The haunting ruins of Ireland’s great monasteries

[Vox Clara]

From Aleteia:

The haunting ruins of Ireland's great monasteries


Daviddphotos | CC BY-SA 4.0

Lucien de Guise - published on 03/17/21

Havens of charity and learning during the early and high Middle Ages, Ireland's monasteries later became victims of their own success.

Ireland's monasteries were thriving before England had acquired the rudiments of Christianity. Often built in remote or inaccessible places – to get away from the world – these Irish religious communities became the place to which the world turned. They were havens of charity and learning during the early Middle Ages, and prospered even more in the medieval era.

But by 1500 years ago, Irish monasteries had already become victims of their own success. First the Vikings, then the English raided them for their wealth and sometimes destroyed them at the same time. These marauders were nothing compared to the officially sanctioned destruction of the 16th century. Henry VIII "dissolved" every religious house in England, and as many as he could in Ireland. What hadn't been wiped out by King Henry was destroyed a century later by Oliver Cromwell.

Local Irish landowners tried to keep the monks, nuns and friars from harm, sometimes preventing the obliteration of their buildings too. Little could be done to preserve the contents of these often immense stone structures. Great libraries and ecclesiastical art collections were looted or burnt. It is mostly the shells of this magnificence that remain today.




Athassel Priory
Athassel Abbey in County Tipperary, the largest medieval priory in Ireland, was built for Augustinian monks in the 12th century.  It burned down in 1447.
© EW wikitestaccountlogin | CC BY-SA 4.0




Muckross Abbey
Muckross Abbey, located in in the Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Ireland, was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary. It was burned down by Oliver Cromwell's troops in 1652.
© Daviddphotos | CC BY-SA 4.0




Fore Abbey
Fore Abbey was a Benedictine Abbey, founded by St. Feichin in the 7th century. At one point as many as 300 monks lived there. Many of the ruins the remain date to the 15th century. Over the centuries, it was burned down 12 times, but was rebuilt each time. At last in 1539 the last Prior, William Nugent, surrendered to the English King Henry VIII, who ordered the abbey to be destroyed.
© SE Keenan | CC BY-SA 4.0




Bective Abbey
Bective Abbey was a Cistercian abbey in the Irish midlands founded in 1147 by Murchadh O Melaghlin, king of Meath. It was dissolved in 1536 by order of Henry VIII.
© Klennon77 | CC BY-SA 4.0




Mellifont Abbey
Mellifont Abbey was the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland. It was founded in 1142 by St. Malachy of Armagh, and was home to monks sent by St. Bernard from Clairvaux, France. In 1152, it hosted the Synod of Kells-Mellifont, and was dissolved in 1539.
© Brholden | Public Domain




Jerpoint Abbey
The church at Jerpoint Abbey dates to c.1160-1200 and is one of the most intact Cistercian monasteries in Ireland. It was dissolved in 1540.
© Andreas F. Borchert | CC BY-SA 4.0




Corcomroe Abbey
Founded in the late 12th century, Corcomroe Cistercian abbey is located in Burren, County Clare. Constructed of local limestone, the Romanesque abbey features fine stone carvings attributed to a group of artisans from western Ireland known as the "School of the West." In 1554, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the abbey was transferred to private hands, but the monks continued to tend the fields and maintain the abbey. The last abbot, Fr. John O'Dea, a monk of Salamanca, was appointed in 1628.
© Andreas F. Borchert | CC BY-SA 4.0

[Lynne]

Beautiful and heart-breaking.

[Instaurare omnia]

From Aleteia:
These marauders were nothing compared to the officially sanctioned destruction of the 16th century. Henry VIII "dissolved" every religious house in England, and as many as he could in Ireland. What hadn't been wiped out by King Henry was destroyed a century later by Oliver Cromwell.

Little could be done to preserve the contents of these often immense stone structures. Great libraries and ecclesiastical art collections were looted or burnt. It is mostly the shells of this magnificence that remain today.

Ah yes, that era of charming design known forevermore as "Reformation Architecture".

[Instaurare omnia]

The map below is of England rather than Ireland. The image quality isn't the best, but it does give an impression of how densely sited these monasteries were back then. Oh, to live in a world where a monastery might be glimpsed on any daytrip, and to know that so many religious were nearby praying for the good of us all.





P.S. More here at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42614/42614-h/42614-h.htm

[Goldfinch]

The map below is of England rather than Ireland. The image quality isn't the best, but it does give an impression of how densely sited these monasteries were back then. Oh, to live in a world where a monastery might be glimpsed on any daytrip, and to know that so many religious were nearby praying for the good of us all.

Before its unhappy downfall, England was one of the jewels of Christendom. A rose of Mary.

[awkward customer]

England was known as 'Mary's Dowry' during the Middle Ages.

Dowry of Mary (or Dowry of the Virgin, Our Lady's Dowry, and similar variations) is a title used in Catholic contexts to refer to England. It dates back to medieval times and had become widespread by the middle of the fourteenth century. It reflects the deep devotion to Mary that existed in medieval England, and the belief that she took a particular protective interest in the country's affairs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry_of_Mary

What kind of hate led to the destruction of those Irish abbeys?  They must have been beautiful. They still are.

[diaduit]

England was known as 'Mary's Dowry' during the Middle Ages.

Dowry of Mary (or Dowry of the Virgin, Our Lady's Dowry, and similar variations) is a title used in Catholic contexts to refer to England. It dates back to medieval times and had become widespread by the middle of the fourteenth century. It reflects the deep devotion to Mary that existed in medieval England, and the belief that she took a particular protective interest in the country's affairs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry_of_Mary

What kind of hate led to the destruction of those Irish abbeys?  They must have been beautiful. They still are.

Cromwell

[Prayerful]

It should be noted that numerically most monasteries survived Henry and the Tudors. There were some 200 when James I became king. Sligo (site of one of the few in situ altars) survived even Oliver Cromwell's ravages with the Dominicans dwelling in the ruins and later moving to their present location not too far away. The one way system in Sligo makes navigation a bit annoying tho. There's Dumbrody Abbey, which is very well preserved. Unlike most, it was never used as a church or burial site, so it is devoid of the usual things found in most monastic ruins. After the last Abbot Devereux became the Anglican archbishop it was a residence and later passed by marriage to its present owners.