Fore Abbey - A Wonder of Westmeath

Pictures by Michael Fagan

A mound of churches that exists in the heart of the Irish midlands is an historical place of stones beside the village of Fore, County Westmeath, writes David Flynn.
The French Benedictine abbey ruin is situated within a valley and beneath two hills, and it appears that the stones are deliberately built into the hill.  Also, it almost appears that the abbey has grown out of the stone-filled hill.
The broken and in some parts roofless ruin, has many nooks and crannies all among its more than four walls.  The stone surrounding hosts history from other centuries involving monks, vikings and the people of the nearby village of Fore.

High in the hills behind the abbey is rich green forestry, all marrying nature together around the grounds, which is also surrounded by grazing cattle.
The abbey was founded around the year 630, which is almost 90 years after the founding of Clonmacnoise in the adjoining County Offaly.  Between the eighth and twelfth centuries, Fore Abbey was destroyed many times by Vikings.  However most of the stone building today in Fore Abbey is from the 15^th century and has been restored since the 1940s by various groups including the county council, FAS teams, and the Office of Public Works. 

The Abbey is also noted for what the local population call its seven wonders: 1. A monastery built upon a bog, 2, the mill without a race, 3 water that flows uphill, 4, the tree with three branches that won’t burn, 5, the water that doesn’t boil in St. Fechin’s holy well, 6, the anchorite in a cell, 7, the lintel-stone raised by St. Fechin’s prayers.’