Greyabbey

Infobox Irish Place
name = Greyabbey
gaeilge = Mainistir Liath
scots = Greba
crest

motto =
map

pin coords = left: 184px; top: 88px
north coord = 54.323 | west coord = 5.338
area = | elevation =
province = Ulster
county = County Down
NI district = Ards Borough
population = 1,011
census yr = 2001
web =
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Greyabbey ( _ga. Mainistir Liath)is a small village located on the eastern shores of Strangford Lough, on the Ards Peninsula, County Down, Northern Ireland, 7 miles south of Newtownards. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,011 people. It is in the Ards Borough Council area.

Greyabbey is often associated with the antiques trade, there being several specialist antiques shops in the town, as well as some interesting Georgian and Victorian buildings, and a traditional coaching inn.

History

The town derives its name from Grey Abbey, a Cistercian foundation located on the north side of the town, dating from 1193. It was founded by Affreca, daughter of Godred, the King of Mann and the Isles, and wife of John de Courcy, Anglo-Norman conqueror of the province of Ulster. The site of the abbey was on the Ards Peninsula, seven miles from Newtownards, at the confluence of a small river and Strangford Lough.. Architecturally it is important as the first fully gothic style building in Ulster; it is the first fully stone church in which every window arch and door was pointed rather than round headed. The abbey is located in the parkland of Rosemount House, home of the Montgomery family.

Tradition says that Affreca founded the abbey in thanksgiving for a safe landing after a perilous journey at sea. The abbey was colonised with monks from Holmcultram in Cumberland, with which it maintained close ties in the early years. The construction of the stone church began almost immediately. In 1222 and again in 1237 abbots of Grey Abbey went on to become abbots of Holmcultram. The Latin name of the abbey is Iugum Dei, which means ‘Yoke of God’. Little is known of the abbey's history, though it appears to have been almost completely destroyed during the invasion of Edward Bruce (1315-18). No reliable sources concerning the value of the abbey foundation survive, but it is not likely to have been prosperous. The abbey was dissolved in 1541. In the same year part of the monastic property was granted to Gerald, earl of Kildare. The monastery was physically destroyed during the military operations of the Elizabethan era. In 1572, Brian O’Neill burnt Grey Abbey in order to stop it being used as a refuge for English colonists trying to settle in the Ards Peninsula. In the seventeenth century the church nave was re-roofed and served as a parish church until 1778.

In the late nineteenth century repairs were executed by the Commissioner of Public Works. Unfortunately, an excessive amount of concrete was used, the crudity of which is still obvious today. The remains of the abbey include the abbey church and some of the conventual buildings, dating from c. 1193- c. 1250. The original plan of the monastery can be followed with ease through foundations and earthworks. The abbot’s seat has been preserved. It is fitted inside a pointed arch and flanked by detached colonettes. Corbel tables are also a rarity in Ireland, but the Cistercians can boast two of them, one at Tintern and one at Grey. At Grey the corbels were inserted when the roof was raised, probably in the early fifteenth century. There are eight of them altogether, carved with oak leaves, human figures and animal heads. An outstanding effigy of a ‘sword seizing’ knight survives, thought to date from c. 1300 as well as an effigy of a woman carved in high relief and attired in thickly cut robes. Tradition relates that this is Affreca, who was buried in the abbey, but the style suggests that the effigy actually originated in the fourteenth century, a hundred years after her death.The ruins are now set in a private parkland, belonging to the eighteenth-century mansion, Rosemont House. The park is not accessible to the public.

Irish Rebellion of 1798 - On the morning of Pike Sunday, 10 June 1798 a force of United Irishmen, mainly from Bangor, Donaghadee, Greyabbey and Ballywalter attempted to occupy the town of Newtownards. They met with musket fire from the market house and were defeated.
*On the Tullykevin Road in Greyabbey there is a brass plate on a field post in remembrance of a pilot who crashed and died there during the Second World War.

People

Actress, Flora Montgomery, who featured in film and theatre, was the daughter of William Montgomery of Rosemount House and was born and raised in Greyabbey. Botanist Coslett Herbert Waddell lived in the village.

Environment

There is a DRD Water Service wastewater treatment works at Greyabbey, which employs sophisticated membrane technology. This facility and a similar Works at Kircubbin, were completed under the same £3.5 million contract. The original Greyabbey Wastewater Treatment Works was designed to treat wastewater for a population of 1,000. Since being upgraded, it is capable of treatment for a population of 2,500. The Works at Greyabbey helps to protect the marine environment in Strangford Lough. Two sea defences are located at Greyabbey on the eastern side of the Lough.

2001 Census

Greyabbey is classified as a village by the [http://www.nisra.gov.uk/ NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)] (ie with a population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,011 people living in Greyabbey. Of these:
*18.9% were aged under 16 years and 22.9% were aged 60 and over
*49.5% of the population were male and 50.5% were female
*6.6% were from a Catholic background and 86.4% were from a Protestant background
*1.9% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed

For more details see: [http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/ NI Neighbourhood Information Service]

References

* [http://www.ballywalteronline.co.uk/ Ballywalter Community Online]
* [http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/town_Home.aspx?co=7&to=146&ca=0&sca=0&navID=1 Culture Northern Ireland]

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ni/landscapes Landscapes Unlocked] - Aerial footage from the BBC "Sky High" series explaining the physical, social and economic geography of Northern Ireland.
* [http://www.ni-photos.jmcwd.com/greyabbey.html Grey Abbey Photos]

See also

*List of towns in Northern Ireland
*List of villages in Northern Ireland