Travel Ireland in style!! Come and visit Trinity Island Lodge for fishing, boating and a sense of history.

Staying on Trinity Island mixes romance, adventure and an offbeat style of luxury.

Trinity Island Lodge stands on a small rise on the shore of Lough Oughter. The house has wonderful views. There are glorious red sunsets as the sun sinks behind the Lough and trees. The fine mist which hangs in the evening gloom in the branches and over the water is beautiful.

Exploration

Exploring the land on foot, by bike or by boat is pure adventure. Or you can take the boat off and conquer the watery routes between Loughs and rivers, as well as conquering some of our fishes when fishing on the clear waters. You can travel across water as far as Belturbet in the North, visiting the legendary castles and islands of 16th and 17th Century Ireland.

The island's geography divides the island in half between two small hills. Woods cover the Northern end of the island and provide perfect habitation for the badgers, foxes, mallards and geese who live on Trinity. There are paths through the woods or you can follow the waters shore. The hill behind the house provides beautiful views and a good resting place. Ireland at its best.

The House

The lodge has sitting room/kitchen; three double bedrooms, 2 ensuite; spacious sun room; a sauna; a jacuzzi; a utility room; games room (pool table); 3 showers. Linen and towels are provided.

The house has a good sense of space and is safe and practical for children over five years of age. It sleeps six comfortably but can cater for more. There is a dishwasher and washing machine. No television. Access is by road using a causeway or by boat (available with the house). Killeshandra is the local town, approximately 2 miles away. It has shops, pubs etc. Cavan town is 6 miles away.

There are many local facilities which include horse riding, fishing, biking, boat cruises.

Trinity Island is a two hour drive from Dublin.

Trinity Island Lodge, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan, Ireland.

Tel: ++ 353 49 43 34314, Fax: ++ 353 49 43 34907,

Email: lodge@trinityisland.com

Visit us at the Trinity Island Lodge web site. Click Here!

Holy Trinity Island - History

Approaching Trinity Island on Lough Oughter from the direction of Blenacup or Killyvalley, the ivy-mantled gable of a ruined church is the most prominent feature of the landscape. This is what remains of a once magnificent church, built seven hundred and fifty years ago, by the Order of Premontre on that island sanctuary. This the west gable, is still remarkably perfect. It displays a pointed window over a deformed and mutilated doorway. The masses of ivy almost hide the gable from view. With the exception of this gable, only fragmentary portions of the church remains; fragments of the sidewall, also ivy-encrusted, are crumbling into decay.

The church, judging from its apparent dimensions, must have been a fine example of its kind. Its interior measurements are seventy-six feet by twenty feet wide. A side chapel on the south wall, probably an addition of later date, measures twenty two feet from north to south, and eighteen feet from east to west. Fragments of stone slabs, displaying elaborate carvings, are strewn about the surrounding graveyard. Tradition tells us that Cathal O'Reilly and many of his descendants are buried here, and that splendid monuments once marked their graves. A careful search will per perhaps some day discover some of their tombs. On the south side of the church cemetery, a reputed saints grave is said to exist.

Judging by the west gable of the ancient church, and especially its main entrance or portico, which remains to the present day, the structure must have been an imposing one. The doorway bears a distinct resemblance to the doorway of Cormacs Chapel on the Rock of Cashel. It can be seen today preserved in prime condition, at the entry to the vestry of the present Kilmore Protestant Cathedral. An exquisite piece of workmanship, it had been transferred to the one-time Catholic Church of Kilmore, founded in the mid-fifteenth century by Bishop Andrew Brady. That edifice was taken into the possession of the Protestant clergy in or around the time of the confiscation. It passed into disuse as a church and was consigned to its present usage as a Hall, when the present Protestant Cathedral was built in Kilmore in 1858, and the doorway, in all its magnificence, was removed to its present siting at the entry to the vestry of that church.

The cemetry at Trinity Island is surrounded by a circular fosse, planted with tall white thorns, above the west gable, terminating in its belfry. This fosse or enclosure, served a twofold purpose. Its bank prevented the waters of the lake from extending across the boundary at high-water level, and threatening the precints with flooding, and its hedge also afforded shelter to the monks from the cold winter winds blowing in from the lake.

These crumbling ruins are now all that remains of the once famous Premonstratensian House, the Order of White Cannons of Premontre, founded on one of Breffni's most famous island sanctuarys. It was under the patronage of Cathal O'Reilly, a chieftain of the Clan O'Reilly of Cavan. Even in its present condition, it still holds traces of a sacred quality, that impresses the visitor with a realisation of its ancient virtue and holiness.

The House was founded on Trinity, by Clarus MacMailin O'Mulconry in 1237, when he was Archdeacon of Elphin. The most important House of Premontre in Ireland was on another 'Trinity Island' on Loch Ce-near Boyle, Co Roscommon, with a colony of Canons from Premontre itself. The order was originally founded in 1120 by St. Norbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg, Germany, as a reformed branch of the Augustinian Order. The first house was established at Premontre, near Laon in France, and this gives the order its name.

Visit us at the Trinity Island Lodge web site. Click Here!