Saturday, January 20, 2007

Ballybeg Priory Ruins

Here are some photos from a ruined monastery that lies just off the road between Blarney and Limerick. It's not on any maps that I've seen, but if you go by the historical society's sign there, it's the Ballybeg Priory. According to Wikipedia, Ballybeg is a very generic name (literally 'small town,' so it's rather hard to search for more information on it that way. However, Ballybeg Priory has its own very thorough (and historically detailed) entry.

Ballybeg Priory at dusk

But as to my thoughts, well, this is one of those sites you'd never find in a tourism book. It's just these ruins, sitting out in a cow pasture, slightly off a main road. But wandering around it makes you really understand that old (founded in 1229 in this case), formerly significant ruins are just everywhere in Ireland, surrounded by cows, horses, or sheep (and their... leavings... so step accordingly). It's like seeing old silos or farm sites in the Midwest; they're just there, scattered about, no big deal.

The dovecote, or columbarium, interior

One feature about the Ballybeg Priory, which is kind of significant, is that it had a very large columbarium, or dovecote, where they kept pigeons, for food and fertilizer. This picture doesn't do it justice, because the flash washes out the shadows that show where all the pigeon holes are, but with no flash you get nothing. The dovecote is in great shape and has a cool corbelled ceiling. (Well, I think that's the term, but I can't find it online just now, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm wrong.)

The dovecoat, as seen through an archway

So if you're ever on the big N20 road between Blarney and Limerick, watch on the east side near Buttevant (which happens to be where the steeplechase originated) for these ruins. They're definitely worth pulling over to the side of the road and having a stroll.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous! I so want to go!