Monastic Heritage of
Kilbroney

Tradition has it that Bronagh and Gall , her brother, became Christians when Patrick returned to Ireland. Gall became a priest and later a bishop in the area of Dromore.
It is said that as a young woman Bronagh had a vision, as a result of which she established a monastic community in the glen above Rostrevor. What is certain is that Bronagh and her companions lived in this religious settlement in the sixth century and that from this tiny community, the message of the Christian gospel was first carried out by word and deed into the surrounding countryside.

She was one of the few women saints who had a crozier. Her brother Gall died before her and she was made custodian of his Episcopal staff. The ruins of an ancient church, a Celtic Cross, known as the Cross of Bronagh, and Bronagh’s well are to be found in the Roman Catholic graveyard.

The 9th century bell of Bronagh is enshrined in the Roman Catholic Parish Church.
St. Bronagh, patron of Kilbroney, is celebrated on the 2nd of April.
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