Fore Abbey

Fore Abbey

Fore Benedictine Abbey, County Westmeath. Fore is the anglicised version of the Irish name Fobhair meaning 'water-springs' and was given to the area after the well of Saint Féchín (Féichín). It was St. Feichin who founded the ancient Fore Abbey around 630.

In the 13th century Hugh de Lacy the Norman Lord of Meath built a Bendictine priory at Fore. Many of the buildings that remain today are from the 15th century. This priory was dedicated to both St Féchín (Féichín) and St Taurin, the abbot of the parent monastery at Évreux, Normandy in France.

The seven wonders of Fore:

The monastery built upon the bog - see photo below of Fore Abbey built on marshy ground.
The mill without a race - there was no water to drive the mill so St. Fechin hit the ground with is crozier and water gushed out.
The water that flows uphill - the underground flow of water appears to flow uphill to the Mill.
The tree that won't burn - an ash tree that once grew near the abbey with three branches representing the trinity which wouldn't burn.
The water that doesn't boil - the water in St. Fechin's well.
The anchorite in a cell - the hermits who occupied the anchorite's cell.
The lintel-stone raised by St. Fechin's prayers - the lintel stone above the doorway of St. Fechin's church.