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The Irish Abbey that Would Not Die
Mass has been celebrated at Ballintubber Abbey for 800 years despite its destruction twice
I’ve visited dozens of the gray-stone Catholic monastery and abbey ruins that haunt the Irish landscape. Some were destroyed by Vikings, others during Henry VIII’s dissolution of monasteries after he founded the Anglican Church. Still others had their lands confiscated by Oliver Cromwell’s armies in an effort to promote Puritanism. However, one abbey stands out, not for its size or its beauty, though it is compelling. It resonates because its worshipers would not let it die.
Ballintubber Abbey in County Mayo, Ireland, was founded in 1216 by Cathal Crovdearg O’Conor, the King of Connacht. After O’Conor’s death, the Annals of Connacht described him as “the king who best established peace and tranquility of all the kings of Ireland.”
The story goes that O’Conor pledged the founding of an abbey because he had been shown great kindness in his youth by a man named Sheridan in the town of Ballintubber. However, the king learned years later that the church had been mistakenly built in Baile tobair Bhrighde, Rosecommon, instead of Baile tobair Phadraig, Mayo. The king then vowed to build an abbey seven times better in Ballintubber, Mayo, and it was done.
The abbey was built within walking distance of a smaller church consecrated by St. Patrick in 442 C.E. and, in its early days, was the beginning point of a pilgrimage route to Croagh Patrick.
Today, Ballintubber Abbey is distinguished by two unique characteristics:
- It is the only church still in use that was founded by an Irish king.
- It is the only church in Ireland where the Mass has been celebrated without a break for over 800 years.
Ballintubber’s history is no more peaceful than other Catholic churches and abbeys in Ireland. The abbey was suppressed in 1542 during the disillusion, then rebuilt in 1635. Cromwell’s troops in 1653 destroyed the cloisters and other monastic buildings. The abbey church, however, remained intact except for the roof which was burned. The Mass continued to be said in the roofless building for 236 years.
