to the location combined with a dedicatory
formula: ‘Castrum Dei’, the camp of God. The abbey
was opposed to English influence in the neighbourhood and was
one of
the principle instigators in the ‘conspiracy of Mellifont’
(1216-1228). As a result the affiliation of the abbey was changed
from Inishlounaght to Furness. In 1227, the Irish abbot was deposed
and an abbot of Anglo-Norman origin was imposed upon the abbey
in his place. He was murdered three years later, reputedly by
his own
monks. During the fourteenth century the abbey fell heavily into
debt and in 1467 the abbot appealed to the pope, claiming that
that
his monks could not be maintained properly and that the abbey buildings
were threatened with ruin on account of war and other misfortunes.
At the time of the Dissolution the annual income of the abbey was
valued at just £2, with a peace time potential of £24.
In 1541 the royal commissioners found that the abbey church had
been in
use as a parish church for some time and that all the other monastic
buildings were being used by the local farmer. Following the Dissolution
the abbey and its lands passed through various dynasties, including
those of Viscount Rote of Fermoy, Sir Richard Grenville and Robert
Boyle. The last traces of the abbey perished after the foundation
of the town by the Scottish merchant John Anderson in 1791. The
monastery was positioned on the south side of the Blackwater River
and is marked by a road named ‘Abbey Street’.
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