Tynan Abbey

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Tynan Abbey, County Armagh, Northern Ireland was the home of the Stronge family until the 1980s. It was a large neo-gothic-romantic country house built circa 1750 and situated outside the village of Tynan.

The original house on this site was called Fairview and was the home of the Manson family, it was acquired through marriage by the Stronges. The building of Tynan Abbey itself took place under the ownership of the Stronges. The castle was surrounded by an extensive estate including park-land and a lake.

Image:TynanAbbey.jpg

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[edit] Destruction of Tynan Abbey

On 21st January 1981 86-year-old, Sir Norman Stronge Bt. and his only son, James, 48, (both former MPs) were killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army as a reprisal for sectarian killings of Catholics and because he was a leading Orangeman. The Stronge family's home was then burnt to the ground. The bodies of the father and son were later recovered from their blazing home.[1][2].

They were targetted as they sat in the main library of their 230 year-old mansion. The paramilitaries who carried out the killings forced entry into the Abbey by bombing the heavy front doors.[3] Afterward the building was fire bombed.[3] The fire raged until the next morning, leaving the contents of the Abbey destroyed and the house itself burned to the ground.

In 1998, prior to the ruins of Tynan Abbey being demolished, a man was seriously injured in a mysterious explosion there[citation needed].

Tynan Abbey had previously come under attack during the Troubles of the 1920s.

The lands, several thousand acres, remain in the possession of the family of Sir Norman Stronge's daughter Daphne Kingham. Tynan Abbey was demolished in 1998 due to the unstable structure of the ruin, the family do, however, hope that a new house may be built on the site [1].

[edit] References

  1. ^ 'The Green Book: I' from 'The IRA' by Tim Pat Coogan (1993)
  2. ^ Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
  3. ^ a b http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920975,00.html

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