Greyabbey

The morning came when we had to leave the Ards Peninsula, but not before investigating Greyabbey.  Greyabbey was founded in 1193 by Affreca, the wife of John de Courcy.  (More about him, later.) Seems she was traveling to Ireland in a storm, and was so grateful to land safely that she decided to build a monastery.  By the late middle ages, it had declined, and was dissolved by Henry VIII.  Later, it was burned by the Irish, and, eventually, granted to an English noble, who re-roofed it and used it as a family church.  It was used until 1778.  Now its an atmospheric ruin.

We stumbled into it the night before, when it was a creepy ruin, and decided to come back in the morning to take pictures.

The nave.  Lining the walls are niches with memorials to Montgomeries gone by.  The Montgomery family has owned these lands for many years,  and many of the memorials were to men and women who served England in some way, dying at sea, or in far-off colonies.  They seem to be cousins to the Montgomery of WWII fame, but I haven't investigated that fully.

The chancel, with tall openings for glass windows.

 A transept.  Like many medieval churches, this was built in the shape of a cross.  In one of these, or in the choir, (we never could differentiate the two) there is an effigy tomb, probably of Affreca herself.  Another effigy, of a man on a horse, is probably in honor of John de Courcy.  (Still more about him later)

 Looking toward the refectory, where the monks ate in silence, except for readings from the Bible and church fathers.  Notice the tall windows.  The chancel also had these, and it is thought that these brothers had a lovely surrounding for worship and daily life. 

Steps down from the monks' quarters.

The chapter house, where the monks met for various reasons.  The carving on that pillar shows that these monks had been well-cared for by Affreca.  (How do we know what is what on this site?  It was a Cistercian monastery, and those were built to a specific plan, all over Europe.  Not all were destroyed by gout-suffering megalomaniac kings, and we can see them, today.)