History of
Magh Eó (Mayo Abbey)
in Co Mayo in the West of Ireland
History of Magh Eó (Mayo Abbey)
The explanation for the foundation of a monastery in the centre of the Plains of Mayo in 668 AD. by St. Colman is not to be found locally, but in the ancient English Kingdom of Northumbria. Ancient Northumbria ("North of the river Humber") stretched from southern Scotland to the northern borders of Yorkshire. In the sixth century it was over-run and settled by pagan tribes of Saxons and Angles originating in present-day Saxony in north Germany.
Columba (Columcille in Gaelic) established the Celtic Church in Iona in 563 AD., which quickly spread its influence into Mainland Scotland. In 635 AD., King Oswald of Northumbria sent to Iona for a missionary to convert his people to Christianity. Aidan was chosen for the task and established a monastery at Lindisfarne, near the King's castle at Bamburgh. His mission was successful and the monastery at Lindisfarne flourished. In 660 AD., Colman was appointed Bishop - Abbot of Lindisfarne, following the death of Finian, Aidan's successor. Colman was a native of the west of Ireland and had recieved his education on Iona.
While the Iona "Celtic Church" evangelised Scotland and Northumbria, St. Augustine had established Roman practices in southern England. Both groups were very successful, so much so that the whole of Northumbria became known as the "Cradle of Christianity" throughout Britain.
The Synod of Whitby
There were differences in practices between the two traditions, which caused many disputes and these came to a head at the Synod of Whitby, in 664 AD. A decision on the supremacy of Rome as opposed to the Celtic monastic traditions and the method of calculating the date of Easter were taken in favour of the English/Roman church. Colman, who had pleaded the Celtic cause, resigned as Bishop of Lindisfarne, and he and thirty Saxon monks and the large body of Irish monks living on Lindisfarne retreated to Iona.
They spent two years on the island of Iona in prayer and contemplation following which they set sail for Ireland. They founded a monastery on the island of Inishbofin, off the coast of County Galway. Disputes arose between the Saxon and Irish monks after a short time. Colman brought his Saxon followers onto the mainland and founded a monastery for them at ""Magh Eó" - the Plain of Yew Trees. They were joined here by Gerald and a large community of monks who were living at nearby Rosslee. Gerald was the son of a Saxon prince and a follower of Colman. He, his three brothers and a large group of Picts had left Northumbria following the Synod at Whitby and eventually came to Rosslee, which is in the west of the modern parish of Mayo Abbey, where they founded a monastery. The community was ravaged by plague and many died. They moved to Magh Eó and Gerald was appointed as first abbot of the newly founded monastery. Colman returned to Inishbofin where he died some years later.
The
Monastery at Magh Eo grew quickly. The monastic enclosure covered
more than 28 acres and Gerald and his monks were endowed with grants
of land which eventually amounted to more than 2,000 acres. By the
year 700 AD. the monastery had become a famous seat of learning with
more than one hundred monks living there. It became known throughout
Christendom as "Mayo of the Saxons". For several centuries it
remained a Saxon establishment and there are many recorded contacts
between it and Iona and Northumbria. Adomnán, the ninth abbot
of Iona and biographer of Columba, is reputed to have lived in Magh
Eó between the years 797 to 802 AD. Alcuin
of York, chief advisor to the Emperor Charlemagne, corresponded
with the monks at Magh Eó on several occasions. The importance
and size of the monastery is recorded in many chronicles of that
period, the most important being the "Ecclesiastical History of the
English People", written by The Venerable Bede of Jarrow and The
Annals of Ulster.
The Norman Town of Mayo
Mayo became a diocese in 1152, following the Synod of Kells, controlling the part of County Mayo now under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam. Following the Norman invasion the general area came under the control of Maurice De Prendergast who's main stronghold was at Brize, in the east of Mayo Abbey parish. A Norman town was founded at Mayo and an Augustinian Abbey was built on the site of the original monastery c.1400 AD., the ruins of which are still visible today.
The town was of sufficient size and importance by the end of the sixteenth century to give its name to County Mayo, during the Composition of Connacht under Sir Henry Sidney in 1595 AD.
In 1617 the Abbey was sacked during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first and it's lands were confiscated. The diocese was merged with Tuam in 1630. Mass continued to be celebrated in the ruins of the Abbey during penal times.
St Colman's Church
In the years following the Catholic Emancipation in 1829, a church was built on the site of the Abbey, reusing much of the stone from the ruined monastery. This church was opened in 1845, and dedicated to St. Colman. It served the parish of Mayo and Rosslee until 1978 when a modern structure was erected in the village to the north of the monastic site.
Developments in Modern Times
In 1991, during a nation wide survey of National monuments
conducted by the Office of
Public Works (S.M.R. Survey), the monastic site at Mayo Abbey came to
public attention. Director of the SMR. for County Mayo, archaeologist
Michael Gibbons, surveyed the site and adjoining earthworks. Traces
of two Norman farm stead settlements were discovered beside the
monastery cashel wall. Subsequently, an area of 11.44 hectares was
put under the protection of the Office of Public Works. Because of
it's size, state of preservation and it's place in the evolution of
the early Christian Church in the British Isles, the area around Mayo
Abbey village is considered by many experts to be one of the most
important unexplored archaeological sites in Ireland being similar in
size and importance to Armagh, Clonmacnoise and Glendalough.
In the late 1980's the people of Mayo Abbey came together and formed Mayo Abbey Community Council. Initially work to enhance the area was undertaken using FAS community employment schemes and voluntary input from local people.
The Community Council also started to research the history of the parish. In 1994, some members of the Council participated in a Community Development course organised by South Mayo LEADER Company. As part of this course, a group of people travelled to Lindisfarne and Whitby, and a second group travelled to Iona.
As a result of contacts made, a very successful International Seminar, The "Mayo of the Saxons" International Workshop, was held in February 1995, with speakers present from Northumberland and Iona, as well as from Ireland. Following the workshop interchange has continued between Mayo Abbey, Iona and North Eastern England. A second conference, Mayo of the Saxons '96 is now planned for April 10th and 11th. 1996.
The Community Council has formed a development company, Mayo Abbey Parish Community Development Co Ltd, to further develop the resources present in the area. The company has successfully applied for a Community response FAS scheme which commenced work in May 1995. This scheme, under the title of the Mayo Abbey Heritage Project, is presently carrying out an archaeological survey of the monastic site and all monuments within the area which are related to it. The scheme is also researching the history and folklore of the area.
A multi purpose resource centre was opened in 2000 with facilities including offices, function room with bar, heritage room and childcare services named after Bishop Patrick O'Healy of Mayo who was the first Irish bishop to die for the faith. He was executed in 1579.
A new parochial house was built in 2001: the old Famine Church was re-roofed in 2001: and ongoing local improvements are being carried out through a Community Employment Scheme. A heritage exhibition will open in the Bishop Patrick O'Healy centre in the summer 2003.
St. Colman's church is one of the few remaining pre-famine church buildings in County Mayo, and as such is of good architectural value particularly as 1995 commemorated the 150th anniversary of the famine. The church is at present being renovated as and when funds allow, up to now new stained glass windows have been added and the building has also been re roofed.
