The village of Greyabbey occupies a sheltered coastal location, protected by South Isle and Mid Isle. These are connected to each other and to the mainland by tidal causeways known locally as ‘roans’. Greyabbey has long attracted settlers and there is evidence to suggest the Vikings were here. The local name for Greyabbey, ‘Greba’, may have come from the Old Norse word Grípa, meaning ‘seize’, ‘grasp’, or ‘attack’. Greyabbey was acquired by Sir Hugh Montgomery in the early 1600s and, from about 1623, a weekly market was held at The Square, serving the thousands of lowland Scots farmers who had settled here.
Grey Abbey
Substantial ruins of the Cistercian abbey founded in 1193 survive. In the early seventeenth century the abbey church was repaired by Sir Hugh Montgomery. The site was abandoned when a new Anglican church was built a short distance from the old one c.1778. Today the ruins are in state care.To the east of the ruins of the abbeychurch is Greyabbey graveyard. This was the burial place of Rev. James Porter, the local Presbyterian minister who was executed in 1798 for his alleged involvement in the Rebellion.
Greyabbey village
Greyabbey has two ‘old’ parts clustered ateitherend of Main Street. The original shore road from Newtownards to Portaferry came directly intotheearly 17th-century
settlement at the market square end of Main Street close to the shore. An even older small settlement sat along what is now North Street Church Lane, where an ancient road from the far side of the Ards peninsula ran down to the Abbey entrance. The village includes two Presbyterian meeting houses: Trinity Presbyterian and the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian.
Brown street signs feature the old names, such as‘Hard Breid Raa’.
Grey Abbey House
In 1629 Sir Hugh Montgomery’s eldest son James moved to Greyabbey and built a residence close to the abbey. James was killed by pirates in 1652 and his impressive monument stands within the abbey ruins. The present Grey Abbey House, also known
as Rosemount, is the third on the site and was built in 1762. The surrounding estate encompasses what is believed to be one of the first landscaped gardens in
Ireland. (Please note that the estate is private property and visits are by arrangement only.)
greyabbeyhouse.com
