Located on the north coast of County Mayo, about 3 km east of Killala, Moyne Abbey was founded and consecrated as a Franciscan friary in 1462 by McWilliam Bourke, a member of the Barrett family. It soon became a centre of learning for young Irish Franciscans. In 1590, the abbey was burned and its friars murdered by Cromwellian soldiers, the altars desecrated. Despite this devastation, evidence suggests that friars continued to reside at Moyne until the 1800s.

Local legend claims that some of the abbey’s chambers are filled with skulls and bones, giving rise to tales of strange noises and ghostly manifestations after dark.

One oft-told story concerns a young chapel clerk named Peter Cumming. In a drunken boast, he wagered a golden guinea that he could fetch a skull from Moyne Abbey and place it on the table before his companions. Fortified by drink, he set out for the ruins, but just as he reached for a skull, he heard a voice. Looking up, he saw the apparition of his grandfather sternly rebuking him for disturbing the dead.

Peter swore he would return the skull after claiming his wager, and the spirit vanished. True to his word, Peter carried the skull back to his friends, collected his guinea, and then returned to the abbey, where he reburied the relic with proper respect.