Ordnance survey of the county of Londonderry / Colonel Colby ... superintendent. Volume the first.
- Ordnance Survey of Ireland
- Date:
- 1837
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Ordnance survey of the county of Londonderry / Colonel Colby ... superintendent. Volume the first. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![[1520], demonstrate that such was its situation—(See O’Donnell’s Vita Columbce, Triad: Thaum : p. 398.) It is probable that this original church of St. Columb did not receive the popular appellation of Duv-Regles till after the erection of the Temple More, or Cathedral : Regies is constantly used in the Irish annals to denote an abbey church, in contradistinction to Teampull—a word of more exten- sive signification, but mostly applied to a church of the secular clergy. Temple More, or Cathedral and Round Tower The peculiarity of position alluded to by O’Donnell was, it is probable, the only feature which distinguished the Duv-Regles from the cotemporaneous churches of the country, many of which still remain, and are remarkable for the simplicity of their form and architecture. The Temple More, however, or Cathedral Church, erected in 1164, was evidently one of the most distinguished ecclesiastical structures built in Ireland, previously to the settlement of the Anglo-Normans, and was 80 feet in length, or, as Colgan conjectures, 80 paces. According to the Four Masters this church was built in forty days, but the Annals of Ulster state that “ the stones were finished” in that time, and that the church was 90 feet in length. These two churches, with the accompanying buildings, were situated adjacent to each other outside the present city wall, on the ground now chiefly occupied by the Roman Catholic chapel and ceme- tery ; but, with the exception of the round-tower belfry, were partly destroyed by an explosion of gunpowder in 1568, and finally by Docwra in 1600, for the purpose of employing their materials in the new works he was erecting. This tower survived till after the siege, being marked on the maps, or plans, of that time as the “ Long Tower or Temple Moreand its site is still indicated by the name of a lane, called the Long Tower. In the charter of Derry it is called “ Columb-kille’s Tower.” In Raven’s plan of the city, in 1621, it appears as a very high and slender belfry; but it is incorrectly represented as square—a common error in the plans made by English artists in Ireland in that and earlier times, as appears from many old maps among the manuscripts in the library of Trinity College. In the popular traditions of Derry and its vicinity this tower is still invariably spoken of as a lofty round tower, built by St. Columb himself, and many legends are current of its miracle-working silver bell. It has been erroneously supposed by the Rev. Mr. Sampson that “ the old windmill,” so memorable during the siege, and still existing as a pigeon-house at the Cassino, was the remains of this tower. Nunnery.—The Registry of the Honor of Richmond, according to Harris, states that an abbey for nuns of the Cistercian order was founded at Derry in 1218, and Allemande says that the founder was Turlogh Luinagh O’Neill: there was, however, no O’Neill of that name but the celebrated chief of the 16th century—and it would appear that the foundation of a nunnery must have been earlier than that assigned, from a notice in the Annals of the Four Masters, which mentions the death of Bebinn, the daughter of Mac Conchaille, female erenach of Derry, who died on the 23rd of March, 1134. It is possible that the nuns adopted the Cistercian rule in 1218, but the evidence is scarcely strong enough to warrant the conclusion; nor is it quite certain that there were any nunneries in Ireland of that order. This nunnery was situated on the south side of the city, and its property is described in the Inquisitions. Dominican Abbey and Church.—These buildings were founded in 1274; but Archdall makes a strange error in attributing their foundation to a request made of O’Donnell, prince of Tirconnell, by St. Dominick himself, as it is certain that this saint, who established his order in 1216, died in 1221. De Burgh, or Burke, properly treats this statement of St. Dominick’s request, which rests solely on the authority of Allemande, as a silly fable ; and it is by no means certain that the O’Donnells had any claim to the merit of this foundation. Nicholas “ the Loughlinnagh,” or Mac Loughlin, was prior in 1397. The number of friars in this house, previously to the suppression, was generally 150. It had the honour of supplying two bishops to the see of Derry, and, according to O’Daly and De Burgh, of sending forth five martyrs, namely—Donagh O’Luiny, prior of the order, and his brother, William O’Luiny, in 1608; John O’Mannin, about 1637 ; John O’Laighin, prior, about 1657 ; and Clement O’Colgan, in 1704. A convent of the order was maintained in Derry till a late period, which in 1750 contained nine brothers. This church and abbey appear to have shared the fate of the other ecclesiastical buildings of Derry: even their site is not now accurately known. It is certain, however, that they were on the north side of the city, outside the present walls. Augustinian Church This church appears to have been the only religious house preserved on the erection of the new city. It was repaired and used by the Londoners, previously to the erection of the present cathedral, after which it was known as “ the little church.” This church was situated within the walls, on the spot now occupied by the bishop’s garden; and, though Bishop Downham complains, in his account of the diocese of Derry in 1625, that it was not capable of containing half the auditory, it appears from the plans of the time to have been a large as well as somewhat elegant structure of its kind. The erection of this church is not noticed in the annals, from which it may be concluded that its date was not earlier than the close of the 13th century, for some time previously to which the records of Derry are minute and accurate. It might, indeed, be supposed, from Ware, that the Augustinians, or Canons Regular, had been established in Derry at an earlier period, as he speaks of St. Gelasius as being an Augustine canon of the monastery of Derry before his promotion to E](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2200709x_0047.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
