About
At the south-western end of Lorrha, a village west of Birr and five kilometres from the Shannon that grew around St Ruadhán's sixth-century monastery, stand the ruins of the Dominican priory of St Peter of Verona, founded in 1269 by Walter de Burgo, Earl of Ulster. The long church is best seen from the road, where six closely spaced pairs of lancet windows light the south wall of the chancel; inside are an aumbry with a credence and a double piscina. The west wall, doorway, window and bellcote collapsed in 1939 and were rebuilt by OPW. Memorials include an O'Kennedy altar tomb of 1629, an O'Kennedy plaque with the motto 'Spes mea in Deo', my hope is in God, and a plaque of 1689 to Constantine Egan and his son. Three medieval carved heads and an angel from the priory are set into the east gable of the Catholic church of 1812 just to the north. Reviewers enjoy the peaceful graveyard, which also holds a ruined mill house.
Open in daylightFrom OPW Heritage Ireland's published times
- Open any reasonable time in daylight
Opening times may change at short notice.
An unguided open-air national monument in OPW's care with no staff and no facilities. OPW warns that care and caution should be kept throughout a visit to its unguided sites.
In a walled graveyard still in use, beside the Catholic church; uneven ground among graves. A visitor in 2022 found the interior closed by building work; OPW posts no notice. No toilets.
St Ruadhán's old church, the high crosses and the Augustinian priory at the east end of the village, about 450 m along the street, are a separate record.
Photo: Lorrha's Dominican priory from the south-west, its long church with the rebuilt bellcote gable among the graves. Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lorrha_Priory_of_St._Peter_2010_09_04.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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