Priory of St. Andrews of the Ards (original) (raw)

The Priory of St. Andrews of the Ards (Blackabbey) was a Benedictine Abbey in County Down, Ireland. It was founded by John de Courcy as a daughter-house of the alien Benedictine Priory at Stogursey in Somerset, England. As Stogursey Priory was itself a cell of Lonlay-l'Abbaye in Normandy, Blackabbey also became affiliated to that house. In around 1356 the Blackabbey, with all its lands, was effectively dissolved and assigned by Lonlay to Richard FitzRalph, Archbishop of Armagh and his successors, under whom it continued.