The Ghost Monks of Inch Abbey

The ruins of the 12th-century Cistercian Inch Abbey lie on the northern bank of the River Quoile. John de Courcy and his wife Affreca founded it as penance for his destruction of nearby Erenagh Abbey, and brought monks from Furness Abbey. Locally the ruin is said to be haunted by the spirits of the monks who lived there. Many witnesses are said to have seen ghostly monks gliding through the nighttime mist, crossing the river from Downpatrick back to the abbey.