Fuerty Abbey

transcribed at

Fuerty Abbey  [duchas:4793856]

Situated some three miles to the south west of Roscommon, and at a distance of about one mile from the River Suck is the ancient abbey of Fuerty.  This abbey was founded by St. Patrick, some seven years after the meeting of himself and Laoghaire.  When leaving to continue his missionary work in the west of the county he left one Justus in charge of the church and to minister to the faithful in the district.  It is said that before leaving he gave his own Mass Book as he had none other as tradition says that when crossing a river the boat in which Patrick and his companion were crossing overturned and all the mass books were lost.  Here also St Ciaran founder of Clonmacnoise was baptised by Justus.  The old people hold that St. Ciaran was buried in Creemulty near Fuerty, and they point out the mound yet.  But that after some years his remains were dug up and reinterred in some other place presumably at Clonmacnoise.  Like many other

Fuerty Abbey  [duchas:4793857]

churches and abbeys during the Reformation it fell into hands of the Protestants.  Fuerty must have been one of the first, as a stone on the floor of the old church, tells of one Hodson a protestant minister who was buried there in 1716.  This man succeeded his father, who had been minister there before him.  So that Fuerty seems to have fallen into the hands of the reformers very soon after its inception into this country.  And up to eighty and a hundred ago large congregations were seen attending service there.  Many alterations were made and, the old church was made higher, and the additions are quite noticable as the masonry differs from that of the old building and the bell-tower is a late addition and its style of architecture.