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Fore Abbey, Dovecote, St. Feichin's Church
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Fore Abbey
Tour Guide (on request) Contact: Jane O'Reilly The ancient Christian ruins of Fore which lie in a valley between two ranges of hills are associated with St. Fechin who founded a monastery here around 630 A.D. Approx. 300 monks were living at the Abbey by the time St. Fechin died of the yellow plague in 665 A.D. Between 771 and 1169 A.D. Fore was burnt 12 times. In the 13th century the de Lacys who were Norman landlords built a Bendictine priory in the valley nearby. Some of the buildings that remain are from the 15th century and have been restored throughout this century, making Fore Abbey the largest group of Benedictine remains in Ireland. Its 13th century church still has some docorations and graceful arcaded cloisters. Attached to the church are the broken walls of two towers, where the monks once lived. Dovecote
St. Feichin's Church
Moving inside the 10th century part of the building there is a stone font just inside the door. In the centre of the room there is a modern plinth with a layout of the church and a legend describing the ages of each section. The east end was extended in the 12th century and later, in the 15th century, the east window was replaced. On the arch between the two sections there is a carving of a sitting man (monk?). The graveyard contains a restored uncarved cross to the east with a headless statue standing next to it. SEVEN WONDERS OF FORE Anchorite's Church
The chapel is kept locked and the key can be obtained from the Seven Wonders Pub nearby. |
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For directions to Fore Abbey From Bensfort Lodge or Kells. 
The 'Dovecote' is raised up above abbey offering some splendid views. Several rows of little holes form most of a circular building all made out of rough stone slabs. What remains here is, just the bottom of what would have been a 6-8 foot tall, roofed building. 
Raised up above the road and visitors car park this lovely ruin is very worth taking a look at. As you approach the church up the steps you first see the doorway in the west end with its huge lintel stone, said to weigh seven tons. This lintel is one of the Seven Wonders of Fore because St. Feichin is said to have raised it up by the "power of prayer". It has a Maltese cross carved on the outside face.
In the hillside above the old church of St. Fechin is a tiny chapel, the Anchorite's Church, an extension to a cell once occupied by hermits until the 17th century. Tradition states that the last hermit in Ireland was Patrick Beglan stayed here and is commemorated on a stone tablet in the cell.