Dercongal Abbey
Dercongal Abbey (or Holywood Abbey) was a Premonstratensian monastic community located in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. The date of its foundation is not known, but it was certainly in existence as a Premonstratensian monastic community by 1225. The founder was presumably Alan, Lord of Galloway. Dercongal seems to come from Doire Congaill, Congall's oak-copse, Congall (Welsh, Cinvall) being a saint venerated by the natives of the area. For this reason the abbot of Dercongal also became known as the abbot "de Sacro Nemore" (="of the Holy Wood"), becoming "Holywood" in English.
Little of its history is known and few of the abbots of Dercongal names have survived, although a good deal of archaeological remains are extant. The abbey became secularized in the 16th century and in the beginning of the 17th century was turned into a secular lordship. The ruins of the abbey were demolished in the last quarter of the 18th century.
Bibliography
- Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man, Second Edition, (London, 1976), p. 102
- Watson, W.J., The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland, (Edinburgh, 1926) reprinted, with an Introduction, full Watson bibliography and corrigenda by Simon Taylor (Edinburgh, 2004), p. 169
- Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries, The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001), pp. 97-9