As important as Bangor, Movilla was associated with Saint Finian of the 6th-century
As with many early monasteries, it was refounded as an Augustinian abbey in the Norman 12th century. It possesses the best collection of 13th Century coffin lids with foliate lids, in the Province. Only one stone survives from the pre-Norman monastery; it is marked with a prayer for Dertrend or "dodertrend."
Later structures include the ruins of a 13th-century church rebuilt in the 15th-century.
Situated one mile east of Newtownards, on the south of the B172 to Millisle.
