Moyne Abbey is one of most impressive ecclesiastical ruins in Mayo and a National Monument

National Monument (Ireland)

The Irish state has officially approved the following List of National Monuments of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, a structure or site may be deemed to be a "National Monument", and therefore worthy of state protection, if it is of national importance...

. It was founded by the Burke family as a Franciscan friary and consecrated in 1462. It is located north of Ballina on the west side of Killala Bay. Like its neighbour, Rosserk Friary

Rosserk Friary

Rosserk Friary is a friary located in County Mayo, Ireland and a National Monument.-Description:Rosserk Friary is one of the finest and best preserved of the Franciscan Friaries in Ireland...

, it was burnt by Sir Richard Bingham, Elizabeth I of England's governor of Connacht

Connacht

Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...

, in 1590 in reformationist zeal.

The friary was built in the late Irish Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 style and has extensive ruins, consisting of a church and domestic buildings situated around a central cloister. Its west doorway is a seventeenth insertion. Its east window displays fine switchline tracery.

See also

• List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Mayo)