Killala’s round tower stands tall at over 25 metres in the centre of the town where St. Patrick founded a church around 442 or 443 and appointed St. Muredach as bishop. St. Patrick is said to have baptised 12,000 new converts to Christianity in a single day at a holy well near the town.
Just outside Killala lies the ruins of Moyne Abbey, a Franciscan Friary, which is now a National Monument.
Historical buildings are dotted along Killala bay, including the Dominican Priory 'Rathfran Abbey' dated 1274 AD, Moyne Abbey, Meelick Castle, and Humbert's Rock.
Located on the River Moy, in North Mayo, close to Moyne Abbey and between the towns of Killala and Ballina, Rosserk Friary is possibly the best preserved monastic site in Ireland. It was founded by the Joyce family in the middle of the 15th century for the benefit of the Franciscan Third Order Friars, an order which incorporated laymen into the order as well as female clerics, though Rosserk’s religious community was male only.
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