|
Greyabbey or Grey Abbey is a small village, townland (of 208 acres)〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.thecore.com/seanruad/ )〕 and civil parish located on the eastern shores of Strangford Lough, on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies south of Newtownards. Both townland and civil parish are situated in the historic barony of Ards Lower.〔 It is within the Borough of Ards. It had a population of 939 people in the 2011 Census. Greyabbey is often associated with the antiques trade, there being several specialist antique shops in the village, as well as some interesting Georgian and Victorian buildings. Of particular note is Mount Stewart Estate (National Trust) as well as a traditional coaching inn. == History == The village (and townland) derives its name from Grey Abbey, a Cistercian abbey-monastery located on the north side of the village, dating from 1193. Historically it was also called ''Monesterlee'' or ''Monesterlea'', which are anglicisations of its Irish name ''Mainistir Liath'' ("grey abbey/monastery").〔(Placenames NI )〕 It was founded by Affreca, daughter of Godred Olafsson, King of the Isles, and wife of John de Courcy, Anglo-Norman conqueror of the province of Ulster. The site of the abbey was on the Ards Peninsula, from Newtownards, at the confluence of a small river and Strangford Lough.. Architecturally it is important as the first fully gothic style building in Ulster; it is the first fully stone church in which every window arch and door was pointed rather than round headed. The abbey is located in the parkland of Rosemount House, home of the Montgomery family, to the east side of the village. Tradition says that Affreca founded the abbey in thanksgiving for a safe landing after a perilous journey at sea. The abbey was colonised with monks from Holmcultram in Cumberland, with which it maintained close ties in the early years. The construction of the stone church began almost immediately. In 1222 and again in 1237 abbots of Grey Abbey went on to become abbots of Holmcultram. The Latin name of the abbey is Iugum Dei, which means 'Yoke of God'. Little is known of the abbey's history, though it appears to have been almost completely destroyed during the invasion of Edward Bruce (1315–18). No reliable sources concerning the value of the abbey foundation survive, but it is not likely to have been prosperous. The abbey was dissolved in 1541. In the same year part of the monastic property was granted to Gerald, earl of Kildare. The monastery was physically destroyed during the military operations of the Elizabethan era. In 1572, Brian O'Neill burnt Grey Abbey in order to stop it being used as a refuge for English colonists trying to settle in the Ards Peninsula. In the seventeenth century the church nave was re-roofed and served as a parish church until 1778. In the late nineteenth century repairs were executed by the Commissioner of Public Works. Unfortunately, an excessive amount of concrete was used, the crudity of which is still obvious today. The remains of the abbey include the abbey church and some of the conventual buildings, dating from c. 1193 – c. 1250. The original plan of the monastery can be followed with ease through foundations and earthworks. The abbot’s seat has been preserved. It is fitted inside a pointed arch and flanked by detached colonettes. Corbel tables are also a rarity in Ireland, but the Cistercians can boast two of them, one at Tintern and one at Grey. At Grey the corbels were inserted when the roof was raised, probably in the early fifteenth century. There are eight of them altogether, carved with oak leaves, human figures and animal heads. An outstanding effigy of a 'sword seizing' knight survives, thought to date from c. 1300 as well as an effigy of a woman carved in high relief and attired in thickly cut robes. Tradition relates that this is Affreca, who was buried in the abbey, but the style suggests that the effigy actually originated in the fourteenth century, a hundred years after her death. The ruins are now set in a private parkland, belonging to the eighteenth-century mansion, Rosemont House. The park is not accessible to the public. Irish Rebellion of 1798 – On the morning of Pike Sunday, 10 June 1798 a force of United Irishmen, mainly from Bangor, Donaghadee, Greyabbey and Ballywalter attempted to occupy the town of Newtownards. They met with musket fire from the market house and were defeated. It is because of this association with the rebellion that the term "The Green Boys o' Greba" was given to the men of the village. GREBA is the name given to the village by the local residents, and also by those from the neighbouring areas. It is a localised "Ulster-Scots" terminology. The Rebellion of 1798 also affected the village in another form, with the death by hanging of the Rev. James Porter, Minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Greyabbey, which took place on 2 July 1798. The final resting place of Rev. Porter is in the Old Graveyard, Greyabbey, which itself lies adjacent to the ancient Abbey ruins. *On the Tullykevin Road in Greyabbey there is a brass plate on a field post in remembrance of a pilot who crashed and died there during the Second World War. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Greyabbey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|