Mainister na Búille

Boyle (Roscommon)

Mainistir na Búille aka Boyle Abbey (now in ruins) was a Cistercian Monastery founded in 1161 under the patronage of the MacDermotts. Construction work about 1220, it is one of Ireland's most formidable early Cistercian monasteries. It had a church on the north side of a rectangular cloister area, with a chapter house for meetings on a second side, a kitchen and reflectory on the third, and storehouses and dormitory likely on the fourth. 

During the 16th and 17th centuries, it was mutilated to accommodate the English military; the Elizabethans converted it into barracks in 1592 (a restored gatehouse from this period now houses an exhibition). Then the Cromwellians besieged it in 1645 and did their worst.

Today, only small parts of the cloister remain. The date of the demolition of the north aisle is unknown. It does not appear on Gabriel Beranger's 1779 drawing.   Extensive conservation of the Abbey church was completed in 2011.

Despite its ruined state, Boyle Abbey today remains a popular visitor attraction. Boyle Abbey is floodlit green in March during the St. Patricks Festival.​

~ Ancestors from Boyle? Post your connection below ~