Timoleague Abbey

© photo : Mathieu Morverand

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It's unsure if Timoleague Abbey was founded by MacCarthy Reach, Lord Carbery in 1240 or William de Barry during the reign of Edward III because the buildings on the site date back to various periods. The original church was shorter than the current one and was probably lengthened when the tower portion was added by Edmund de Courcy, Bishop of Ross, at the end of the 1400s. In 1612, the abbey was sacked by English soldiers who also smashed all of the stained glass windows, but much of the significant architecture remains, to include : the church, infirmary, finely detailed lancet windows.