Chapter 5: Coill Beag to Inis Uí Chuinn

• Parish of Cairrgín
  
• Cahergal Fort
  
• Killursa
  
• Coill Bheag to Inis Uí Chuinn
  
• [no title]
  
• Rosserilly
  
• Shrule
  

Looking north-eastward from Killursa church into the fertile valley through which the Abhainn Dubh flows, the eye rests on the picturesque ruins of Ross-Errilly, depicted below. Upon a slight elevation on the Galway bank of the river, surrounded by fat pasture lands, and approached by a long avenue, or causeway, on the south, stand the extensive ruins of this Franciscan convent and church, which are thus referred to by the Donegal Annalists: "A.D. 1351, The monastery of Ros Oirbhealaigh in the diocese of Tuam, was erected for Franciscans." In 1604, Brian Óg Ó Ruairc was buried there, the name is spelt Ross-Iriala.

In this entry the following legend still exists: The building was commenced at Ros Daimh on the north or Mayo side of the river, when three swans came and perched on it, and having remained some time, flew to the other side with some ros, or flaxseed, which there grew up forthwith; and then the former structure was deserted, and the present commenced, and called Ros na tír Eala, "the flaxseed of the three swans!"

The illustration has been taken from the south-east from which point the best general view of this charming group of ruins may be obtained. The house to the extreme right of the picture, called "Castle Burke," was probably the private residence of the Guardian, or the Provincial, who occasionally resided there. The church was not built cruciform, as in the case of its brethren at Cill Conaill and Clare-Galway, but the high central tower, supported on pointed arches, springs from the junction of nave and chancel.The gables on the left are those of additions, and that in the centre, of a mortuary chapel.Popularly, but erroneously, this building is styled an "abbey," as in the instances of the two last named edifices; but an abbey can only pertain to a community governed by an Abbot, which office did not belong to the Franciscan Order.Before examining the ruins in detail, let us read what was written of them two hundred and fifty years ago. In 1617, two Irish Franciscans, Fathers Purcell and Mooney, were resident at Louvain, where they and their Order had, after their expulsion from Ireland, been protected by Albert and Isabella, then joint sovereigns of the Netherlands.Fr. Mooney, at that time Provincial, and far advanced in years, had been in early life a soldier, and served in the Desmond wars. Purcell was a man of great learning; and, from materials supplied him by his superior, wrote, partly as a dialogue, a Latin history of his Order, so far as it related to their Irish establishments. This interesting MS., the original of which is in the Burgundian Library at Brussels, the Rev. C. P. Meehan, of Dublin, has translated and published. Fr. Mooney's recollections of this monastery are thus afforded by his ancient scribe and moderm commentator:

"Never was a more solitary spot chosen for the habitation of a religious community than that one on which Rosserilly stands; for it is surrounded by marshes and bogs, and the stillness that reigns there is seldom broken, save by the tolling of the church bell, or the whirr of the countless flocks of plover and other wild birds that frequent the fens which abound in that desolate region.Another remarkable feature of the locality is, that the monastery can only be approached by a causeway, paved with large stones, over an extent of fully two hundred paces, and terminating at the enclosure, which was built in 1572 by Father Ferrall Mac Egan, a native of Connacht, and then Provincial of the Irish Franciscans.He was, in sooth, a distinguished man in his day, far-famed for eloquence and learning, and singularly fond of Rosserilly, which he used to compare to the Thebaid, whither the early Christians fled for prayer and contemplation.He died in our house of Kilconnell, where he made his religious profession, and there he awaits the resurrection--peace to his memory! As to the church of Rosserilly, it is, indeed, a beautiful edifice; and the same may be said of the monastery, which, although often garrisoned by the English troops during the late war, is still in excellent preservation. Cloister, refectory, dormitory, chapter house, library, and lofty bell tower, have all survived the disasters of that calamitous period; but, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Elizabeth, the friars were forcibly expelled from their beloved retreat."

The friars, however, soon returned, and remained in quiet possession for long after, till Sir Arthur Chichester, then Lord Deputy, directed O Donnell, or Daniel, Archbishop of Tuaim, to turn them out; but that good and learned Protestant sent them word privately of his intention, and they saved themselves and their effects by flight.One good turn deserved another; and this kindness was repaid in 1641, when, after the massacre at Shrule, Father Brian Kilkelly, then Guardian of Rosserilly, hearing of the atrocities which were enacting within a few miles of him, hastened to the spot, succoured the wounded, and brought the Bishop of Killala's wife and children to his monastery, and treated them with the greatest kindness.

Great changes have taken place in the surrounding scene since Father Mooney's description was written.This site was in all probability a Cluain, an "isolated meadow," or lawn; and there was originally a water-course leading from some springs, pools, and turlochs, on the southeast, which supplied a stream that turned a small mill, the foundations of which still exist, and then passed by a conduit through the kitchen on the northern side into a fish tank, or circular reservoir, within the walls, the cut stone margin of which remains; so that the fresh trout and curdy salmon from the neighbouring Abhainn Dubh prevented the worthy friars from feeling the effects of abstinence on fast days.

This kitchen is a spacious apartment, fitted up with oven, extensive fire-place, and an aperture through which the smoking savoury viands could be passed at once into the refectory, which adjoins its eastern side.In the north-east corner of this refectory is a sedile, with a handsome slender pillar support, in which the reader, in sonorous tones, read to the fathers.Here, in former times, were interred, with pomp, while bells tolled, friars chanted, and chieftains clad in all the panoply of funereal state assisted at the ceremonial, the mortal remains of the O Flaherties, O Donnells, Kirwans, Lynches, Brownes, Mac Donnells, Burkes, Kilkellies, and other Connacht notabilities.

The total length of this great church is one hundred and twenty-eight feet, and its breadth twenty and a half feet.The arches between the nave and side aisle on the southern side, as we enter from the west; the tall tower, seventy feet high, supported upon pointed arches, that separates the nave and chancel; the beauteous four-lighted east window, partially deformed though it be by the unsightly modern tomb that occupies the situation of the high altar; the coronetted tomb of the founder, recessed into the northern wall; the low, deeply-moulded arches that lead into the side chapels; the history of the families to whose memory the different mortuary chapels were erected, and all the architectural details of this memorable place, would occupy many pages to describe.There are many interesting and peculiarly Irish architectural details in this ruin, among which are the decoration of the bolt-hole in the western door-way, which resembles some of the Newgrange carvings; the beautiful cross, a fragment of which has been erected over a grave adjoining the modern western wall; and the form of an ancient hatchet or Tuagh figured on the tomb of the Thuhils in 1617, who probably derived their name from that implement.The great bell, with its silver tongue, is, it is said, occasionally heard to chime in its deep bed in the adjoining river.

From the rolls of the Order we learn that in 1647 a chapter of Franciscans was held here under the presidency of the Very Rev. Anthony de Burgo; and also that it was occupied until 1687, when the Rev. P. Ó Neill was elected Provincial, and the Rev. B. O Flaherty Guardian and the friars prayed for James II and his consort, and his Irish viceroy, Tirconnell . . . It is said that at a later period Lord St. George aided the friars by placing some looms in the church when the government sent down orders to dispossess them.