Ireland: Dunmore

One of these was the Augustinian Priory (convento) at Dunmore, County Galway. It had been founded through the generosity of Walter de Birmingham, ninth Baron of Athenry, in 1423.

By a letter dated 8th January 1430 Pope Martin V assisted the project by offering indulgences to contributors to the church and priory at Dunmore.

It was occupied by as many as thirty members of the Order of Saint Augustine simultaneously, up to 30 friars until the Dissolution, in 1641.

After existing for almost 120 years, the Augustinian convento at Dunmore was preserved from closure in a unique manner – by the protection of the British parliament.

By a decree of 7th July 1542 the parliament permitted that the priory at Dunmore continue because Lord Birmingham, a descendant of the founder of that community, requested its preservation.

By the year 1610, all other Augustinian houses in Ireland had been forced to close, leaving only Dunmore operating.

For that reason Dunmore priory became the mother house when the Augustinian Province of Ireland that was established in 1620.

The Province was set up largely to give official structure and encouragement to the individual members of the Order of Saint Augustine who were risking their personal safety by struggling for the survival of the Order in Ireland.

The official protection of Dunmore Priory lapsed, and it was dissolved about the year 1641, having survived for 216 years.

The Priory (convento) was demolished, and its chapel was used as a Protestant Church until relatively recently.

This church is all that is left of the previously much larger monastery. It is still to be seen today, locked and without a roof, adjacent to a supermarket car park.

The building has been modified over the years, e.g., arches have been filled in, and one side of the building was plastered in more recent years.

Today the site is a national monument.