Margaret Athy, religious patron, fl. 1508.

Margaret Athy was a member of The Tribes of Galway and is notable for been one of the few recorded female founders of religious houses in medieval Connacht

Connacht

Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...

. In 1508, while her husband Stephen

Stephen

Stephen or Steven is a masculine first name, derived from the Greek name Στέφανος meaning "crown, garland", in turn from the Greek word "στέφανος", meaning "wreath, crown, honour, reward", literally "that which surrounds or encompasses". In ancient Greece a wreath was given to the winner of a...

 Lynch (son of Dominick Dubh Lynch

Dominick Dubh Lynch

Dominick Dubh Lynch, died 14 August 1508, second Mayor of Galway.A member of The Tribes of Galway, Lynch was instrumental in securing the Mayoralty for Galway from Richard III, his brother Peirce becoming the town's fist Mayor in September 1485. He himself served as Mayor 1486-87, and 1497-98.His...

) was trading in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, she founded the Augustinian Friary of Forthill, overlooking the town and Galway Bay

Galway Bay

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city is located on the northeast side of the bay. It is about long and from to in breadth...

. In the 17th century it was turned into a garrison and the friars expelled. It was successfully besieged in June 1643 and by the 1680's was razed to the ground. The present cemetery of Forthill exists upon the site.

Other work thought to have been funded by Margaret was Lynch's Aisle, the tower and chapel of Our Lady, which is known to have been undertaken by her husband, and their son Nicholas Lynch.

Margaret Athy later made a pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 to Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...

 and from there intended to visit the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

but was prevented by illness.