Burrishoole Abbey
As mentioned in my post about Abney Park Cemetery , I like wandering around graveyards – the older the better - and taking photos. I’ve been staying outside Newport, County Mayo with friends for the last few days, and much to my morbid delight was able to visit the ruins of Burrishoole Abbey and the cemetery that surrounds it. Situated upon a sheltered shore just outside the town, the abbey was founded in 1470 by Richard de Burgo of Turlough - Lord MacWilliam Oughter - and apparently built without the permission of the Pope. In 1793 the roof of the abbey collapsed and because almost all the friaries and abbeys across Ireland were suppressed in the wake of the Reformation in the 16th century, it was never rebuilt. All that remains today is the rather gothic looking church and the eastern wall of the cloister, while the grounds are still used as a cemetery. The close proximity of the cemetery to the sea and the eerie atmosphere such combined imagery evokes, really reminded me of the