Fore Abbey is the old Benedictine Abbey ruin, situated to the north of Lough Lene in County Westmeath.
A monastery was founded at Fore in the 7th century by St Feichin, a Sligo born holy man who travelled widely in Ireland before dying of the yellow plague.
The monastery became large and prosperous and at its peak had a community of 300 monks, but when the Normans founded a new Benedictine abbey nearby, monastic life probably ended at Feichins old foundation.
Only one pre-Norman building survives, St Feichins Church, which now stands in a small graveyard overlooking the huge Norman monastery.
Below is an example of a sacred tree in the grounds of Fore Abbey.
People will attach clothes that belong to people who want to be blessed.
Fore Village, (sister parish of nearby St.
Mary's Collinstown) is situated within a valley between two hills: the Hill of Ben, the Hill of Houndslow, and the Anchorland rise area.
There can be found the ruins of a Christian monastery, which had been populated at one time by French Benedictine monks from Evreux, Normandy.
