Standing
in serene solitude on the South bank of the Black River, just two miles
West from the town of Headford in Co. Galway the Franciscan Friary of
Ross is recognised by many historians both past and present as the best
preserved monastic ruin of its period in Ireland. It was founded in 1349
by the then Archbishop of Tuam Dr. Malachy MacHugh, who was a native of
the Headford area and, as it happens, a member of the Franciscan order.
The story of the foundation of the Friary is still told today with the
same fervour and fascination as it has been for the past six hundred years.
Aerial view of Ross Abbey courtesy of www.jfc.ie
The
story goes, that during the reign of Archbishop MacHugh a great plague
"The Black Death" was rampant in Ireland and it was particularly
bad in the Tuam area. Many people had contracted the plague and the priests
of the area were constantly being called out to the sick and dying. In
fact some of the priests themselves had fallen foul of the deadly disease
while performing their duties and had died as a result which meant that
the Archbishop too was going out in order to help his priests. It is said,
that late one evening he returned to his house totally exhausted from
his labours and having spent the day administering to the sick and dying
and after having had his supper and before retiring to his bed, the Archbishop
then went to the church to pray for an end to the plague and for the strength
to continue his work. While praying he is said to have fallen into a deep
sleep in which he had a dream. In this dream he was visited by an angel,
who told him, that in order for his prayers to be answered and the plague
to end that he must build a Friary for the poor friars. He asked where
the friary was to be built and was told to go West from Tuam to Headford
and to the townland of Cordarra and that a sign would be given to him
there. The following morning he, along with three of his friars set off
from Tuam, about a mile North of Headford they stopped their chariot at
Cordarra and waited for the sign. After a short time three swans, each
with a bunch of flax seed in his bill, rose from the long sedges which
were beside them on the roadside and circled around three times. They
then flew westward towards the Black River and alighted on a small
rise in the middle of a marshy piece of ground not far from the rivers
bank. The Archbishop and his friars went to the place where the swans
had alighted and found that they had disappeared, but in the spot where
they had landed they found growing three bunches of flax in full bloom
even though it was still only the month of February. The archbishop took
this as the heavenly sign promised to him in his dream, and so, together
with his monks he went to the nearby church at Kilursa, which had been
founded by St. Fursa, patron saint of our parish and nephew of St. Brendan
the navigator. After some time of prayer and fasting, the Archbishop and
his monks together with local craftsmen returned to the spot and began
to dig the foundations of the original Friary. This was the year 1349
and it is said that when the foundations were complete, that the plague
ended. The first stage of the Friary took three years and was completed
in the year 1351 but the Archbishop himself never lived to see it, he
died from the plague in 1349.
Important dates to remember:-
Date
Event
1348
The Black Death was rampant in Ireland.
1349
The foundations of the Friary were started.
1349
Archbishop Malachy MacHugh died.
1351
as the date of the foundation of the Friary of "Ross Oirbhealaigh.
1472
The Provincial Chapter held at Ross Errilly and was attended by
the Lady Nuala O'Donnell, wife of "Red Hugh O'Donnell chieftain of
Tir Chonaill. The Lady Nuala forces the Provincial to send friars
to Donegal to found a friary there
1474
The Friary in Donegal was completed but the lady Nuala never lived
to see the finished Friary and her remains were interred under the
high alter.
1498
Some major additions to Ross Errilly Friary included the seventy
five foot high bell-tower, the infirmary and guest house, and extensions
to the refectories and the dormitories.
1538
Suppression of all Catholic abbeys and monasteries by Henry VIII.
1569
Confiscation of all Catholic Church and Abbey lands.
1572
The Provincial of the Irish Franciscans, Fr. Farrell Mac Egan had
a large enclosure to the friary built.
1578
The tithes of Ross Errilly granted to the burgesses of Athenry.1580.
Richard the second Earl of Clanrickard had the friary granted to him
on July 8th.
1604
Severly wounded at the battle of Kinsale and having asked to be
taken to the Friary of Ross, the young Brian Oge O'Rourke of Breffny
dies from his wounds as is interred in the cloisters or the Friary.
1612
The Lord Deputy, Chichester issues orders to William Daniel, Protestant
Archbishop of Tuam to expel the Friars and close down the friary.
1626
harles I was more lenient to the Catholics than his father.He offered
reliefs known as "Graces to the catholics and so the Friars returned
to the Friary.
1636
Micheal O'Cleirigh chief of the Four Masters was honoured here by
receiving approval for his wonderful book "The Martyrology of Donegal
1641
An upsurge of violence in Co. Mayo.
1642
The Massacre at Shrule.
1656
The Desecration of Ross Errilly by the soldiers of the Cromwellian
forces.1656-1664 The Friars find refuge under John Burke of Ower.
1664
The Friars once again return to the Friary and repair the ravages
done to the Friary eight years before.
1698
The Friars once again leave the Friary following an act of William
III, banishing all papists.
1715
The Friars once again return to the Friary.
1731
The Friars once again abandon the Friary.1746. The final years of
occupation are devoid of all records. We know that the Friars occupied
the Friary again after 1731 and were there in 1753.
1753
The Friars leave the Friary for the last time never again to return
but some of the Friars who stayed in the area to administer to the
people were called the "Community of Ross.
