abbeys ireland

The church of this Cistercian Abbey was re-roofed in 1975 and thus was restored to its former glory one of the finest of Irish 15th century churches. The foundation was originally Benedictine (1169), but in 1180 Cistercian monks were brought by Donal Mor O'Brien from Monasteraneagh, Co. Limerick (q.v.) to re-found the monastery and the Charter of the Abbey was confirmed in 1186. Little remains of the original abbey building, though the processional door leading from the south aisle to the clo...

Abbeyshrule is situated east of Ballymahon in a picturesque valley of the River Inny. A Cistercian Abbey was founded here in 1150 and was one of the earliest in the country following the success of the first foundation at Melifont in County Louth. The Abbey was founded by the O'Farrells and was eventually closed by Queen Elizabeth 1 during the Tudor suppression of the monasteries. The lands were granted to Robert Dillon, Earl of Roscommon. The adjoining graveyard contains part of the only hi...

Cahir abbey: The Abbey of Our Lady was founded in the 13th century in the reign of King John by Geoffrey de Carnville, a Norman Knight. It was an Augustinian foundation of the Order of the Canons Regular. It has a high central tower, 70ft. in height which was converted into a dwelling house at some post-reformation date. Part of another tower remains. The out-buildings reached as far as the river. Edward Lonergan was its last prior and it was in full use for over 400 years - currently bein...

This abbey is situated a short distance outside the town and was first a Cistercian then a Benedictine Monastery. The remains consist of portions of the cloister and two chapels in each transept. A tower was added in the 15th century....

This was founded in 1241 by Meiler de Bermingham.
Accidentally burned in 1423, it was re-built with a central tower and the present northern doorway. Restored in 1638-44, it was declared a university for the Dominican Order by decree of a General Chapter held in Rome.
In 1652, however the Cromwellians totally wrecked the place....

A focal point of the northern midlands where the provinces of Leinster, Ulster and Connaught all converge, Longford, where history and literature, tragedy and triumph are all woven together, takes its name from the ancient stronghold of the O'Farrell family (Long Fort - Fort of the O'Farrells). Bordered to the West by the majestic River Shannon, Longford is a county of rolling plains and picturesque stretches of water. The highest pint of the county, Cairn Hill, is only 279 m high, but from a...

The Rock of Cashel, rising out of the surrounding plain, is the most dramatic of all Irish monuments. It first appears as a fortification of the Eoghanachta kings of Munster in the 4th century. It was allegedly visited by St. Patrick who converted Aenghus, the king of the time; by mistake, St. Patrick stuck his crosier through the king's foot during the baptism, and the king bore it with fortitude thinking that it was part of the ceremony. St. Patrick made Cashel into a bishopric; its best-kn...

This ruined Augustinian priory is situated on the west bank of the River Suir. The tomb of William de Burgh, the Norman founder of the priory, lies in the church. Established in 1192, Athassel is believed to have been the largest medieval priory in Ireland until it burned down in 1447. The scattered monastic site conveys a tranquil atmosphere, from the gatehouse and church to the remains of the cloister. and chapter house. The church has a fine west doorway, nave and chancel walls, as well as a...

An Early Christian monastery was founded here around 630 by St. Feichin who died of the plague in 664-5. At one time there were 300 monks in the monastery. It was burned in 771, 830 and again in 870, and a number of times in the course of the 11th and 12th centuries. From this old monastery one church - St. Feichin's - survives, standing in a graveyard above the road. Originally it was a simple rectangular building with antae, and with a Greek corss in relief over the flat-headed doorway. A c...

Near the shore of Lough Kinale are the slight remains of a thirteenth century abbey founded by an anglo-Norman, richard Tuite. It was plundered by Edward Bruce after the sack of Granard, but it survived until the dissolution and the tow of its abbots became bishops of Clonmacnois. A semicircular earthwork north of the village is regarded locally as the site of the original church founded here by St Patrick about 460. From the shore of Lough Kinale , 1 mile north -east of Abbeylara, p...