Bell Harbour

Bell Harbour village is off the N67 between Galway and the Cliffs of Moher.

Corcomroe Abbey. Situated in the very north of the Burren, just off the main Galway to Ballyvaughan Road at the village of Bell Harbour, Corcomroe Abbey is one of the most peaceful places on earth. It lies surrounded by green fields and limestone hills and you can usually have the place to yourself if you stay awhile. Also known in Irish as “Sancta Maria de Petra Fertilis” (Saint Mary of the Fertile Rock) and as the Abbey of Burren, the precise history of Corcomroe Abbey is remains something of a mystery, with various theories as to who founded it and when. The most accepted is that it was founded by Dónal O Brien, King of Limerick, in 1194 for the Cistercian Monks. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, the Abbey was handed over to the first earl of Thomond so many of the original buildings have vanished. The graveyard is still in use by the local families, and the Mass said there on Easter morning at dawn attracts hundreds of people.