Tristernagh Abbey (, IPA: ˈmˠanʲəʃtʲəɾʲˈhɾʲɪsˠt̪ˠəɾˠn̪ˠiː), also known as the Priory of Kilbixy or Kilbisky, Tristernagh Priory, or the priory of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Tristernagh, is a ruined Augustinian monastery in the townland of Tristernagh in the barony of Kilbixy in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is situated on the shores of Lough Iron, about north east of the village of Ballynacargy. The name "Tristernagh" comes from the Irish triostarnach, "place of thorns". History The priory was founded in c. 1190 by Geoffrey de Costentin and was dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. Geoffrey, a Norman settler, had been granted the land by Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath. There was already an important early church nearby at Kilbixy, dedicated to St Bigseach, which Geoffrey de Costentin subsequently granted to Ralph de Petit, the Archdeacon of Meath. The first prior on record was named Henry, possibly a relative of the founder. Several of the Bishops of Ardagh and Meath were benefactors of the priory during its history. The final prior was Edmund Nugent, Bishop of Kilmore. In 1536 the abbey was ransacked by the commissioners of King Henry VIII and closed down; Nugent was pensioned off with a payment of £26 13s. 6d, with smaller pensions given to five canons, and the Abbey land was subsequently granted to William Piers by Elizabeth I. There was formerly a tradition in Kilbixy parish that at the time of the Reformation the Friars had removed the Abbey bells and thrown them into Lough Iron. The last prior willfully surrendered to crown forces on 30 November 1539. Later history According to a memorial inscription in the ruined church of Templecross nearby, the Abbey was repaired by William Piers' son Henry Piers, who converted to Catholicism in later life. It is also possible that the monastery was returned to religious use during the Confederate period, as there was a disagreement in 1646 between Thomas Dease and the Papal Nuncio Rinuccini over an appointment to it. The ruins of the abbey were described as still very substantial in 1682 by their then-owner Sir Henry Piers, but were largely pulled down by one of his descendants, Sir Pigott Piers, in 1783 in an act later described, by topographer James Norris Brewer as "an outrage [...] the name of Tristernagh should never be mentioned without an expression of contempt [...] towards that of Sir Pigott William Piers". That