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The Abbey and Hospital of St Mary d'Urso, founded by Ursus de Swemele c. 1206-14 for Crutched friars to aid the sick of the town, is outside the medieval West gate of Drogheda (CLAJ 1959, 154-9). In 1377 three of the friars and a chaplain were tried for assault and acquitted (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 211). At the Supression in 1540 it was described as a dovecote with two orchards amounting to one and a half acres, but it owned a considerable amount of property within Drogheda and land at Glasspistol (60 acres) and Carlingford (30 acres) and other places throughout the county (White 1943, 242-4). In 1557 the priory was granted to Drogheda Corporation. The site of the hospital was thought to be the ruins (LH024-041011-) off Patrickswell Lane but recent research (McHugh 2019) demonstrates conclusively that the ruins are those of the church of the Augustinian friars. St Mary d’Urso is always described as being outside the walls, and the ruins are depicted on the Newcomen map of 1657 just outside the West Gate.
Compiled by: Michael Moore
Date of upload: 17 May 2022
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