54°20′12″N5°43′46″W / 54.3366178°N 5.7295675°W /54.3366178; -5.7295675
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Inch Abbey is a ruinedCistercian monastery on the outskirts ofDownpatrick,County Down,Northern Ireland.
By the year 800 a monastery existed at this location.[1] Its name is derived from theIrish wordinis, meaning 'island', referring to the fact that the monastery was originally surrounded by theRiver Quoile.
The present day ruins were founded byAnglo-NormanJohn de Courcy in the twelfth century[2] at the site of the previous monastery which had operated from the 9th until earlier in the 12th century.[3] One 12th centuryromanesque style carved stone survives at the site.[4] De Courcy established the monastery as penance for his destruction of Erenagh Abbey in 1177.[5]
It is served byInch Abbey railway station, which is operated by theDownpatrick and County Down Railway.[6]
