Geoffrey, a Norman settler, had been granted the land by Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath.

There was formerly a tradition in Kilbixy parish that at the time of the Reformation the Friars had removed the Abbey bells and thrown them into Lough Iron.

It is also possible that the monastery was returned to religious use during the Confederate period,[10] as there was a disagreement in 1646 between Thomas Dease and the Papal Nuncio Rinuccini over an appointment to it.

[citation needed] In the late 17th century a local tradition was recorded by Sir Henry Piers that a force of 600 men under O'Doherty, the Lord of Inishowen, had camped in the grounds of the Abbey before being defeated and mostly slain under its walls.

It has been suggested that the story referred to Cahir O' Doherty's father Sir Shane O'Doherty, who is known to have been sent to the area from the army of Hugh Roe O'Donnell subsequent to the Battle of Curlew Pass in 1599.