Once known as “St. Mary of the Fertile Rock”, a reference to the fertile soil of the Burren in Co. Clare, Corcomroe Abbey is an early 13th century Cistercian foundation with O’Brien roots. In ruin at the head of a southwest facing valley, the Abbey hosts a well tended graveyard and memorial stones dating to the late 17th century. The abbey is noted for its detailed carvings and other rich ornamentation, which are not commonly found in structures from this period.

The Abbey is supposed to have been founded by Donal Mor O’Brien in 1182 but is more likely to have been founded by his son also Donal in 1195. The O’Briens were the Kings of Thomond and were the founders and benefactors of Corcomroe. They were also responsible for several other important religious houses in Thomond which include St Flannans Cathedral in Killaloe, St Mary’s Cathedral in Limerick and Holy Cross Abbey.

The Legend of King Conor na Siudane Ua Briain

Legend maintains that the building was commissioned by King Conor na Siudane Ua Briain, who died in 1267 and whose tomb niche and effigy are visible in the north wall of the choir, one of the very few examples remaining of an Irish chieftain. According to the legend, Ua Briain executed the five masons who completed the abbey to prevent them from constructing a rival masterpiece elsewhere. His interment was commemorated by a poem titled ‘Corcomroe’ in The Irish monthly in October 1911 by R.M.G:

Conor O’Brien of the kings.
How sound you sleep in Corcomroe!
The night wind in the choir sings
The hymns of many a year ago.

What day was that when you were borne
By warriors from the field of red!
Your blade was broke, your side was torn:
They laid you in your royal bed.

They ripped the chancel’s paven floor
And laid your warriors there in rows:
Their requiem is the tempest’s roar,
Their souls are sped where no man knows.

The Clare County Library describes the monument, “It shows the King wearing a crown decorated with fleur de lys, the left hand holds a scepter and the righta reliquary suspended from the neck of the figure. His robe falls in long pleats to below the knee while the figure appears to lie on a cloth with the feet resting on a cushion.”

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