Kilbennan Monastery
Kilbennan Monastery is an abbey in the countryside 3.8 km north-west of Tuam, County Galway. St. Bennan's Well is within 118 m.
Fifth-century monastic site with a damaged round tower, a Franciscan church of about 1428 and a holy well, where Jarlath studied before founding Tuam; a national monument across the River Clare.
- Kind
- Abbeys
- From Tuam
- 3.8 km north-west
The map does not yet record a phone number, a website or opening hours for Kilbennan Monastery. Anyone can add them on OpenStreetMap; this page picks the change up at the next refresh.
The story of Kilbennan Monastery
Kilbennan is older than Tuam. The monastery was founded in the fifth century by Benignus, a disciple of St Patrick, though the Book of Armagh names a different Benignus of the Luighne of Connacht. Jarlath studied here in the sixth century before he crossed the river to found his own community, the one Tuam grew around. The Annals of the Four Masters record the place burned in 1114 and the death in 1148 of Ceallach Ua Domhnagain, its noble head.
The Franciscans built a church here about 1428, and both of its gables still stand; the east one held a twin-light window with cusped ogee heads. Beside it is the stump of a limestone round tower, badly damaged but 16.5 metres tall at its highest point and 4.8 metres across, with a sandstone doorway set 4.56 metres above the ground. A wall and graveyard surround the church, with old crosses and slabs among the graves, and to the north-west is a holy well where Benignus is said to have healed nine lepers. Conservation work was done in 1880 and 1881; the site is a national monument.
Written from Wikipedia, "Kilbennen" and Wikipedia, "Tuam" (CC BY-SA 4.0, read 2026-09-18). Facts only from those sources; the words are ours.
Kilbennan Monastery in pictures
Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Getting to Kilbennan Monastery
- From the town
- 4.31 km by road from the Square, about 52 minutes on foot; a short drive.
- Directions from where you are
- Open the model above, tap the pin and choose “Directions here”; the route is drawn from your own position.
Around it
Other sites within 3 km: St. Bennan's Well (118 m), Tobernalour (706 m), Lismore (1.7 km), Caltragh Fort (2.2 km) and Lisheennanisk (2.7 km).
The name
The name begins with cill, the Irish for a church, which usually marks an early church site.
Within a short walk
- St. Bennan's Well118 mHoly wells
Other abbeys around Tuam
- 14.8 km
Questions people ask
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Source record: OpenStreetMap relation/10705540, read on 2026-09-18. The street is the mapped address where there is one, otherwise the nearest named road. Distances are straight lines.