Achonry
Achadh Conaire

The Wild Atlantic Way
STOP 04 / 04

Achadh Conaire · Co. Sligo

A diocesan cathedral, a deconsecrated church and a name that travelled further than the village did.

Achonry is a small village in south Sligo on a back road off the N17, west of Tubbercurry. There is not a great deal in the village itself — a church, a graveyard, a school, a scatter of houses around a low rise — but the name has travelled a long way. The Catholic Diocese of Achonry, one of the five suffragan sees of the Archdiocese of Tuam, is named for this village. It now covers most of County Sligo, a large part of east Mayo and parts of north Roscommon.

The history is older than the diocese. St Finian of Clonard — Bishop of Clonard, teacher of the twelve apostles of Ireland — was granted Achonry around AD 530 by Tipraid mac Mael Doraid, chief of the territory of Luigne. He founded an abbey and put his disciple St Nathy in charge. Nathy became the first bishop. The diocese's modern cathedral, dedicated to the Annunciation and to St Nathy, is in Ballaghaderreen in north Roscommon — moved there because the larger Catholic population sat further south. The old Church of Ireland cathedral at Achonry, St Crumnathy's, was formally deconsecrated in 1998.

What is left at Achonry is the site — the old church, the graveyard, the rise the monastery once stood on. It is a quiet place. Treat it as a fifteen-minute pull-off from a south Sligo drive between Tubbercurry, Ballymote and Gurteen.

Walk score

A scatter of houses and a cathedral around a churchyard

Coords

54.0500° N, 8.7833° W

01 / 04

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The name

Achadh Conaire — Conaire's field.

The village gave its name to the Catholic Diocese of Achonry, a suffragan see of Tuam covering most of Sligo, a slice of Mayo, and parts of Roscommon. The diocesan cathedral is now in Ballaghaderreen, not here.

Stories & lore → 02 The cathedral

St Crumnathy's, deconsecrated 1998.

St Crumnathy's was the Church of Ireland cathedral on the old monastic site at Achonry. It was formally deconsecrated in 1998 as part of diocesan rationalisation. The building still stands; the graveyard is the village's own.

Stories & lore → 03 The history

An abbey granted around AD 530.

St Finian of Clonard was granted Achonry by the chief of Luigne around AD 530 and founded an abbey there, placing his disciple Nathy in charge. Nathy became the first bishop. The diocese carries his name in dedication.

Stories & lore →

02 / 04

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

The 6th-century foundation

Finian, Nathy and Crumnathy

The annals record that the territory of Luigne was given to St Finian of Clonard by the local chief around AD 530, and Finian founded a monastery on the site and put his disciple St Nathy in charge. Nathy became the first bishop. Crumnathy — the form of the name that the Church of Ireland cathedral carried — is a later dedication. The historical layers are thick on the ground.

Cathedral in Ballaghaderreen, name in Sligo

A diocese without a town

The Diocese of Achonry was given its shape in the 12th century at the Synod of Kells and includes parts of three modern counties. The Catholic cathedral was built in Ballaghaderreen in north Roscommon in the 19th century, where the population could support it. The Church of Ireland cathedral at Achonry was deconsecrated in 1998 as part of a wider rationalisation. The name still anchors the diocese.

03 / 04

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

The cathedral graveyard The old Church of Ireland cathedral building and the graveyard around it. Headstones go back to the 18th century. Quiet, often empty.

0.3 kmdistance

30 min on sitetime