Ariel view of the Abbey
Grey Abbey Cistercian Abbey Co. Down
| The Cistercian Abbey, from which the village Greyabbey derives its
name, is located on the northern edge of the village nestling in a
beautiful parkland surrounding. |
Ariel view of the Abbey |
 Effigy of Affreca ? |
Unfortunately Grey Abbeys’ annals do not survive but what
little history is known is non-the less intriguing. The Cistercian Abbey was founded in 1193 by Affreca daughter of Godred the King of the Isle of Man and wife of John De Courcy, a knight from Somerset, the Anglo-Norman conqueror of Ulster. The tradition is that Affreca founded the Abbey in thanksgiving for a safe landing after a storm at sea in which the vessel and all soles aboard would have perished. |
| The Latin name of this Cistercian abbey is Iugum Dei,
which when translated means Yoke of God. Architecturally it is important
as the first fully Gothic-Style building in Ireland, it is the first
large stone church in which almost every window arch and door was
pointed rather than round headed. The monks who came from Holm Cultram
in Cumbria introduced this new style and the abbey bears a notable
resemblance to Lanercost, an Augustinian Priory built in the Lake
District around the same period. |
 The Abbey Ruins |
 Sunset over the Abbey and old graveyard |
The esthetics of Grey Abbey are many. The peace and tranquillity of
its green setting, the bold outline of the church and cloister, the
quality of its stone carving, the ruined state of the buildings today
all of these contribute to the beauty of Grey Abbey as it can be seen
now over 800 years after its foundation. |