Abbey-Cwm-Hîr, a par. comprising the two hmlts. of Cefnpawl, in the hund. of Cefnllys, and Gollon, in the hund. of Knighton, union of Rhayader, in the co. of Radnor, South Wales, 6 miles to the N.E. of Rhayader. The name signifies "abbey in the Iong hollow." A Cistercian monastery was founded here in 1143 by Cadwallon-ap-Madoc, dedicated to St. Mary, and intended for sixty brethren of the order; the number of inmates, however, was not at any time so great. The situation was one of singular wildness and beauty. The monastery was completely embosomed in wooded hills, one of which has an elevation of 1,650 feet. The oak forests, which in those remote times covered the hills and hung over the rugged precipices, have long disappeared, and where they grew sheep find now their pasturage. In 1231 the abbey was threatened with destruction by Henry III., who did actually set the grange on fire, in royal revenge for the treachery of a friar who had made a false report to the garrison of Montgomery, and thus occasioned its defeat by the Welsh prince, Llewellyn. It was saved by the payment of 300 marks by the abbot. In 1401, it was much injured by Owen Glyndwr, and at the Dissolution, three monks only were found in it. The site, then given by Henry VIII. to Walter Henley and John Williams, passed afterwards to the Fowler family. The ruins consist mainly of a large part of the walls of an edifice, which was most probably the church. Many shafts and columns remain, and fragments of freestone, beautifully carved, are scattered over the ground. In the church are some tombs of the Fowlers. The living is a perp. cur., val. £61, in the bishopric of St. David's. The church is dedicated to St. Mary.
Abbey Cooper, a small hmlt. in the par. of Holme Cultram, in Allerdale-below-Derwent ward, in the co. of Cumberland, 1 mile W. of the vil. and 5 from Wigton.
Abbey Dale, a hmlt. in the tnshp. of Ecclesall-Bierlow, par. and borough of Sheffield, in the West Riding of the co. of York, 3 miles from Sheffield.
Abbeydarig, a vil. in the par. of Moydow, in the co. of Longford, and prov. of Leinster, Ireland. It lies at the foot of the Slieve Gauldry hills, near Keenagh.
Abbey Demenses, a hmlt. in the par. of Winchcomb, in the hund. of Lower Kiftsgate, in the co. of Gloucester, not far from Winchcomb. An abbey of the Benedictine order was founded here by Cenwulf, King of Mercia, in the year 798.
Abbey District, or Cambus Kenneth, a vil. in the par. of Stirling, in the co. of Clackmannan, Scotland. It is situated near the hill now called Abbey Craig, on which William Wallace posted his army of patriots to oppose the passage of the Forth by the English before the battle of Stirling. This was in 1297. The abbey was founded in 1147, by David I., who brought over to it, from Arras, in France, a company of monks, of the order of St. Augustine. The popes conferred by bull, from time to time, various, and some curious, privileges on this monastery. In 1559 great part of it was pulled down. It passed after the accession of James I. to the Erskine family. Little is now remaining, except a few walls, a tower, the traces of a garden, and the burial-place of James III. and his Queen Margaret. The pop. of the vil. is small, and their chief employments are weaving and fishing.
Abbey Dore, or Dore, a par. in the hund. of Webtree, in the co. of Hereford, 13 miles S.W. of Hereford, and 2 N.W. of Pontrilas railway station. It is situated in the Golden Valley on the river More, which is celebrated for its trout, and falls into the Munnow near Roilstone. The Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford railway passes through the parish. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Hereford, val. £680, and in the patron. of the co-heirs of the late Duchess of Norfolk, who hold this manor. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a spacious stone edifice, with a square tower, and three beautiful stained glass windows. It contains a screen, several monuments and ancient vases, and a remarkable stone coffin of very early date, which was discovered under the church. It formerly belonged to the Cistercian abbey of Dore, founded by Robert de Ewyas, in the reign of King Stephen, whose monument may still be seen in the church. There is a United National and Free School, endowed by Watts with £8 per annum; and the parochial charities amount to about £37. The pop. is small, and employed in agriculture. The union of Dore comprises 28 pars. and tnshps., and the petty sessions are held here.
Abbeydorney, a vil. in the par. of O'Dorney, in the bar. of Clanmaurice, in the co. of Kerry, prov. of Munster, Ireland, 5 miles N. of Tralee. It takes its name from the abbey of Kyrie Eleison, or O'Dorney, which was founded in 1154, for monks of the Cistercian order, who were brought from the abbey of Magio in Limerick. The name of the founder is not known. Its possessions were conferred, by Queen Elizabeth, on Trinity College, Dublin. A few remains of the building may be seen a little north of the village. In 1826 a Roman Catholic Chapel was built here, with stone front, in the later English style. It has a fine altar-piece and painting. The small river Brick flows by the village.
Abbey Farm, an ext. par. place, in the tnshp. of Thurnham, and hund. of Lonsdale, in the co. palatine of Lancaster, 4 miles to the S. W. of Lancaster. It was the site of Cockerham abbey.
Abbeyfeale, a par. in the Glenquin div. of the bar. of Upper Connello, in the co. of Limerick, prov. of Munster, Ireland, 37 miles to the S.W. of Limerick, and 157 miles from Dublin. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Allaghaun and Feale, in a district very wild and mountainous. It is not many years since it was almost inaccessible. This recommended it to the Rockites as a safe retreat, who, in 1822, made it their head-quarters, dating their manifestoes "from our camp at Abbeyfeale." It was not till the year 1836, that the new road was opened, which leads right through the heart of the hills, from Abbeyfeale to Glin. Improvement of the roads has naturally been followed by increase of trade, and this by improvement in the general appearance of the place. Of the 18,000 acres comprised in the par., above 3,000 are waste or bog. Large quantities of turf are cut and sent to the town of Newcastle, 10 miles distant, as fuel; limestone being brought thence in return. Near the village on the west is Wellesley Bridge, on the road from Limerick to Tralee; Goulburn Bridge is at about an equal distance on the east. In a bold situation on the river, about a mile from the village, are the ruins of Purt Castle, which was erected by the Geraldines to command the pass of the Feale. Brien O'Brien founded a Cistercian abbey here in 1188, which became, in 1209, a cell to the abbey of Nenagh. The living is an impropriate vic. in the dioc. of Limerick. The present church, which is small, and in the early English style, was built in 1812. There is a police station in the village. Fairs are held, chiefly for cattle, on the 29th June and the 24th September.
Abbeyfield, near the vil. of Sandbach, in the hund. of Northwich, union of Congleton, in the co. of Chester, 1 mile S.W. of Sandbach, near the Manchester Rail and Grand Trunk Canal.
Abbey Foregate, a tnshp. in the par. of Holy Cross and St. Giles, Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. It is so called from a Benedictine abbey, founded here, in the year 1083, by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury, and Adelisa his wife. Near the site of the abbey is Abbey House.
Abbey Gate, a hmlt. in the par. of St. Leonard, in the lib. of the borough of Leicester, in co. Leicester. It is an ext. par. estate in the sole proprietorship of Lord Dysart. The Patent Solid Manure Company have extensive works here, for utilizing the sewage of Leicester.
Abbeygormagan, a par. in the bars. of Leitrim and Longford, in the co. of Galway, prov. of Connaught, Ireland. It is situated near the Slieve Boughty hills, 7 miles to the N.W. of Eyrecourt. The chief of the O'Gormagans established a monastery here for the Augustine order, dedicating it to the Blessed Virgin. Henry VIII. conferred its possessions on Ulick, first Earl of Clanricarde. It was also called Monaster O'Gormagan, or
