Abbeylara

Abbeylara Mainistir Leathrátha
Village
Abbeylara Abbey
Abbeylara Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°45′53″N 7°26′46″W / 53.764611°N 7.446194°W / 53.764611; -7.446194
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Longford
Elevation	82 m (269 ft)
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid Reference	N363797

Abbeylara (Irish: Mainistir Leathrátha, meaning 'abbey of the half rath or little rath')^[1] is a village in County Longford, Ireland. It is at the eastern end of the county, three kilometres east of Granard, on the R396 road. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name.

Name and history

Abbeylara's name is derived from a monastery, the great Abbey of Lerha, founded in 1205 by Hiberno-Norman magnate, Risteárd de Tiúit, for Cistercian monks. The monastery was dissolved in 1539, although its ruins are still apparent on approach to the village.^{[citation needed]}

An ancient earthwork, the Duncla (Irish Dún-chlaí meaning "fortified ditch") or Black Pig's Dyke, which runs south-eastwards from Lough Gowna to Lough Kinale, goes through the larger parish of Abbeylara, and passes about one kilometre north of the village.^{[citation needed]}

On 20 April 2000, the Gardaí (police) shot dead local man John Carthy in a siege at his home.

Sport

Abbeylara GFC are the local Gaelic football club.^{[citation needed]}

Because of its proximity to Lough Kinale and Lough Derragh, which has supplies of trout, tench, bream and pike, Abbeylara attracts anglers and local angling clubs hold regular competitions.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Barr Tribunal - Inquiry into the John Carthy siege and shooting of 2000

References

1. "Mainistir Leathrátha/Abbeylara". Placenames Database of Ireland (logainm.ie). Retrieved 8 October 2021.

External links

• Abbeylara on Longford County Council website (archived 2009)