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Portglenone Abbey

1948 establishments in Northern IrelandBuildings and structures in County AntrimChristian organizations established in 1948Cistercian monasteries in Northern IrelandReligion in County Antrim
Trappist monasteries in the United Kingdom
Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey from Top Wood geograph.org.uk 515229
Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey from Top Wood geograph.org.uk 515229

Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey, a Cistercian monastery in Portglenone, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was founded in 1948 by Mount Melleray Abbey in County Waterford. The monks bought Portglenone House, a country mansion built about the year 1810 by the Church of Ireland Bishop, Dr. Alexander who demolished the local castle. History records that Sir Roger Casement often stayed in the house in the early years of the 20th century.Despite opposition from local Protestants, the monastery succeeded in establishing itself in the locality and ran a successful dairy farm for many years. Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey was the first enclosed monastery of men to be established in Northern Ireland since the Reformation.The monastery belongs to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO), also known as Trappists, who follow the Rule of St Benedict, but emphasise some of the more austere and penitential aspects of the Rule such as strict silence, abstention from meat, early rising and physical work. In the 1960s, the community built a new monastery designed in a modern style by Padraig Ó Muireadhaigh. The building has won several architectural awards. To establish continuity with the Order's past, stones from some of the pre-Reformation Irish Cistercian abbeys were incorporated in the church and cloisters.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Portglenone Abbey (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Portglenone Abbey
Churchfield Close,

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Wikipedia: Portglenone AbbeyContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 54.873 ° E -6.473 °
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Churchfield Close

Churchfield Close
BT44 8AF
Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
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Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey from Top Wood geograph.org.uk 515229
Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey from Top Wood geograph.org.uk 515229
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Bellaghy GAC

Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Gaelic Athletic Club (Irish: CLG Baile Eachaidh) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The club is a member of Derry GAA and currently competes in gaelic football and camogie. Bellaghy have won 21 Derry Senior Football Championships, four Ulster Senior Club Football Championships and the 1971-72 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. Bellaghy camogie club have won two Derry Senior Camogie Championships. On 12 May 1997, the Club Chairman, Sean Brown, was attacked and abducted by a Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) gang as he locked the main gate of the GAA grounds on the Ballyscullion Road. Less than an hour later the body of the father-of-six was found lying beside his burnt-out car just off the Moneynick Road near Randalstown, County Antrim. He had been shot six times. On 19 January 2004 the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland published a report that was highly critical of the police investigation into Brown's killing, stating "the police investigation was incomplete and inadequate".In October 2021, "dissident republican" political party Saoradh, organised an event on the grounds to commemorate the 1981 Irish hunger strike. A month prior the club released a statement saying that "no event other than those relating to official GAA activity or training will be taking place at club premises on that date" however the event went ahead as planned in the club's car park before parading through the town.