Site of The Abbey of the Holy Trinity

On W outskirts of Tuam town (GA029-199----) in low-lying pasture prone to flooding, its site is now occupied by a housing estate. This abbey, a daughter house of the Premonstratensian Canons, was probably founded c. 1203-4 by William de Burgo (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 206-7). Described in the early 13th C as being situated 'in the suburbs of the metropolis of Tuam' (ibid.). According to OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 62-3), 'a considerable part of it remained till the year 1791, when Archdeacon Burton carried off the stones for the building of a house'. Depicted on James Morris's 1720 map of Tuam as a H-shaped building aligned N-S. The 3rd ed. of OS 6-inch map (1932) indicates an oblong mound (WNW-ESE c. 45m, NNE-SSW c. 25m), but this appears to have been destroyed by road building and house construction in the mid-1970s during which time human remains were unearthed (Ó Murchú 1970, 13-14). A commemorative roadside plaque marks the site. A holy well (GA029-177----) lies 100m to NNE. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

The Abbey of the Holy Trinity in Townparks was founded c. 1203 by the Premonstratensian Canons as a daughter house, and it is significant as a medieval religious establishment in the Tuam area. Its site, now part of a housing estate, reflects the region's monastic and ecclesiastical history.