Macosquin Abbey

Macosquin Abbey, once called Clarus Fons, was a Cistercian monastery in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It stood on Abbey Lane in the village of Macosquin. The abbey may have owned churches at Burt and Agivey in earlier times. Monks from Morimond, a daughter house of Cîteaux in France, founded it in 1217. The village’s name once appeared as Moycosquin and Moycoscain. The abbey’s history reaches back to a possible monastic site from the 6th century. By 1539 it had fallen into disrepair. In the early 17th century, the London Guild of Merchant Taylors took over the site. The Ironmongers’ Company of London received Agivey. By the 18th century, the last remains of the abbey buildings were removed. Today, the Protestant Church of Saint Mary likely occupies the abbey’s former site. It may have reused the old foundations. A 13th-century lancet window from the abbey is installed inside Saint Mary. The village keeps traces of its monastic past in its name and the church’s presence.