The Devenish Monastic Site is located on an island in Lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, and contains one of the finest monastic sites in Northern Ireland.
St. Molaise (Laisrén mac Nad Froích) established a monastery here in the 6th Century on a pilgrim route to Croagh Patrick in County Mayo. Devenish became a center of scholarship, and although raided by Vikings in 837 A.D. and burned in 1157, it later flourished as the site of St. Mary’s Augustinian Priory.
There are extensive low earthworks on the hillside, but the earliest buildings are St. Molaise's House (a small church) and a 12th Century round tower close by, both with accomplished Romanesque decoration. Teampull Mor, the lower church, dates from the early 13th Century. On the hilltop sits St. Mary's Augustinian Priory from the mid-15th-early 16th Centuries. The priory has an intricately carved mid-15th Century high cross in its graveyard.
About Devenish Island
Journey to Devenish Island
Devenish is an island in Lower Lough Erne, 3 miles north of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. A ferry to the Island leaves from Trory Point, down a short lane at the junction of the B82 and the A32.
The Devenish Monastic Site is located on an island in Lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, and contains one of the finest monastic sites in Northern Ireland.
St. Molaise (Laisrén mac Nad Froích) established a monastery here in the 6th Century on a pilgrim route to Croagh Patrick in County Mayo. Devenish became a center of scholarship, and although raided by Vikings in 837 A.D. and burned in 1157, it later flourished as the site of St. Mary’s Augustinian Priory.
There are extensive low earthworks on the hillside, but the earliest buildings are St. Molaise's House (a small church) and a 12th Century round tower close by, both with accomplished Romanesque decoration. Teampull Mor, the lower church, dates from the early 13th Century. On the hilltop sits St. Mary's Augustinian Priory from the mid-15th-early 16th Centuries. The priory has an intricately carved mid-15th Century high cross in its graveyard.
About Devenish Island