abbeylara abbey

Near the shore of Lough Kinale are the slight remains of a thirteenth century abbey founded by an anglo-Norman, richard Tuite. It was plundered by Edward Bruce after the sack of Granard, but it survived until the dissolution and the tow of its abbots became bishops of Clonmacnois. A semicircular earthwork north of the village is regarded locally as the site of the original church founded here by St Patrick about 460. From the shore of Lough Kinale , 1 mile north -east of Abbeylara, parts of the ancient defensive earthwork known as the Black Pig's Race extend north westwards for 6 miles. to the shore of Lough Gowna.