South of the town are the ruins of an Abbey founded in 1474 by the wife of Red Hugh O'Donnell, it was raided and occupied by the English in 1601 and was almost completely destroyed when a powder magazine exploded.

It was in this abbey that the Franciscans began to compile 'The Annals Of The Four Masters' a history of Ireland going back to 40 years before the flood. The work was completed at Ross Friary on Lough Melvin. A obelisk in the diamond commemorates the four Franciscans who wrote the annals. Brother Michael O'Cleary the chief annalist was from a local family.