year, Piers incorporated some of the demolished Abbey's building materials into a Gothic Revival house, Tristernagh House, which by the early 19th century was in a state of severe dilapidation and which was supposedly the inspiration for Maria Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent. Locally it was widely believed that the clearing of the old monastery graveyard in 1783 had brought ruin on the family. Piers' son had a new house constructed around half a kilometer to the north-west, and little now remains of either the abbey or the succeeding house on the site. O'Doherty's Bush In the late 17th century a local tradition was recorded by Sir Henry Piers that a force of 600 men under O'Doherty, the Lord of Inishowen, had camped in the grounds of the Abbey before being defeated and mostly slain under its walls. It has been suggested that the story referred to Cahir O' Doherty's father Sir Shane O'Doherty, who is known to have been sent to the area from the army of Hugh Roe O'Donnell subsequent to the Battle of Curlew Pass in 1599. A thornbush (still in existence in 1837) and hillock in Tristernagh Demesne were pointed out by locals as the site of O'Doherty's encampment; and "O'Doherty's Bush" was shown on the 19th century Ordnance Survey sheet for Kilbixy parish. Baronetcy The Piers Baronets, of Tristernagh Abbey is an extant peerage in the Baronetage of Ireland. See also List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Westmeath) Kilbixy (civil parish) References Notes Sources Overbey, Karen. Sacral Geographies: Saints, Shrines and Territory in Medieval Ireland. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. Religious buildings and structures in County Westmeath Archaeological sites in County Westmeath Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Augustinian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Ruins in the Republic of Ireland Former populated places in Ireland