Near Ballycastle, on the Antrim coast, the ruins of Bonamargy Friary keep the memory of the MacDonnells, the great Gaelic-Scottish clan of the Glens. A late Franciscan foundation, this friary became their dynastic vault — the last home of Sorley Boy MacDonnell and several Earls of Antrim.
A late Franciscan foundation
Bonamargy was founded around 1485 — right at the start of our chronological window — by Rory MacQuillan. It is a late Franciscan foundation, raised at a time when, elsewhere in Europe, the Reformation would soon close the friaries. In Gaelic Ulster, on the contrary, religious houses were still being founded: Bonamargy bears witness to the persistent vitality of the Catholic Church in these lands remained apart from the Henrician Reformation, under the protection of the clans.
The vault of the MacDonnells
Bonamargy became the dynastic vault of the MacDonnells of the Glens of Antrim: it was there that Sorley Boy MacDonnell (died 1590), the legendary figure of the clan, was buried, as well as several Earls of Antrim, his descendants. The friary was also the scene of the Tudor campaigns of the late sixteenth century: in 1584, the soldiers of the Lord Deputy Sir John Perrot occupied and fortified it (even lodging their horses there), before Sorley Boy partly burned it in attacking them. Bonamargy thus unites Gaelic devotion, dynastic memory and the violence of the conquest. To see: the Franciscan church and cloister, the MacDonnell vault (Sorley Boy and Earls of Antrim), the pierced slab of the 'Black Nun', the coastal setting.
Did you know?
Bonamargy keeps the memory of the 'Black Nun' (Julia McQuillan), a seventeenth-century recluse nun reputed for her gifts of prophecy. According to her wish, she was buried at the entrance of the church, under a round slab pierced with a hole, so that the faithful might walk on her grave as a sign of humility. This pierced slab, still visible, mixes with the history of the powerful MacDonnells the touching memory of a woman of faith who wished, even in death, to be trodden underfoot.
Notes
Bonamargy Friary lies near Ballycastle (Cushendall Road), County Antrim; ruins run by the NI heritage bodies, accessible. Hours to check.
Quiz
- From when does the founding of Bonamargy date?
- From around 1485 (late Franciscan foundation)
- From Roman times
- From 1700
- Who is buried there?
- Sorley Boy MacDonnell and Earls of Antrim
- Henry VIII
- Mary Stuart
- What did the friary undergo in 1584?
- Occupied by Perrot, then burned by Sorley Boy
- An earthquake
- Nothing