BANGOR
From Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)
« County Donegal | Book Contents | County Dublin »
Description of County Down | Down Cathedral | Grey Abbey | Bangor | Down Map
THE QUAY, BANGOR.—Bangor, said to be derived from Bane-Choraidh, the White Choir, was famous as a seat of learning, and a "city of the saints" in olden times. St. Comhgall founded an abbey there in 552, the fragments of which still exist, and laid the foundation of the great school to which students from all parts of Europe resorted, and whose fame became world wide. Its seminary, directed by St. Carthagus, is declared to be the germ from which Oxford arose, King Alfred having obtained his professors from Bangor when he founded or restored that university. In 818, the ruthless Northmen descended on the establishment and slew more than 900 of the 3,000 monks that resided there. Bangor was within the dominion of the O'Neills, and the remains of a castle, still in good condition, stands on the Quay. Bangor is to-day a favorite watering place, and contains in summer a large villa population from the neighboring city of Belfast.
The Quay, Bangor
Description of County Down | Down Cathedral | Grey Abbey | Bangor | Down Map