abbeys ireland

Ballintubber Abbey was founded in 1216 by Cathal Crobhdearg O'Connor, King of Connacht, near the site of the church built by St. Patrick in 441. Despite the Abbey's turbulent history, which included repression and burning, the Abbey 'refused to die' and now has the unique status of being Ireland's only royal Abbey which has been in continuous use for over 780 years. Spend some time in Ballintubber and Stroll around the grounds of the Abbey. Pray within its hallowed walls. Visit the Interpr...

Founded by the O'Brien family in 1250 for the Franciscan Order on a good site close to the River Fergus, this friary was restored about 1300 by Turlough Mor O'Brien, who added the strikingly tall east window with its five slender lights and pointed top. There is a good deal of interesting sculpture and a partly restored cloister. Its monuments are famous, notably the McMahon tomb (15 th Century) with its carvings of the Passion....

St. Mary's Abbey is one of Dublin's best kept secrets. Once the wealthiest Cistercian Abbey in Ireland, today it is unrecognisable. Two rooms remain - the Chapter House and the Slype. The Abbey, founded in 1139, played a large role in the affairs of the state until its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539. It was the Chapter House that 'Silken' Thomas Fitzgerald started his unsuccessful rebellion in 1534.

Today it contains a fascinating exhibition put together by Duchas The Heritage Ser...

A Cistercian Abbey founded by Richard Tuit in 1211 and colonised from St. Mary's in Dublin in 1214. It was pillaged by Edward Bruce in 1315. The only surviving parts of the Abbey are the crossing of 1214, and the tower inserted over it in the 15th century. The tower was approached by an inserted stairway; the tower had a barrel vault over the crossing....

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....

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 Cistercian abbey was founded by the King of Limerick, Turlough O’Brien around the year 1150 and completed something like thirty years later. The Abbey has seen two battles within its walls. In the first the King of Thomond sought refuge from Brian O’Brian and Macnamaras in the monastery after his defeat in 1365. The second battle occurred during the Desmond rebellion of 1579. In it Sir John of Desmond was defeated by Sir Nicholas Malby, who fought for the English. Malby then turned his can...

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...

In the tranquil valley of the River Mattock, a subsidiary of the Boyne, lie the noble ruins of Mellifont, the first Cistercian monastery to be established in Ireland. Founded in 1142 by St. Malachy, the monastery was consecrated amidst great pomp and ceremony in 1157 at a great national synod attended by seventeen bishops and the High King. The new monastic order was successful in re-introducing discipline into what has become a very lax Irish Church. Over forty other Cistercian monasteries w...

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....