Normans

In the year 1177, an Anglo-Norman knight named John de Courcy and his followers committed a terrible crime. They attacked a 12th Century monastery near Downpatrick, County Down and razed it to the ground, not only destroying the building but also murdering all the monks who lived there. While the memory of this historical abomination has not faded, the actual location of that doomed monastery has remained a mystery—until now. During a two-week excavation at an archaeological site in the region, volunteers supervised by professional archaeologists unearthed a ton of evidence that shows exactly where near Downpatrick the Cistercian monastery known at Erenagh had once stood. The finds included several sections of an old stone wall, many pieces of pottery