Abbey Runs — Shantony

Located on a low W-E peninsula at a point where three sections of Bawn Lough meet. Although there is a local tradition that this was the site of an abbey and school destroyed in Cromwellian times (Leslie 1929, 289; IFC Schools' MSS 940, 57-8, https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes ) there is no evidence to support this. Lough Bawn, known as the ballybetagh of Ballyfermer (from fer mór – the big heath), was part of the estate of Coll Mac Brian Mac Mahon, and was forfeited after the 1641 rebellion. Around 1695 it came into the hands of Henry Tenison, who leased it to William Barton of Thomastown, Co. Louth. Barton’s daughter married Henry’s brother Richard (Shirley 1879, 254), and the Lough Bawn estate has been in the Tenison family down to the present. Lough Bawn House was built c. 500m to the W after 1815, perhaps after this structure became defunct. The structure is in woodland and comprises a single-storey rectangular building (ext. dims 15.2m N-S; 6.3m E-W; H c. 3-5m) constructed of masonry walls with some red brick, but the N part of the structure (L 3m) does not survive above the foundations. The central portion is divided into two N-S rooms with basements below that would have had wooden ceilings but are now open. At the ground floor the E wall is lit by three surviving rectangular windows of varying dimensions (from S: Wth 1.05; 1.35m; 0.6m) but the tops of these openings do not survive, and the shorter S gable (L 5.3m) was lit by a single opening (Wth 1.15m). There are two possible windows in the W wall, but only one at the S end is certain (Wth 1.2m). It is possible that the N part of the structure incorporated elements of an earlier late 17th century house. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Revised by: Michael Moore Date of revised upload: 30 January 2018