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Timoleague Abbey stands picturesquely at the
water's edge at the head of a long sea inlet. In its day it was one of the largest and
most important of the religious houses in Ireland. It was founded by one of the MacCarthys
for the Franciscans in 1240, on the site already associated with St. Molaga - hence the
name Timoleague, i.e. Tigh Molaga or the House of Molaga.
Like all such monasteries, it was suppressed
during the Reformation but the monks stayed in the district and returned in 1604 to repair
it and bring it back to life. It must have recovered to some degree: the important MSS,
known as the Book of Lismore, was in its keeping in 1629. It is said that the monks did a
goodly trade in smuggled Spanish wine!
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