Wasn't it MacEvilly, the archbishop of Tuam, who wouldn't allow the parish priest of Ballintubber to continue roofing the abbey church for fear of the fairies?
--Frank O'Connor in Irish Miles (1947), Macmillan, London.
This archbishop, John MacEvilly, was a real person, a brilliant, active, political, and learned man.
The abbey at Ballintubber was founded by King Cathal O'Connor in 1216 and was burned in 1653 by Cromwell's troops. It was finally restored in 1966. Actor Pierce Brosnan was married there.
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