Annaghdown

Title

Annaghdown

Also Known As

Anagh Dun, Enach Duin, Enagh Dune, Monastery of St. John the Baptist de Cella Parva

Dates

Founded before 1224?; dissolved by 1562

Dedication

John the Baptist

Affiliation

Tuam

Medieval Diocese

Tuam

Circary

Ireland

History

The community was founded before 1224 by Murchad Ua Flaithbertaig, bishop of Annaghdown, on a site formerly occupied by Augustinian nuns. Annaghdown was raised to the status of an abbey ca. 1236. In 1252, Annaghdown was granted letters of protection by Henry III.

The abbey survived until the Dissolution, although perhaps in an impoverished state, after which its lands were given to Richard Burke, earl of Clanricarde, in 1572. Only partial ruinous remains of the monastic complex are visible today as the most northerly of the three sets of ruins at Annaghdown.

Heads of Community

Abbots

Thomas I O'Malley, 1227-1247
Maurice, ?-1400
Thomas II O'Malley, 1400-?, ?-1434
Dermait Yconcuayr (O'Connor), ?-1423
Patrick I Odubaig (O'Duffy), 1423-1438
Maurice McEadagan, 1434-1440
Patrick II, 1440-1444
John Omeallayd (O'Malley), ?
Eugenius Mac Egan, 1445-1455

Status

Abbey

Reference

GH, 203

Hugo, II: 213-214

MP, II: 136-138

VW, 261

Bibliography

Crumlish, Richard. “Enclosing Ditch Uncovered at Annaghdown.” Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 69 (2017): 216–32. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44751646.
Goaley, Michael. Monastic Ruins at Annaghdown, Co. Galway. Third Edition. Annaghdown Heritage Society, 1998. https://dpdgay9x1sxad.cloudfront.net/heritage/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/16381-Booklet-for-Web.pdf.

Image Credit

Western end of ruins of Annaghdown Abbey, 2010. Wikimedia.

Last Updated

Oct. 2026.

Files

Collection

Ireland

Citation

“Annaghdown,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/23.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: Tuam