Timoleague

Timoleague (Irish: Tigh Molaige) is a village in County Cork, Ireland, located along Ireland's southern coast near Courtmacsherry. Clonakilty is to the west of the village. It is about 11 miles south of Bandon. Timoleague Friary was founded by the franciscan order in 1240. The abbey was built on the site of a monastic settlement founded by Saint Molaga in the 6th century. The Four Masters state that the Monastery of Timoleague was founded by McCarthy Reagh, who lived near Kinsale, in 1240. The McCarthys were over-lords of Corca Laidhe, at least since the 13th century, and received tribute from the chiefs of the district. The abbey was extended by Donal Glas McCarthy in 1312, and by Irish and Norman patrons in the 16th century. The monks were dispersed by the Reformation, but returned in 1604. In 1612, the abbey was sacked by English soldiers who also smashed all of the stained glass windows, but much of the significant architecture remains. The friars remained in the abbey until 1629. In Abbeymahon, on the road to Courtmacsherry is the ruins of a Cistercian Abbey - Abbeymahon Abbey. The abbey was founded in 1172 by Dermot MacCormac MacCarthy, King of Desmond. The site was originally at Aghamanister and was colonized with a group of monks from Baltinglass. Almost a century lapsed before the monks decided to move to a new site. The monks moved to Abbeymahon in 1278 when Diarmuit MacCarthaig, son of Domnall Cairbreach, was buried in the new monastery. The Church of Ireland church is also noteworthy. The interior is completely decorated in mosaic work carried out and paid for mainly by the then Maharajah of Gwalior of India about 1920 in memory of his doctor, Dr Crofts, who came from Timoleague. The church itself dates from 1811. Timoleague gets its name from its original Irish name Tigh Molaga, meaning the Home/House of Molaga.^[1] St. Molaga was reputed to have brought beekeeping/honey to Ireland. Honey production is still evident in the area. The village was formerly spelt Tagumlag, Tymulagy, Tymoleague. The town of Timoleague and much of the adjacent country belonged to the Hodnetts, an English family who settled in the area from Shropshire. Prior to this, it belonged to the O'Cowigs. In the reign of Henry III, a great battle was fought at Timoleague, between the Hodnetts, under Lord Phillip Hodnett, and the Barrys, under Lord Barrymore. The Hodnetts were routed, and their leader was killed. The Barrymores then became the owners of Timoleague, and they and their descendants retained possession until the 1800s, when it was purchased by the Travers family. Source: Wikipedia