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MELLIFONT    ABBEY, 

GO.  LOUTH: 


h  ||ttitt$   anil    A^%ti(mUu. 


A     GUIDE 

AND 

POPULAR     HISTORY. 


•  A  house  of  praj'er,  once  consecrate 
To  God's  high  service — desolate  ! 
A  ruiu  where  once  stood  a  shrine  ! 
Bright  with  the  Presence  all  divine  I" 

(}V.  Chalterton  Dix.) 


i'ermtssu  superiorum. 


^ublis^jb  bg 
JAMES    DUFFY    &    CO.,    Ltd.,    DUBLIN, 

FOR 

THE    CISTERCIANS, 

MOUNT   ST.  JOSEPH   ABBEY,    ROSCRL'A. 

1897. 


prinlfb  bii 
Edmund  Burke  &  Co., 

6l    &    62    GREAT    STRAND    STREET,     DUBLIN. 


Annex 
INTRODUCTION. 


In  the  following  pages  an  attempt  is  made  to  describe 
the  ruins  of  Mellifont  as  they  now  appear,  and  to  explain 
the  uses,  or  probable  uses,  that  the  buildings  yet  remain- 
ing must  have  served  when  the  monks  dwelt  there. 
Obviously,  some  important  structural  alterations  were 
made  when  changing  the  venerable  Abbey  into  a  fortified 
residence  ;  nevertheless  the  ruins  exhibit,  on  the  whole, 
the  characteristics  of  the  primitive  plan  and  style  in 
which  Mellifont,  as  well  as  all  the  Cistercian  monasteries 
both  in  this  country  and  on  the  Continent,  were  built. 
The  explanation  is  founded  on  reliable  authority,  being 
gleaned  from  most  authentic  sources,  such  as,  Les  Monu- 
ments Primitifs  de  La  Regie  Cistercienne,  which  is  a 
copy  of  the  Rule  drawn  up  by  the  Founders  of  the 
Order ;  the  Monasticon  Cisterciense ;  Violet  Le  Due ; 
Juhainville,  Etudes  sur  VEtat  interieur  des  Abbayes 
Cisterciennes  au  XII.  et  au  XIII.  siecle ;  Meglinger, 
Iter  Cisterciense ;  La  Vie  de  Saint  Bernard,  by  Vacan- 
dard,  etc. 

As  no  Records,  or  Chronicles  of  Mellifont  now  exist, 
the  historical  part  of  the  compilation  has  been  derived 
from  different  sources,  chiefly  from  our  old  Annals — The 
Annals  of  the  Four  Masters;  those  of  Boyle,  of 
St.  Mary's  Abbey,  Dublin;  Clyn  and  Douiing's ;  and 
of  Clonmacnois ;  Ware's  Bishops,  etc. ;  the  Miscellaiiy  of 

2057981 


vi  PREFACE. 

the  ArchcGological  Society;  Ussher's  Sylloge ;  Morrin's 
Calendars  of  Patent  Rolls,  etc.  The  part  relating  to 
disciplinary  subjects  was  drawn  principally  from  Martene's 
Thesaurus  Anecdotorum,  Vol.  IV.,  which  contains  the 
Decrees  of  the  General  Chapter  of  the  Cistercian  Order, 
also,  from  the  Constitutiones  et  Privilegia,  Menologium, 
and  the  Fasiculus  Sanctoruni  Ordinis  Cisterciensis, 
by  Henriquez ;  Originum  Cisterciensium,  tom.  I ,  Jan- 
auschek  ;  VHistoire  de  La  Trappe,  Gaillardin,  etc.  The 
vindication  of  monks  in  general,  from  the  aspersions  cast 
on  them  by  their  enemies,  and  the  facts  appertaining  to 
the  Rebellion  of  1641,  are  borrowed  exclusively  from 
Protestant  sources, — Dugdale's  Monasticon  Anglicanum, 
Tanner's  Kotitia  Monastica,  Maitland's  Dark  Ages, 
Leiand's  History  of  Ireland,  Temple's  History  of  the 
Insurrection,  1641,  Tichborne's  History  of  the  Siege  of 
Drogheda,  Carte's  Ormond,  etc. 

These  by  no  means  exhaust  the  list  of  authors  con- 
sulted and  ^^tilised,  but  they  show  how  far  apart  the 
pieces  lay  which  have  been  stitched  together  to  form  a 
consecutive  narrative.  The  compiler  has  endeavoured  to 
compress  the  matter  into  the  smallest  possible  space  in 
order  to  make  the  little  book  accessible  to  all  at  a 
moderate  price ;  and  he  has  preferred  to  allow^  others  to 
speak  rather  than  to  thrust  his  own  opinions  on  the 
reader.  Finally,  he  has  borne  in  mind  throughout,  the 
trite  saying,  Magna  est  Veritas  et  prwvalebit. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  PAGE 

THE   RUINS  ......  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

bT.  MALACHY   FOUNDS   MELLIFONT  .  .  .33 

CHAPTER  III. 

AN  EPITOME  OF  THE  RULE  OBSE*RVED  AT  MELLIFONT  AT 
ITS  FOUNDATION,  AND  FOR  ABOUT  A  CENTURY  AND 
A   HALF  AFfERWARDS  .  .  .  .41 

CHAPTER  IV. 

MELLIFONT   TAKES   ROOT  AND   FOUNDS  NEW  HOUSES  OF 

THE   ORDER       .  .  .  .  .  .50 

CHAPTER  V. 

MELLIFONT  CONTINUES  TO  FLOURISH  UNDER  SUCCESSIVE 

EMINENT   SUPERIORS     .  .  .  .  .58 

CHAPTER  VI. 

MELLIFONT   IN   TROUBLOUS   TIMES  .  .  .         67  • 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   SUPPRESSION   OF  MELLIFONT  .  .  .85 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

MELLIFONT  BECOMES  THE  HOME  OF  A  NOBLE  FAMILY — 

IS  SOLD,  AND  IS  DELIVERED  UP  TO  RUIN  AND  DECAY      101 


APPENDIX. 

I. — LIST   OF   ABBOTS   OF  MELLIFONT.                 .  .128 

II. — CHARTER   OF   NEWRY         .                 .                .  .129 

III. — INVENTORY   OF   ESTATES   OF  MELLIFONT  .       131 


fist  0f  Illustrations. 


General  View  op  Mellifont 
Plan  of  Clairvaux 
Plan  of  Mellifont  Abbey 
Gateway  (Porter's  Lodge)    . 
North  Window  of  Chapter- House 
Doorway  of  Chapter-House 
Interior  of  Chapter- House  . 
Interior  of  Lavabo  (Octagon) 
Arch  of  Lavabo  (Octagon)  . 
South  Wall  of  Lectorium    . 


Frontispiece 
At  p.  4 


15 
19 
23 
35 
43 
47 
63 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY, 

CO.  LOUTH: 

Its   3^uius   antr   Associations, 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   RUINS. 


"Look,  stranger  ;  where  these  stones  in  ruin  lie. 
Here  in  the  old,  grey  times  a  holy  thing 
Rose  up — a  cloistered  pile  ;  but  time  swept  by 
And  smote  the  sanctuary  with  his  reckless  wing." 

(From  the  Swedish,  by  J.  E.  D.  Bethune.) 


F  the  many  historic  ruias  which  dot  our 
country  and  attest  its  former  greatness, 
few  attract  so  much  attention,  and  invite 
so  close  a  study  as  our  monastic  remains, 
pre-eminent  amongst  which  are  those  of  the 
ancient  historic  Abbey  of  Mellifont.  In  count- 
less pages  of  our  Annals  the  name  appears.  In 
the  records  of  sieges,  battles  and  insurrections,  from  the 
day  on  which  a  colony  of  St.  Bernard's  monks  from  world- 
famed  Clairvaux,  came  and  settled  in  its  tranquil  valley, 
till  having  passed  through  many  vicissitudes,  as  an  abode 
of  piety  and  wide-spread  beneficence,  it  became  a  baronial 
residence,  and  finally  lost  its  prestige  as  the  site  of  a  mill, 
whose  remains  contrast  incongruously  with  those  of  such 
a  precious  memorial. 

And  what  was  Mellifont  ?  It  was  the  first  house  of  the 
Cistercian  Order  in  Ireland ;  founded,  endowed  and  en- 
riched by  native  princes  and  saintly  prelates  ;  the  mother 

A 


i  ME1>L1F0NT   ABBEY, 

of  saints  and  scholars ;  and  at  one  time,  the  admiration  of 
our  land,  as  a  gem  of  rare  architectural  beauty. 

Before  going  back  to  the  shadowy  past,  let  us  endea- 
Tour  to  trace  amongst  its  ruins  the  outlines  of  the  ancient 
buildings,  and  to  explain  the  special  use  and  meaning  of 
each  in  the  monastic  economy,  when  white-robed  monks 
trod  its  cloisters,  and  knelt  and  prayed  before  the  altars 
in  its  church.  Each  of  the  Cistercian  churches  and 
monasteries  was  built  upon  a  uniform  plan,  with  some 
slight  modifications,  arising  perhaps  in  all  instances  from 
peculiarities  of  site  and  local  difficulties.  Around  the 
whole  pile  of  monastic  buildings,  and  girdling  an  area  of 
some  thirt}'  acres  or  more,  comprising  gardens,  orchards, 
meadows,  ran  a  high  wall,  called  the  "Enclosure  Wall," 
which  served  to  isolate  the  denizens  of  the  cloister,  and 
prevent  as  far  as  possible  all  ingress  of  the  world.  En- 
trance within  the  precincts  of  the  monastery  was  obtained 
through  a  spacious  and  lofty  gate-house  occupied  by  a 
trusty  Lay-Brother,  whose  duty  it  was  to  receive  visitors, 
and  dispense  hospitality  to  the  poor  and  the  way-farer  ; 
thus  he  formed  a  connecting  link  between  his  brethren 
within  and  the  world  without,  from  which  they  were  cut 
ofif.  Extending  on  either  side  of  this  gate-house,  or 
"  Porter's  Lodge,"  as  it  was  known  in  monastic  language, 
was  a  range  of  buildings  for  the  exclusive  use  of  strangers 
of  every  grade.  There  were  the  Hospice  proper,  an 
infirmary  for  the  sick  poor,  with  stabling  also,  in  the 
immediate  vicinity,  for  the  horses  of  travellers  : — 

"  Whoever  passed,  be  it  barou  or  squire, 
Was  free  to  call  at  the  abbey  and  stay ; 
No  guerdon  or  gift  for  bis  lodging  pay, 
Tuough  he  tarried  a  week  with  its  holy  choir." 

The  old  tower  which  is  passed  as  one  approaches  the 
ruins  of  Mellifont,  was  the  "Porter's  Lodge,"  and  right 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  S 

under  it  ran  the  avenue  which  led  to  the  abbey,  but 
which  was  converted  into  a  mill-race  when  Mellifout  had 
reached  its  last  stage  of  degradation.  The  present  road- 
way was  constructed  in  order  to  give  access  to  the  mill. 
The  remains  of  old  walls  can  still  be  traced  stretching  on 
both  sides  of  the  tower,  and  prove  its  ancient  purpose  in 
connection  with  Cistercian  usage,  as  described  above. 
Some  gate-houses  of  Continental  monasteries,  which  have 
till  now  subsisted  intact  from  the  eleventh  or  twelfth 
century,  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  this  one  at 
Mellifont.  That  of  Aiguebelle,  in  particular,  near  Grignan, 
in  the  Department  of  Drome,  France,  most  closely 
resembles  it. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  pile  of  buildings  once 
occupied  and  enclosed  the  whole  space  from  the  old  gate- 
way to  the  church,  forming  a  rectangle,  of  which  the 
church  was  the  fourth  side.  The  precise  purposes  these 
buildings  served  at  Mellifont  can  now  be  only  conjectured; 
for,  in  different  monasteries,  local  wants  determined  in  a 
great  measure  the  allocation  of  this  site  to  uses  which 
varied  with  the  circumstances  of  each  community.  That 
is  not,  however,  to  be  understood  of  what  are  called  the 
"  Regular  Places  ;".  for  these  were  held  to  be  indispensable, 
and  occupied  almost  the  same  position  in  every  monastery. 
The  intervening  space  here  between  the  gate-house  and 
the  church  is  now  covered  over  with  the  debris  of  ancient 
buildings,  which  local  tradition  says  once  occupied  the 
side  of  the  hill  on  which,  and  about  where,  a  few  modern 
cottages  now  stand. 

Approaching  nearer  to  the  ruins,  a  modern  mill  obtrudes 
itself  upon  the  scene,  and  one  cannot  help  wishing  it 
transported  beyond  the  plane  of  his  observation.* 

*  The  "  Tourist  Company  "  have  recently  fitted  up  a  compartment 
of  the  old  mill,  where  a  cheap  and  substantial  lunch  can  be  had  by 
visitors  who  may  desire  it. 


4  MKLLIFOiNT   ABBEY. 

Arrived  at  what  is  now  the  entrance  gate,  the  visitor 
beholds  in  front  of  hiin  the  four  remaining  sides  of  what 
was  once  an  octagonal  building,  and  somewhat  nearer  on 
his  left,  a  small  roofless  edifice.  These  are  commonly,  but 
erroneously,  called  the  "  Baptistery  "  and  "  St.  Bernard's 
Chapel."  Their  true  purposes  shall  be  explained  further 
on.  Immediately  at  his  feet  now,  extend  the  sites  of 
the  church,  and  of  the  once  magnificent  cloisters.  Of 
these  latter  not  a  trace  remains,  except  a  mere  outline  on 
the  green  sward,  and  a  few  squares  of  concrete  to  indicate 
the  position  once  occupied  by  them.  The  plan  of  the 
church  extends  to  right  and  left :  the  western  portion  of 
the  nave  running  towards  the  river  (see  Plan),  and  the 
entire  length  is  dotted  at  intervals  with  blocks  which 
mark  the  sites  of  the  piers.  These  concrete  blocks  were 
laid  by  order  of  Sir  Thomas  Deane,  under  whose  direction 
the  excavations  were  made  here  some  few  years  ago. 
The  length  of  the  nave  cannot  now  be  ascertained  with 
certainty,  but  judging  from  the  position  occupied  by 
some  very  old  w^alls  at  the  south-western  side,  it  may  be 
roughly  stated  to  have  been  120  feet  ;  while  54  feet 
6  inches  was  the  width  of  the  whole  church,  including 
the  aisles.  These  latter  were  each  10  feet  wide.  The 
nave  had  seven  bays,  and  like  all  Cistercian  churches,  it 
was  divided  into  two  parts  by  the  Rood-loft  and  Choir- 
screen,  which  stood  about  midway.  This  Rood-loft 
served  a  twofold  purpose ;  on  it  was  a  lectern,  where  the 
Lessons  of  the  night-offices  were  read  by  the  monks  in 
rotation,  and  thereon  the  Abbot  announced  the  Gospel 
proper  to  each  festival,  chanting  or  reading  it,  according 
as  the  office  was  sung  or  merely  recited,  after  which,  with 
crosier  in  hand,  he  gave  his  solemn  benediction.  It 
answered,  too,  as  a  partition  between  the  choir  of  the 
monks  and  the  stalls  of  the  Lay  Brethren ;  the  former  on 


i 


Entrance. 

11.   Former  Novitiate. 

Abbot's  House. 

12.  Cloisters. 

Guest  House. 

13.  Stairs  to  Dormitory. 

Stablea. 
Churcb. 

14.  Calefacl-ory. 
I.'5.   Refectory. 

IB.  Kitchen. 

Cull  for  Books  (Common  Box). 

17.  Lavabo  (Octagon). 

The  amplcr^o 

Dormitory. 

18.  Cemetery. 

19.  St.  Bernard's  Cell. 

Piirloiir, 

20.  The  Prior's  Chambers. 

23.  Lesser  CloUter. 

34.  Hall  for  Thesea. 

2.5.  Theological  Sciiool. 

26.  Intirmary. 

27.  Common  Room  of  the  Infiri 


6  MELLIFONT    AHBKY. 

the  eastern,  the  latter  on  the  western  side  of  it.  This 
Choir-screen  formed  a  sort  of  reredos  to  the  two  altars, 
which  were  invariably  found  in  this  position  in  the 
churches  of  the  Order.  On  these  altars  were  offered  up 
daily  Masses  for  living  and  deceased  benefactors — a 
practice  which  continues  in  the  Order  and  which  dates 
back  to  the  foundation  of  the  Cistercian  Institute. 
Further  west  was  a  tribune  or  gallery,  where  guests  and 
the  dependants  of  the  monastery  assisted  at  Divine 
Service,  Office  and  Mass.  Inside  the  Rood-loft,  was  the 
Choir  proper,  which  extended  thence  to  the  Chancel,  or 
"  Presbytery  Step,"  as  it  is  called  in  monastic  parlance. 
A  small  space  was  provided  between  the  Choir  and  the 
Chancel,  in  order  to  allow  a  passage  to  those  who  pro- 
ceeded from  the  Sacristy  to  the  High  Altar  within  the 
Chancel.  Two  rows  of  stalls  ran  down  on  each  side  the 
length  of  the  nave.  These  stalls  were  generally  of  carved 
oak,  and  were  artistically  tinished.  The  outer  rows  were 
for  the  novices,  and  the  backs  of  their  stalls  formed  the 
desks  used  by  the  professed  monks,  whereon  they  rested 
the  ponderous  tomes  containing  the  sacred  psalmody. 
During  the  High  Mass  the  stalls  next  the  Chancel  were 
used,  and  the  place  of  honour,  that  is,  the  first  stall  on 
the  Epistle,  or  south  side,  was  given  to  the  Abbot.  The 
Prior,  as  second  superior,  occupied  the  first  on  the 
opposite,  or  Gospel  side.  The  other  monks  according  to 
seniority  occupied  the  stalls  on  either  side.  On  the  other 
hand,  at  Matins  and  at  all  the  offices,  except  that  in 
connection  with  High  Mass,  the  Abbot's  and  Prior's 
stalls  were  farthest  from  the  Chancel,  and  next  the  Rood- 
loft,  and  the  order  of  the  monks  was  reversed.  In  token 
of  his  jurisdiction  the  Abbot's  crosier  was  fixed  at  his 
stall.  The  Cistercian  monks  call  this  Rood-loft  the 
''Jube"  from  the  first  word  spoken  by  the  reader  when 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  7 

he  asks  the  blessing  before  commencing  the  Lessons. 
The  whole  nave  here  at  Mellifont  seems  to  have  been 
paved  with  beautiful  tiles ;  a  few  of  which  may  yet  be 
seen  in  their  position  near  the  great  pier  on  the  north 
side.  At  the  intersection  of  the  transept  with  the  nave, 
is  the  space  called  the  "  Crossing,"  or  "  Lantern."  Over 
this  rose  the  bell-tower,  which  was  supported  on  solid 
piers,  from  two  of  which  sprang  the  Chancel  arch,  and 
from  the  two  others,  that  of  the  nave.  These  piers  were 
formed  of  clustered  columns,  but  their  remains  (about 
live  feet  high),  vary  both  in  dimensions  and  in  style, 
manifesting,  thereby,  the  partial  renovation  that  took 
place  from  time  to  time.  The  material  of  which  the 
whole  building  was  constructed  is  a  butf-coloured  sand- 
stone not  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Mellifont,  but  brought, 
it  is  said,  from  Kells,  some  twenty  miles  away ;  a  thing 
not  very  difficult,  seeing  that  the  river  is  so  convenient. 
Some,  again,  are  of  opinion  that  the  stone  was  brought 
from  Normandy ;  which  seems  to  be  improbable. 

The  total  length  of  the  transepts  is  116  feet;  the  width 
54  feet.  The  northern  one  is  some  four  feet  longer  than 
the  southern.  They  seem  to  have  had  aisles,  an  unusual 
arrangement  in  churches  of  the  Order.  In  the  northern 
transept  were  six  chapels,  the  piscinas  of  which  are  still 
to  be  seen  in  the  piers  adjoining.  The  number  of  these 
piscinas  cannot  fail  to  strike  one  as  something  very 
singular.  Their  presence  is  accounted  for  in  this  way. 
At  the  date  of  the  foundation  of  Mellifont  and  for 
centuries  later,  it  was  the  custom  for  priests  of  the  Order 
to  wash  their  hands  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  before  com- 
mencing Mass,  the  server  pouring  water  on  his  hands, 
which  he  dried  with  a  towel  that  had  been  previously 
laid  on  the  altar.  The  water  used  was  then  cast  into  the 
piscina.     It  was  also  the  custom  with  them,  at  that  time. 


S  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

to  descend  from  the  altar  when  they  had  consumed  the 
Sacred  Species  out  of  the  chalice  and  to  wash  their 
fingers  over  the  piscina. 

This  northern  transept  seems  to  have  been  a  favourite 
spot  for  interments;  for  during  the  excavations  numerous 
skulls  were  found  there.  At  Clairvaux,  the  corresponding 
site  was  strewn  with  the  graves  of  bishops,  who  selected 
it  as  the  place  wherein  to  rest  after  life's  weary  struggle. 
No  record  or  memorial  of  these  survives,  or  of  any  of  the 
dead  interred  at  Mellifont,  to  point  out  the  occupant  of 
a  single  grave.  In  the  northern  wall  of  this  transept  is  a 
beautiful  door-way  with  jambs  of  clustered  columns.  Hard 
by,  the  wall  was  pierced  to  make  a  loop-hole  when  Mellifont 
was  transformed  into  a  fortress.  On  one  side  of  the  door- 
way are  the  remains  of  what  must  once  have  been  a  superb 
chapel ;  on  the  opposite  side  are  a  few  steps  of  a  spiral 
stair-case,  formed  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  which  led 
up  to  the  tower,  as  is  to  be  seen  at  Graignamanagh, 
Co.  Kilkenny,  and  other  houses  of  the  order  in  Ireland. 
The  level  of  the  floor  here  is  some  five  or  six  feet  lower 
than  the  adjacent  road-way  which  was  raised  by  the 
accumulated  rubbish  of  former  buildings  that  extended 
along  the  hill-side  where  the  cottages  now  stand. 

The  southern  transept  may  have  had  its  six  altars  also. 
The  aisle  seems  to  have  been  built  up,  and  when  the 
alterations  which  took  place  in  the  whole  fabric  in  the 
fifteenth  century  were  made,  a  large  portion  of  this 
transept  would  appear  to  have  been  allocated  to  the  uses 
of  a  sacristy.  No  trace  of  a  sacristy  remains  elsewhere, 
and  this  would  be  a  very  convenient  place  to  utilise  as 
one.  The  remains  of  some  walls  lead  us  to  suppose  such 
an  arrangement  probable.  In  Cistercian  monasteries,  a 
stair-case  in  this  transept  near  the  cloister  led  thence  to 
the  dormitory,  but  no  remains  of  such  a  stairs  have  been 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  9 

discovered  at  Mellifont.  When  Sir  Thomas  Deane  had 
the  earth  and  rubbish,  or,  as  he  calls  it,  the  "  grassy 
mound,"  removed,  he  discovered  the  foundations  of  two 
semi-circular  chapels  in  each  transept,  in  a  line  with  the 
site  occupied  by  the  High,  or  principal  Altar.  (See  the 
dotted  lines  in  the  Ground  Plan).  Describing  them,  Sir 
Thomas  writes  :  "  Within  the  circuit  of  the  external  walls 
are  the  foundations  of  an  earlier  church  which  indicate 
four  semicircular  chapels,  and  two  square  ones  between. 
Of  this  church  we  have  no  distinct  record,  but  the  bases 
of  semi-detached  pillars  would  indicate  the  date  given  for 
the  erection  of  Mellifont."  These  four  semi-circular 
chapels  in  line  with  the  High  Altar,  formed  an  exact 
counterpart  of  the  church  of  Clairvaux  which  was  erected 
in  1135,  and  which  by  St.  Bernard's  express  wish,  served 
St.  Malachy  as  the  model  for  Mellifont. 

The  chancel  terminated  in  a  square  end,  and  was  42 
feet  deep  by  26  feet  wide.  It  was  raised  about  six  inches 
over  the  floor  of  the  nave,  and  a  slab  of  limestone 
extended  the  entire  width  with  which  the  tiled  pavement 
was  flush.  Almost  in  the  centre  of  the  chancel,  that  is 
to  say,  nearly  midway  between  the  two  piers,  are  two 
sockets  sunk  in  sandstone  blocks.  What  uses  they  served 
cannot  be  affirmed  wath  certainty.  However,  it  may  be 
conjectured  that  they  served  to  receive  the  supports  on 
which  a  violet  curtain  was  suspended  during  Lent,  screen- 
ing the  "  Sanctuary."  This  curtain  spanned  the  space 
from  pier  to  pier.  The  custom  is  still  preserved  in  the 
Order.  Here  on  this  central  spot,  a  lectern  was  placed,  at 
which  the  sub-deacon  at  Solemn  Masses  sang  the  Epistle. 
Here,  too,  the  celebrant  of  the  Community  Mass  on 
Sundays  blessed  the  water  with  which  he  sprinkled  the 
brethren,  who  presented  themselves  two  by  two  before 
him.      It   was    here,   also,    that    the  Abbot  blessed  the 


10  MELLIFOIST   ABliEY. 

candles,  ashes,  and  palms,  on  Candlemas-day,  Ash  "Wednes- 
day, and  Palm  Sunday  respectively.  This  was  called  the 
"  Presbytery  Step,"  and  the  whole  space  within  the 
chancel,  the  "  Sanctuary." 

The  basis  on  which  the  High  Altar  was  built  still 
remains.  It  is  distant  some  few  feet  from  the  eastern 
wall,  in  order  to  allow  a  passage  for  the  monks,  who  on 
Sundays  and  Festivals  received  Holy  Communion  at  this 
altar,  after  which  they  walked  around  it  in  single  file,  and 
passing  on  by  the  Gospel,  or  northern  corner,  returned  to 
their  stalls  in  the  nave.  The  basis  is  ten  feet  long 
by  three  and  one  half  feet  wide.  On  the  Epistle,  or 
southern  side,  are  the  piscina  surrounded  with  a  dog- 
tooth moulding,  and  the  remains  of  the  sedilia  or  stalls, 
which  were  occupied  by  the  celebrant,  deacon,  and  sub- 
deacon  at  High  Mass.  Under  these  sedilia  a  tomb  was 
discovered  during  the  excavations.  A  skull  and  some 
bones,  together  with  a  gold  ring,  were  raised  from  their 
resting-place  ;  the  bones  were  replaced  and  covered  with 
the  slab  of  concrete  now  seen  at  this  spot,  but  the  ring 
was  sold  by  a  workman  and  could  never  be  recovered. 
No  inscription  or  tradition  identifies  the  occupant  of  the 
hallowed  grave.  Could  it  have  been  that  of  the  famous 
Dervorgilla?  She  was  certainly  buried  at  Mellifont,  but 
unfortunately,  we  do  not  know  the  spot  where  her 
remains  were  laid  when  "  life's  fitful  fever"  was  over  ;  or 
it  may  have  been  the  resting-place  of  Thomas  O'Connor, 
or  of  Luke  Netterville,  both,  successively,  Archbishops  of 
Armagh  ;  for  they,  also,  were  buried  at  Mellifont. 

On  the  opposite,  or  Gospel  side,  is  an  arched  recess 
having  an  ornamental  moulding  around  it.  This  would 
seem  to  have  been  the  Founder's  tomb,  or  rather,  the 
remains  of  it.  In  the  Cistercian  Constitutions  no  special 
place  was  allotted  for  the  tombs  of  Founders,  and  only  the 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  11 

indefinite  permission  was  given,  that  they,  kings  and 
queens,  bishops  and  such  like  exalted  dignitaries,  might 
be  buried  within  the  churches  of  the  Order.  A  general 
custom,  however,  prevailed  in  Ireland  of  appropriating  to 
the  Founder's  tomb  a  space  iu  the  northern  wall  of  the 
chance],  and  directly  at  right  angles  with  the  High  Altar. 
Others,  besides  Founders,  were  buried  on  the  north  side 
in  the  chancel.  Thus,  in  the  Annals  of  St.  Mary's 
Abbey,  Dublin,  we  are  told  that  Felix  O'Ruadan,  who 
had  been  a  great  benefactor  to  that  house,  was  buried  in 
the  chancel  of  the  abbey  church,  on  the  north  side. 
And  Felix  O'Dullany,  the  first  Abbot  of  Jerpoint,  and 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Ossory,  was  interred  on  the  north 
side  of  the  High  Altar,  at  Jerpoint. 

The  door  on  this  side  of  the  chancel  is  a  puzzle,  as  in 
no  other  church  of  the  Order  is  one  found  in  this  position. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  a  building  having  adjoined  with 
which  this  door  communicated,  so  that  its  use  is  un- 
known. Quite  close  to  this  door  there  is  a  shallow  recess 
in  the  wall,  which  may  have  been  a  provision  for  the 
Abbot's  throne,  when  he  officiated  pontifically,  as  that 
is  the  site  usually  occupied  by  it.  Some  five  or  six  feet 
high  of  the  chancel  walls  is  all  that  is  left  standing ;  and, 
though  not  up  to  the  window  level,  what  remains  of  the 
cut  stone  and  water-tabling  gives  an  idea  of  the  beauty 
of  the  whole,  and  what  a  loss  we  have  sustained  by  its 
destruction. 

In  the  original  church,  that  is,  the  one  erected  in  St. 
Malachy's  time,  there  were  ten  altars  we  are  told,  but  on 
the  ground  plan  seven  only  are  shown.  Two  more  at 
least  were  in  front  of  the  Rood-loft  or  Juhe,  and  the 
remaining  one  very  probably  was  in  one  of  the  aisles. 
The  church  of  Mellifont  was  remarkable,  not  so  much  for 
its  vast  dimensions,  as  for  its  architectural   beauty  ;  yet, 


12  MELLIFOiNT    AJilJEY. 

in  this  it  was  surpassed  by  St.  Mary's  Abbey,  Dublin. 
Sir  Thomas  Deane  writes :  "  From  the  fragments  of  the 
church  which  remain,  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  vicissi- 
tudes the  building  underwent.  I  have  great  doubt  that 
any  portions  of  the  structure  above  ground  are  those  of  the 
earliest  church  erected  on  the  site,  or  date  as  far  back  as 
1157,  which  is  given  as  the  year  of  its  consecration.  .  .  . 
The  details  of  the  piers  (the  older  ones)  are  in  my 
opinion  a  century  or  more  later  in  date.  They  still  indi- 
cate a  foreign  type,  and  the  arrangements  and  obvious 
plan  show  that  the  transepts  as  well  as  the  nave  had 
aisles.  .  .  .  Portions  of  the  piers  discovered  are  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  other  parts  of  the  church  of  the  four- 
teenth. ...  A  second  portion  dates  probably  from 
1260,  another  from  1370,  and  another  from  1460.  I  am 
not  prepared  to  follow  from  the  history  of  the  Abbey  the 
causes  of  such  restorations  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  rebuild- 
ings  of  portions  of  the  church  occurred  from  time  to  time, 
and  that  violence  or  decay  was  the  cause."  Neither  to 
violence  nor  to  decay  can  the  alterations  be  attributed, 
which  the  church  underwent  at  the  three  periods 
mentioned  by  Sir  Thomas,  but  rather  to  the  practice  then 
common  to  the  whole  Order,  chiefly  in  the  monasteries  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  of  adopting  the  advancing 
changes  in  the  Gothic  style,  and  to  the  laudable  efforts  of 
the  monks  to  make  the  House  of  God  worthy  of  Him  as 
far  as  art  and  skill  could  be  made  subservient  to  that 
purpose.  Thus  in  the  Annals  of  Fountains  and  Furness, 
there  are  abundant  proofs  of  this  constant  change  going 
on  in  those  monasteries  even  down  to  the  date  of  their 
suppression.  One  Abbot  considered  the  eastern  window 
too  low  and  narrow,  and  had  it  enlarged;  another  thought 
the  tower  rested  on  too  slender  a  basis,  and  he  built 
substantial  piers  and  flanked  them  on  the  outside  with 
buttresses,  and  so  with  others. 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  IS 

To  better  understand  the  surroundings,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  bear  in  mind  the  general  plan  on  which  all 
Cistercian  monasteries  were  built.  On  this  subject  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  misapprehension,  even  on  the  part  of 
those  who  seem  to  have  given  close  attention  to  the 
matter.  The  church  and  buildings  necessary  for  large 
communities  were  so  arranged  as  to  form  a  square, 
thereby  combining  simplicity  with  economy.  It  is  said 
that  the  monks  borrow^ed  this  idea  from  the  form  of  a 
Roman  villa.  The  church  formed  the  first  or  northern 
side  (for  in  temperate  and  cold  climates  the  other  build- 
ings, as  tbey  lay  to  the  south,  were  sheltered  by  the 
church.)  The  sacristy,  chapter-house,  and  other  halls  were 
on  the  east ;  the  calefactory,  refectory,  and  kitchen  on 
the  south ;  and  the  Domus  Conversorum  completed 
the  square  on  the  west.  Within  this  square  were  the 
cloisters,  always  contiguous  to  the  main  buildings,  and 
forming  a  communication  with  all  the  parts  of  the 
monastery.  Tbey  were  a  sort  of  covered  ambulatory,^ 
whose  roof  rested  on  the  one  side  against  the  main 
buildings,  and  on  the  other  was  supported  by  open  orna- 
mental arcades,  which,  however,  in  these  climates  were 
glazed.  The  cloisters  were  often  vaulted  iu  richly 
moulded  stonework,  and  were  fitted  up  with  benches  for 
reading,  chiefly  on  the  side  adjoining  the  church.  The 
space  or  quadrilateral  area  enclosed  by  them  was  called 
the  Cloister- Garth,  in  the  centre  of  which  a  statue  or 
handsome  fountain  stood. 

The  cloisters  were  generally  entered  fz'om  the  church 
by  the  south  aisle,  at  the  point  where  it  adjoins  the 
transept;  but  here,  at  Mellifont,  the  entrance  was  direct 
from  the  south  transept  itself.  This  a  glance  at  the 
ground-plan  will  show;  though  it  may  have  been  otherwise 
in  the  primitive  church  ;  for,  when  it  underwent  altera- 


14  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

tions,  the  transepts  were  widened  by  the  addition  of  an 
aisle  to  each  ;  and,  the  cloister  being  thus  encroached  on, 
a  change  was  necessary  in  it  also. 

Adjoining  the  transept,  and  at  right  angles  with  the 
cloister,  on  the  left,  was  a  narrow  hall  or  cell  which 
contained  books,  chiefly  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers.  This  cell,  which  had  no 
window,  was  called  the  "  Armarium  Commune,"  or 
"Common  Box;"  for  its  contents  were  common  to  all 
the  monks.  Its  situation  was  convenient  to  the  reading- 
cloister,  which  lay  along  the  south  wall  of  the  church. 
In  this  cell  the  monks  were  provided  with  an  abundant 
supply  of  good  books,  but  treatises  on  the  Canon  and 
Civil  Laws  were  forbidden  to  be  kept  in  it :  the  Prior 
was  charged  with  the  custody  of  these.  Behind  this 
cell,  and  communicating  only  with  the  church,  the 
Sacristy  was  placed ;  but,  as  before  observed,  there  is  no 
trace  of  one  here.  Some  writers  on  monastic  ruins, 
confidently  assure  their  readers  that  this  cell  was  a 
prison,  and  that  it  was  called  the  "Lantern;"  casting 
upon  the  monks  all  responsibility  for  the  name,  and 
supposing  them  to  have  formed  it  on  the  lucits  a  non 
lucendo  principle,  seeing  the  cell  was  dark.  The  error 
was  all  their  own  ;  for  the  Lantern,  as  has  been  already 
shown,  was  in  the  tower  over  the  crossing  of  the  church  ; 
and  the  true  use  of  this  cell  has  just  been  stated  above. 

Here  (at  Mellifont),  in  close  proximity  to  the  transept, 
is  the  ruined  two-storied  building  we  saw  as  we  ap- 
proached, and  which,  from  its  present  striking  appearance, 
must  have  been  one  of  the  most  beautiful  within  the 
ancient  abbey's  precincts.  This  is  commonly,  but 
erroneously,  known  as  "  St.  Bernard's  Chapel."  Why 
it  was  reputed  to  have  been  a  chapel,  must  be  from  the 
close  resemblance  it  bears  to  one.     It  was,  in  reality,  the 


From  Photo  by  W.  Lawrence,  Dublin. 

Gate\7ay  (Porter's  Lodge.)    See  page  2. 


IG  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

Chapter-house.  That  it  was,  is  quite  evident  to  anyone 
who  has  studied  the  plans  of  Cistercian  monasteries : 
(a),  from  the  position  it  occupies,  and  (h),  from  the 
internal  arrangement  and  decorations  such  as  are  found 
in  other  like  edifices  of  the  Order  in  Ireland.  A  stone 
bench  ran  around  the  inside  of  the  building,  and  which, 
when  covered  with  a  rush  mat,  served  as  a  seat  for  the 
monks.  In  Graignamanagh  Abbey,  Co.  Kilkenny,  the 
ancient  Chapter-house  still  remains,  closely  resembling 
this  one  at  Mellifont,  both  in  style  and  ornamentation,  as 
well  as  in  dimensions.  The  historic  Chapter-house  of 
St.  Mary's  Abbey,  Dublin,  which  was  unearthed  a  few 
years  ago,  exhibited  in  every  detail  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  this  also.  That  at  Graignamanagh  was 
remarkable  for  its  beauty.  At  the  entrance  to  it  from 
the  cloister,  was  a  magnificent  arched  doorway,  con- 
taining within  it  three  smaller  arches  of  blue  marble, 
beautifully  carved.  A  grand  central  column,  called  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  district,  the  "  Marble  Tree," 
supported  the  roof.  It  stood  eight  feet  high  from  base  to 
capital,  whence  the  branches  spread  to  meet  the  corre- 
sponding ribs  on  the  groined  roof. 

Sir  William  Wilde  describes  the  Chapter-house  at 
Mellifont,  as  he  saw  it  in  1850.  He  says :  "  It  must 
have  been  one  of  the  most  elegant  and  highly  em- 
bellished structures  of  the  Norman  or  Early  English 
pointed  style  in  Ireland."  He  calls  it  a  Crypt ;  for  it 
Avas  overlaid,  and  surrounded  up  to  a  high  level  by  heaps 
of  rubbish.  He  goes  on  to  say :  "  It  has  a  groined  roof 
underneath  another  building  evidently  used  for  domestic 
purposes,  and  was  probably  part  of  the  Abbot's  apart- 
ments. The  upper  room,  which  contains  a  chimney, 
must  have  been  a  pleasant,  cheerful  abode,  and  its 
windows    commanded    a   charming    prospect    down    the 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  17 

valley,  with  a  view  of  the  distant  hills  peeping  up  from 
the  south-west.  The  building  is  30  feet  long,  by  19  feet 
wide.  There  are  no  remains  of  muUions  or  tracery  of 
the  east  window.  At  present,  there  are  two  lights  on 
each  side;  but  upon  a  careful  examination  of  the 
masonry  both  within  and  without  the  building,  it  is,  we 
think,  apparent  that  in  the  original  plan,  the  upper 
window  on  each  side  alone  existed,  the  others  being 
evidently  subsequent  innovations.  The  original  windows* 
are  still  beautiful,  deeply  set,  and,  though  their  stone 
mullions  are  rather  massive,  each  forms,  with  the  tracery 
at  the  top,  a  very  elegant  figure.  The  internal  pilasters, 
which  form  an  architrave  for  the  northern  window, 
spring  from  grotesque  heads,  elaborately  carved,  and 
which  appear  as  if  pressed  down  by  the  superincumbent 
weight.  A  fillet  of  dog's-tooth  moulding  surrounds  the 
internal  sash.  A  projecting  moulding  courses  round  the 
wall,  about  two  feet  from  the  ground,  which,  while  it 
dips  dowm  to  admit  the  splayed  sill  of  the  upper  or 
original  windows,  continues  unbroken  by  the  lower  ones, 
an  additional  proof  that  the  latter  did  not  exist  in  the 
original  plan  of  the  building.  Three  sets  of  short 
clustered  columns,  four  feet  high,  one  in  the  centre,  and 
one  in  each  angle,  spring  from  this  course,  and  terminate 
in  elaborately  carved  floral  capitals,  which  differ  slightly 
one  from  the  other.  The  centre  rod  of  this  cluster 
descends  as  far  as  the  floor.  From  these  spring  the  ribs, 
which  form  the  groining  of  the  roof.  .  .  .  The  grand 
architectural  feature,  and  most  elaborate  piece  of  carving, 
was  the  door-way,  formed  of  a  cluster  of  columns,  very 
deeply  revealed  on  the  inside,  but  apparently  plain  on 
the  outside.   .   .   .  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  western  end 

*  See  Illustrcalion,  p.  19. 


18  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

has  fallen,  so  that  nothing  but  the  foundations  of  this 
very  splendid  door-way  now  remain.  A  figure  of  it 
has,  however,  been  preserved  in  Wright's  Louthiana 
(reproduced  here),*  published  in  1755,  where  we  read 
that  it  was  'all  of  blue  marble,  richly  ornamented  and 
gilt,'  but  '  which,'  the  author  adds,  '  I  was  informed  was 
sold  and  going  to  be  taken  to  pieces  when  I  was  there.' 
All  the  pillars  and  carved  stone  work  of  this  building 
were  at  one  time  painted  in  the  most  brilliant  colours, 
the  capitals  light  blue,  the  pillars  themselves  red ; 
portions  of  this  paint  still  remain  in  the  curves  and 
amongst  the  foliage." 

The  Chapter-house  i*  is  little  changed  since  Sir  William 
Wilde  penned  the  foregoing,  and  time  seems  to  have 
dealt  leniently  with  this  magnificent  ruin.  One  of  the 
windows  has  had  its  mullions  restored  under  the  Board 
of  Works  ;  a  number  of  curious  objects — capitals,  corbels, 
and  portions  of  arches  and  cut  stone,  flooring  tiles,  etc., 
has  been  collected  there,  and  a  gate  to  guard  them  has 
been  erected  by  Mr.  Balfour,  the  owner  of  the  ruins  and 
surrounding  property.  It  is  very  dubious  that  the  upper 
story  ever  served  as  a  part  of  the  Abbot's  lodgings,  as 
these  are  generally  found  further  east.  This  room  may 
have  been  the  muniment  room.  It  has  two  port-holes 
remaining,  relics  of  the  days  when  Mellifont  was  turned 
into  a  fortified  castle,  and  the  cry  of  fierce,  contending 
men  was  heard  on  this  hallowed  spot,  over  the  graves  of 
the  sainted  dead.  In  the  first  volume  of  The  Dublin 
Fenny  Journal,  there  are  very  interesting  articles  from 
the  pen  of  a  Mr.  Armstrong,  a  native  of  the  locality. 
He  tells  us  that  this  Chapter-house  was  converted  into  a 
banqueting-hall  by  the  Moore  family,  and  that  in  his 
time  (1832),  it  was  used  as  a  pig-sty. 

*  See  IllustKition,  p.  23.  +  See  Illustration,  p.  35. 


From  Photo  ^y  ^-  Laiorence,  Dubli7i. 

North  Window  or  Chapter-Hocse.     See  p.  17. 


20  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

Another  account  of  the  fate  of  the  beautiful  arched 
door-way  of  blue  marble  is,  that  it  was  lost  at  a  game  of 
piquet,  and  the  lucky  winner,  whose  name,  unfortunately, 
has  not  been  handed  down  to  us,  had  it  removed  to  his 
mansion,  and  set  up  as  a  chimney-piece.  The  floor  of  the 
Chapter-house  is  now  laid  with  some  of  the  tiles  which 
were  found  in  the  church  during  the  excavations,  in  order 
to  preserve  them  from  destruction  or  appropriation  by 
"  relic-hunters."  Abbots,  generally,  chose  the  Chapter- 
house of  their  abbeys  for  their  burial  place ;  but,  as  no 
grave  was  found  here,  when  the  rubbish  was  removed, 
during  the  excavations,  we  may  conclude  that  the  Abbots 
of  Mellifont  were  buried  either  in  the  church,  or  in  the 
cemetery  with  their  monks. 

The  glazed  tiles  and  their  manufacture  were  a 
specialty  with  the  old  Cistercians,  in  these;  countries. 
Similar  tiles  are  seldom  met  with  amongst  the  ruins  of 
other  churches.  Here  at  Mellifont,  those  found  are  red 
and  blue,  and  the  vast  majority  have  the  legend  Ave 
Maria  inscribed  on  them  ;  others  are  impressed  with  a 
Fleur  de  lis,  a  cock,  or  some  typical  device.  It  is  Avell 
known,  that  specimens  of  tiles  found  at  Fountains,  in 
Yorkshire,  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  these.  There, 
the  motto  of  that  monastery  was  impressed  on  the  tiles 
discovered — "Benedicite  fontes Domino'^ — "Ye  fountains 
bless  the  Lord."  No  doubt,  here,  too,  some  bore  the 
motto  of  Mellifont,  if  only  they  could  be  found. 

A  very  pertinent  question  arises  now  :  how  could  this 
small  building  give  sitting  accommodation,  not  only  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  monks,  which  this  monastery  is 
said  to  have  had,  but  even  to  a  third  of  that  number  ? 
It  seems  impossible.  It  may  be  that,  on  becoming 
numerous,  they  used  as  Chapter-house  some  other 
building    no    longer  standincr.      At    Graignamanagh,  the 


MELLIFONT    ABBEY.  21 

monks,  finding  their  Chapter-house  too  SQiall,  converted 
the  eastern  window  of  it  into  a  door,  and  built  a  large 
and  spacious  hall,  as  a  new  Chapter-house,  the  old  one 
sersring  as  an  ante-chamber  to  it.  No  such  addition  had 
been  made  here ;  for  the  window  remains  intact. 

What  a  change  has  come  over  this  grand  old  Chapter- 
house since  it  saw  its  Abbot,  who  ranked  as  a  peer  of 
the  realm,  walk  up  its  centre  with  solemn  and  stately 
tread,  and  mount  the  steps  which  led  to  his  seat,  on  the 
east ;  and  the  grave  assemblage  of  white-robed  monks 
enter  in  silence,  and  take  their  places  on  either  side, 
while  one  of  them  sang  at  the  Lectero,  the  Martyrology, 
and  a  chapter  of  St.  Benedict's  Rule !  From  this 
custom  of  having  a  chapter  of  the  E,ule  sung  there  every 
morning,  this  apartment  derives  its  name.  In  the 
interval,  between  the  singing  of  the  Martyrology  and  the 
chapter  of  St.  Benedict's  Rule,  one  of  the  priests  gave 
out  certain  prayers,  to  which  all  responded.  These 
prayers  were  chiefly  petitions  to  the  Lord,  that  He 
would  deign  to  bless  and  guard  them  during  the  coming 
day ;  for  the  hour  of  chapter,  or  of  the  assembling  of  the 
Brethren,  was  generally  aboitt  6  am.  The  Abbot  then 
explained  the  chapter  which  had  been  sung,  dwelt  on 
the  obligations  incumbent  on  his  hearers,  by  their 
profession,  to  observe  the  teaching  which  St.  Benedict 
inculcated  by  his  Rule ;  then  called  for  the  public  self- 
accusations  of  breaches  of  monastic  discipline  (external 
faults  only),  and  imposed  penances  commensurate  with 
each  transgression.  The  Chapter-house  was  the  hall 
wherein  were  held  the  deliberations  or  councils  relative 
to  the  administration  of  temporalities,  and  here  novices 
were  elected  or  rejected  by  secret  ballot. 

On  leaving  the  Chapter-house  one  finds  himself  again 
on  the  site  of  the  eastern  walk  or  alley  of  the  Cloister,  as 


22  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

it  is  called,  and  proceeding  along  it  southward,  one  sees 
a  wall  some  seven  or  eight  feet  high  without  door  or 
window  of  any  sort.  It  is  doubtful  that  this  was  portion 
of  the  ancient  building;  for  then  Mellifont  would  not 
have  followed  the  general  plan  of  all  the  houses  of  the 
Order.  That  it  was  not  one  of  the  original  buildings  is 
probable,  both  because  the  masonry  is  more  modern,  and 
the  remains  of  an  old  building  running  at  right  angles  with 
it  were  found  when  the  excavations  were  made  a  few 
years  ago  in  the  potato  garden,  at  the  rere  of  this  wall. 
That  old  structure  measured  about  fourteen  feet  wide. 
It  is  shown  on  the  ground  plan.  In  the  plan  of  Clair- 
vaux,  of  which  Mellifont  is  said  to  have  been  a  counter- 
part, a  long  narrow  hall  ran  off  the  Cloister  here,  parallel 
with  the  Chapter- house.  It  was  called  the  "Auditorium" 
or  "  Parlour."  It  was  there  that  each  choir  monk's  share 
in  the  manual  labour  was  assigned  him  every  day  by  the 
Prior.  There,  too,  confessions  were  heard,  and  the  monks 
might  speak  to  the  Prior  or  Abbot  on  necessary  matters ; 
for  the  adjoining  Cloister  was  a  place  of  strict  silence. 
As  at  Clairvaux,  the  novitiate  was  placed  further  south 
where  the  novices  Avere  trained  in  their  duties  by  a 
learned  and  experienced  monk,  who,  according  to  St. 
Benedict,  "  would  know  how  to  gain  souls  to  God." 

Over  the  buildings  on  the  ground  story,  that  is,  over 
the  Sacristy,  Chapter-house,  Parlour,  and  Novitiate,  was 
the  Dormitory,  which  was  entered  by  a  stair-case,  in  the 
south-eastern  angle  of  the  transept,  on  one  side,  and  by 
another  stairs  at  the  junction  of  the  east  and  south  walks 
of  the  Cloister.  When  the  monastery  at  Mellifont  was 
changed  and  remodelled  after  Clairvaux  (for  this  latter 
underwent  a  substantial  change  in  1175),  the  monks  mav 
have  used  the  old  Parlour  as  a  passage  leading  to  other 
buildings  which  covered  that  plot  of  ground  beyond  the 


i^lJ':slj4l--.--».v-.--v'---!MiJl«aJ 


A.  Scntt  d-  Son,  Architects..  Drorjheda. 

Doorway  of  CHAVTER-HofsE.     See  p.  IS. 


24  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

Cliapter-house,  now  a  potato  garden.  In  the  plan  of 
Clairvaux,  all  the  space  in  that  direction  is  covered  with 
buildings.  (See  plan  of  Clairvaux.)  In  the  general  view 
of  Mellifont,  given  in  frontispiece,  the  plot  whereon  these 
buildings  stood  is  that  where  the  man  is  seen  tilling  the 
garden.  But  if  one  ascend  the  hill,  keeping  close  to  the 
ruins,  it  will  be  evident  how  suitable  a  place  it  was  for 
building  on,  and  the  remains  of  walls  peep  up  here  and 
there  over  the  surface.  The  level  at  that  spot  is,  indeed, 
much  higher  than  in  the  Cloister,  or  Chapter-house,  but 
that  is  partially  caused  by  the  debris  of  ruined  buildings 
which  has  accumulated  there. 

At  the  extreme  end  of  this  eastern  walk  of  the  Cloister 
and  at  right  angles  with  it,  are  the  remains  of  what  was 
once  a  spacious  building.  It  had  a  fire-place  at  the 
eastern  end,  and  a  door  which  led  out  into  another  build- 
ing that  formely  adjoined  it.  It  is  96  feet  long  by  36 
feet  wide.  No  idea  can  be  formed  now  as  to  its  original 
use.  In  some  monasteries  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries,  chiefly  the  more  considerable  ones,  there  was  a 
spacious  room  or  hall  located  as  this  was,  and  furnished 
with  benches  and  writing-desks,  where  the  monks  studied 
and  wrote.  It  was  called  the  "  Lectorium"  or  Beading 
room.  It  must  not,  however,  be  confounded  with  the 
Scriptorium,  which  was  the  official  quarters  of  the  copyist. 
It  is  well  to  remark  here  that  the  plot  of  ground  lying 
north  of  this  building  was  not  dug  up  during  the  excava- 
tions, but  only  skimmed  over  in  order  to  trace  the  course 
of  some  walls  which  at  intervals  appeared  above  the 
surface ;  but,  even  this  slight  investigation  was  sufficient 
to  reveal  the  outlines  of  numerous  buildings  that  once 
extended  in  that  direction  and  covered  that  whole  area. 
Again  comparing  the  site  with  Clairvaux,  we  find 
that  the  Infirmary  and  its  surroundings  would  lie  in  that 
direction. 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  25 

At  the  extreme  end  of  the  easleru  walk  of  the  Cloister 
wliere  it  joins  the  southern  one,  are  the  remains  of  a 
stairs,  Avhich  formerly  led  up  to  the  Dormitory  from  this 
part  of  the  monastery,  as  at  Clairvaux.  Near  it  is  what 
is  commonly  called  a  vault,  an  arched  chamber  measuring 
sixteen  feet  by  fourteen.  It  has  a  chimney,  and  it 
would  seem  to  have  had  a  narrow  window  also  on  the 
outer  or  southern  end.  Here  is  where  the  Calefactory 
stood  in  almost  all  the  old  Cistercian  monasteries.  This 
Calefactory  was  heated  by  a  stove,  at  which  the  monks 
warmed  themselves  after  their  long  vigils  in  winter ; 
but  their  stay  there  was  restricted  to  one  quarter  of  an 
hour.  Pope  Eugenius  III.,  when  a  monk  at  Clairvaux, 
under  St.  Bernard,  had  charge  of  the  stove  there,  as  was 
commemorated  by  an  inscription  over  the  door  of  the 
Calefactor}'.  A  son  of  the  King  of  France  discharged 
the  same  lowly  office  afterwards  at  Clairvaux,  as  the 
Annals  of  the  Order  testify. 

Adjoining  this  vault  is  a  covered  passage,  having  an 
entrance  into  the  next  building,  which  runs  parallel  with 
it.  Its  purpose  cannot  now  be  known.  It  may  be  that 
the  vault  or  Calefactory  had  been  converted  in  later 
times  into  a  store-room  for  necessaries  which  were  brought 
thence  by  this  covered  way  into  the  Refectory,  which  is 
the  next  building.  The  Refectory  measures  4S  feet  by 
24.  A  few  coarse  flags  remain  in  their  original  position, 
from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  whole  floor  was 
once  formed  of  them.  In  its  western  wall  was  the  turn- 
stile, through  which  the  food  was  served  from  the 
kitchen  that  adjoined  the  Refectory  on  that  side. 

Now,  we  come  to  the  great  puzzle,  the  remains  of 
the  octagon  building,  which  was  commonly  called  the 
Baptistery.  Sir  William  Wilde,  who  saw  it  as  it  was  in 
1848,  calls  it  the  oldest  and  by  far  the  most  interesting 


26  MELLIFONT   ABHKY. 

architectural  remains  in  the  whole  place ;  and  he  goes  on 
to  describe  it :  *  "  This  octagonal  structure,  of  which  only 
four  sides  remain,  consists  of  a  colonnade  or  series  of 
circular-headed  arches,  of  the  Roman  or  Saxon  character, 
enclosing  a  space  of  29  feet  in  the  clear,  and  supporting 
a  wall  which  must  have  been,  when  perfect,  about  30 
feet  high.  Each  external  face  measures  12  feet  in  length, 
and  was  plastered  or  covered  with  composition  to  the 
height  of  10  feet,  where  a  projecting  band  separates  it 
from  the  less  elaborate  masonry  above.  The  arches  -f-  are 
carved  in  sandstone,  and  spring  from  foliage-ornamented 
capitals,  to  the  short  supporting  pillars,  the  shaft  of  each 
of  which  measures  3  feet  5  inches.  The  chord  of  each 
arch  above  the  capitals  is  4  feet  3  inches.  Some  slight 
difference  is  observable  in  the  shape  and  arrangement  of 
the  foliage  of  the  capitals,  and  upon  one  of  the  remaining 
half  arches  were  beautifully  carved  two  birds ;  but  some 
Goth  has  lately  succeeded  in  hammering  away  as  much 
of  the  relieved  part  of  each,  as  it  was  possible.  The 
arches  were  evidently  open,  and  some  slight  variety 
exists  in  their  mouldings.  Internally  a  stone  finger- 
course  encircled  the  wall,  at  about  six  inches  higher  than 
that  on  the  outside.  In  the  angles  between  the  arches 
there  are  remains  of  fluted  pilasters  at  the  height  of  the 
string-course,  from  which  spring  groins  of  apparently  the 
same  curve  as  the  external  arches,  and  which,  meeting  in 
the  centre,  must  have  formed  more  or  less  of  a  pendant, 
which,  no  doubt,  heightened  the  beauty  and  architectural 
effect.  Like  the  pillars  and  stone  carvings  in  the 
Chapter-house,  this  building  was  also  painted  red  and 
blue,  and  the  track  of  the  paint  is  still  visible  in  several 
places.  The  upper  story,  which  was  lighted  by  a 
window  on  each  side  of  the  octagon,  bears  no  architectural 

*  Hee  Illustration,  p.  jn.  t  See  Illustration,  p.  47. 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  27 

embellishment  which  is  now  visible."  He  then  adds, 
how  Archdall,  in  his  Monasticon,  asserted  that  a  cistern 
was  placed  on  the  upper  story,  whence  water  was 
conveyed  by  pipes  to  the  different  parts  of  the  monastery  ; 
hut  shows  how  such  an  arrangement  would  have  been 
impossible,  on  account  of  the  weakness  of  the  walls,  and 
the  position  of  the  windows. 

This  building  was  known,  in  monastic  terminology,  as 
the  "  Lavabo."  A  fountain  of  water  issued  in  jets  from 
a  central  column,  and  fell  into  a  basin,  in  which  the 
monks  washed  their  hands,  before  entering  the  Refectory 
for  their  meals.  It  is  quite  easy,  from  the  construction 
of  the  roof,  to  imagine  a  number  of  branches  springing 
from  the  capital  of  the  column,  and  meeting  the  ribs  of 
the  groined  roof,  in  the  same  manner,  as  the  "Marble 
Tree,"  in  the  Chapter-house  of  Graignamanagh.  Drains 
in  connection  with  this  building  were  discovered  when 
the  excavations  were  made,  and  Sir  Thomas  Deane  is  of 
opinion,  that  it  was  surrounded  on  the  outside  by  a 
wooden  verandah,  or  shed.  Certainly,  in  the  plan  of 
Clairvaux,  a  low  building  is  shown,  adjoining  the  Lavabo, 
at  its  east  and  west  ends;  but  no  use  is  assigned  it. 
Very  probably  it  was  the  Lavatory.  Petrie  thinks  the 
Lavabo  may  have  been  built  as  far  back  as  1165,  but 
that  can  hardly  be  held ;  for  Clairvaux  had  not  been 
remodelled  till  1175,  and  it  had  no  such  ornamental 
structure  in  the  time  of  St.  Bernard,  ^e  remarks,  too, 
that  fragments  of  bricks  were  discovered  in  the  building, 
and  says  they  were  never  employed  earlier  in  any  other 
building  in  Ireland.  It  is  now  certain,  that  it  was  the 
monks  of  Mellifont  who  first  manufactured  bricks  in  this 
country.  This  Lavabo  was  not  isolated  or  detached  from 
the  Cloister,  but,  as  at  Clairvaux,  a  door  led  from  one 
into  the  other,  opposite  the  entrance  into  the  Refectory; 


2f:j  MELLIFONT  AHBKY. 

and,  sioce  the  excavations,  portions  of  the  door-way  are 
visible.  Some  small  shafts  and  their  bases  remain. 
Even  at  the  present  day,  in  one  of  the  most  recently 
constructed  monasteries  of  the  Order  (near  Tilburg, 
Holland),  what  might  be  termed  a  semi-octagonal  Lavabo, 
having  its  fountain  and  basin,  has  been  built.  It  answers 
the  same  purpose  as  those  in  ancient  times. 

By  keeping  the  Lavabo  before  one's  mind,  one  can  form 
an  idea  of  the  Cloister  itself;  which,  consisting  of  arcades, 
closely  resembled  this  in  every  detail,  except  that  these 
were  glazed,  and  in  all  probability  its  walks  had  a  lean-to 
roof.  The  site  of  the  east  walk  of  the  Cloister  is  easily 
traced,  and  the  places  occupied  by  the  piers  being  now 
concreted,  mark  their  positions.  This  eastern  walk  was 
21  feet  6  inches  wide.  The  opposite,  or  western  one,  was 
some  19  feet  6  inches  ;  that  on  the  south,  14  feet ;  and  the 
north  one,  adjoining  the  church,  and  which  was  usually 
the  Reading-Cloister,  may  also  have  been  14  feet.  Thus, 
we  would  have  an  enclosed  space  or  Garth,  100  feet  square. 

Beside  the  Refectory  lay  the  Kitchen,  which  was  a  small 
building,  and  around  it  are  the  ruins  of  smaller  structures, 
which  may  have  been  store-rooms  in  connection  with  it. 
Under  the  Kitchen  ran  a  copious  stream  of  water  which 
carried  off  all  the  refuse.  It  is  remarkable  that  at 
Clairvaux  similar  remains  are  found  in  exactly  the  same 
position  relatively  to  the  Kitchen  there.  With  the 
Cistercians,  the  Kitchen  was  always  square ;  with  the 
Benedictines,  it  was  round.  To  the  rere  of  the  Kitchen, 
and  almost  directly  opposite  the  covered  passage,  is  the 
old  well  which  was  covered  over  for  a  long  time,  but  was 
discovered,  and  re-opened  in  1832.  Near  it  a  portion  of 
the  old  wall  fell  in,  but  the  masonry,  owing  to  the  singu- 
larly cohesive  character  of  the  mortar,  holds  together 
despite  the  action  of  the  elements. 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  29 

Of  the  western  walk  of  the  Cloister  no  trace  remains, 
and  only  a  tottering  wall  of  the  Domus  Conversorum, 
which  once  adjoined  it,  is  standing.  There  is  no  trace 
either  of  the  northern  walk,  though  this  was  the  most 
important  of  all.  There  the  monks  read  and  copied,  in 
cells  called  "  carrols,"  which  were  placed  near  the  windows. 
When  not  employed  in  chanting  the  Masses  and  Offices  in 
the  church,  or  busied  with  domestic  concerns,  or  working 
in  the  fields,  the  monks  passed  all  their  intervals  here 
occupied  with  study.  The  Abbot  had  a  chair  here  also ; 
and,  from  a  raised  pulpit  opposite  it,  one  of  the  monks 
read  aloud  every  evening,  the  lecture  before  Compline,  at 
which  the  whole  community  assisted. 

Turning  westward  and  approaching  the  Eiver  Mattock, 
we  enter,  at  the  left,  an  enclosed  space,  bounded  by  the 
river  on  one  side,  and  by  the  remains  of  the  outer  wall  of 
the  Domus  Conversorum  on  the  other,  we  find  ourselves 
in  a  potato  garden,  which,  on  close  observation,  appears 
strewn  with  pieces  of  bones.  This  was  "God's  Acre"  at 
Mellifont,  the  cemetery  of  the  monks.  Some  forty  or 
fifty  years  ago,  a  Scotchman,  who  then  rented  the  mill  and 
a  farm  adjoining  it,  perceiving  that  the  clay  of  this  old 
cemetery  was  particularly  rich  and  loamy,  dug  a  spit  off  it 
a  foot  deep  or  more,  and  carted  it  out  on  his  fields  for 
top-dressing.  Amongst  the  stuff  so  carted  were  human 
bones  of  all  kinds,  skulls,  etc. ! ! !  This  was  done  in  a 
Christian  land,  and  no  protesting  voice  was  raised  against 
the  horrid  profanation  ! !  The  cemetery  is  shown  in  the 
general  view  at  the  extreme  left,  where  the  plot  of  ground 
appears  laid  out  in  ridges  and  surrounded  by  a  wall. 

The  Eiver  Mattock  flows  peacefully  still  by  the  old 
abbey  as  it  did  over  seven  centuries  ago,  when  its  course 
being  first  arrested,  it  was  harnessed  and  compelled  to 
take  its  share  in  many  useful  and  profitable  industries. 


80  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

One  old  solitary  yew  tree  casts  its  shadow  on  its  water 
and  bears  it  company  amid  the  surrounding  ruin  and 
desolation — sad  and  sympathising  witnesses  of  Mellifont's 
fallen  greatness.  No  bridge  now  spans  the  river  here, 
though  formerly  it  was  probably  arched  over,  and  the 
slopes  upon  the  Meath  side  were  laid  out  in  terraces  and 
gardens.  The  present  mill  was  built  over  one  hundred 
years  ago,  together  with  some  out-offices;  the  latter, 
being  situated  almost  midway  in  the  nave  of  the  church, 
were  removed  when  the  excavations  were  made.  The 
mill  has  not  been  worked  during  the  last  thirty  years. 
When  Mr.  Armstrong  wrote  his  interesting  papers  on 
Mellifont,  in  the  Dublin  Penny  Journal,  1832-33,  a  few 
cabins  nestled  under  the  shadow  of  the  old  ruins. 

The  last  building  that  deserves  notice  is  the  small 
ruined  edifice  on  the  hill,  which,  after  the  suppression  of 
the  monastery,  was  used  as  a  Protestant  place  of  worsliip. 
Sir  William  Wilde  was  of  opinion  that  it  dates  from  the 
fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century.  The  western  gable  which 
rises  in  the  centre  into  a  double  belfry  contains  a  pointed 
door-way,  and  above,  but  not  immediately  over  this,  is  a 
double  round-arched  window.  One  small  narrow  light 
occupies  the  eastern  gable.  At  a  few  paces  in  front  of 
this  building  there  stood,  at  the  time  Sir  William 
examined  it,  two  very  plain  and  very  ancient  crosses,  one 
having  a  heart  engraven  on  it  encircled  by  a  crown  of 
thorns,  and  the  other  having  a  fleur  de  lis  on  the  arm. 
The  latter  cross  has  disappeared,  but  the  former  can  still 
be  seen  prostrate  on  the  ground,  in  that  half  of  the  old 
cemetery  beyond  the  road-way,  that  is,  on  the  side  to  the 
south.  After  the  suppression,  this  was  used  as  a  Protestant 
burial-ground,  though  the  presence  of  Catholic  emblems 
would  go  to  prove  that  it  was  once  Catholic.  Of  late 
years  the  interments  here  have  been  but  few.     We  are 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  31 

nowhere  told,  nor  does  any  tradition  still  linger  to 
indicate  the  former  use  of  this  ancient  building,  but  it  is 
most  probable,  that  it  was  the  church  in  which  the  tenants 
and  dependants  of  the  Abbey  assisted  at  Mass  and  other 
religious  functions — in  a  word,  that  it  was  the  parish 
church  of  Mellifont,  which  was  served  hy  the  monks. 
This  seems  to  be  the  most  likely  explanation  ;  for  the  law 
of  "  Enclosure,"  that  law  of  the  Church  which  debarred 
females  from  entering  within  the  monastic  enclosure, 
("Septa  monasterW^  as  it  is  called),  was  in  full  force  at 
the  Dissolution  of  monasteries,  as  appears  from  the 
Decrees  of  the  General  Chapters  of  the  Order  about  that 
time,  and  also  from  the  Episcopal  Registers  of  some  of  the 
English  dioceses  which  have  lately  been  published.  In 
these  latter  are  found  reports  of  the  bishops,  who,  either 
officially  or  by  delegation,  visited  some  monasteries  and 
adverted  to  the  law  of  enclosure  as  an  important  point  of 
monastic  discipline.  This  old  structure,  then,  would  have 
been  constructed  purposely  outside  the  wall  for  the  use  of 
the  tenants.  Such  a  chapel  is  still  to  be  seen  outside  the 
enclosure  at  Bordesley  Abbey,  an  old  Cistercian  monastery 
in  Worcestershire,  of  which  we  are  expressly  told,  that  it 
was  the  place  in  which  the  monks,  tenants,  domestics,  etc., 
attended  Mass.  Another  purpose  may  be  assigned  to  this 
old  chapel  at  Mellifont,  as  that  attached  to  the  College,  or 
Seminary,  which  once  flourished  there.  The  surrounding 
hill  is  locally  and  traditionally  known  as  College-Hill,  and 
the  old  road  which  passes  over  it  and  leads  to  Townley 
Hall,  is  called  the  College  Road. 

Little  more  remains  to  be  said  of  the  ruins  or  of  the 
site  itself.  Standing  on  this  hill  and  looking  into  the 
valley  beneath,  we  are  struck  by  its  singular  natural 
features.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  waters  of  the  Mattock 
had  been  suddenly  dammed  up,  and  that   the   pent-up 


82  MELLIFONT    ABBEY. 

waters,  bursting  their  barriers,  hollowed  out  this  sheltered 
little  valley,  after  the  angry  element  had  cleared  away  the 
rocks  and  other  obstructions ;  and  having  swept  it  clear  of 
the  rubbish,  made  it  a  fit  and  proper  place  whereon  to 
rear  a  temple  to  the  true  God,  in  which  praise  and  sacri- 
fice might  for  ever  be  offered  to  Him.  No  buildings  seem 
to  have  been  constructed  on  the  Meath  side,  as  no  traces 
of  them  remain.  In  this,  Mellifont  differed  from  Clair- 
vaux,  whose  buildings  filled  the  valley  and  spread  out 
wings  high  up  the  hills  on  either  side  of  the  River  Aube. 
Just  due  south  from  where  we  have  been  standing,  on 
the  hill,  and  distant  about  a  few  hundred  yards,  the  Guide 
will  show  a  singular  earth- work,  shaped. like  a  moat,  and 
having  an  elevated  mound  in  the  centre.  From  the 
presence  here  of  old  conduits  built  with  masonry,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  was  a  reservoir  to  contain  a 
copious  supply  of  water  which  flowed  from  wells  on  the 
hill.  Lower  down  than  this  moat,  that  is,  at  the  rere  of 
the  Chapter-house,  lies  buried  beneath  some  feet  of  soil 
the  Abbot's  house,  where  Mellifont's  puissant  rulers 
received  their  guests,  and  whose  hospitable  board  was 
honoured  by  the  presence  of  kings  and  bishops,  as  well  as 
chiefs  and  warriors  bold  in  all  their  pomp  and  panoply. 
It  is  doubtful  that  any  vestige  of  the  enclosure  wall 
remains,  nor  can  it  be  conjectured  even,  what,  or  how 
much,  space  it  embraced.  As  we  ponder  over  the  scene, 
Keats'  words  find  an  echo  in  our  hearts: — 

"  How  changed,  alas  !  from  that  revered  abode 
Graced  by  proud  majesty  in  ancient  days. 
Where  monks  recluse  those  sacred  pavements  trod,  - 
And  taught  the  unlettered  world  its  Maker's  praise." 


MELLTFONT   ABBEY.  33 


CHAPTER    II. 

ST.    MALACHY   FOUNDS   MELLIFONT. 

'Pray  for  my  soul.     More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  worhl  dreams  of.     Wherefore  let  thy  voice 
Rise  like  a  fountain  for  me  night  and  day, 
For  what  are  men  better  than  sheep  and  goats, 
That  nourish  a  blind  life  within  the  brain. 
If,  knowing  God,  they  lift  not  hands  of  prayer 
Both  for  themselves  and  those  who  call  them  friend  ? 
For  so  the  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 
Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God." 

(Lord  Tennijson. ) 

T  the  time  that  Saints  Robert,  Alberic,  and 
Stephen  Harding  were  laying  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Cistercian  Order,  in  the  dense 
forest  of  Cistercium,  or  Citeaux,  whence  the 
Order  derives  its  name,  or  to  be  more 
precise,  in  1098,  a  lovely  little  boy  eight  years 
old,  with  golden  hair  and  dove-like  eyes,  and 
■with  nobility  of  birth  stamped  in  every  lineament  of  his 
features,  was  playing  in  his  father's  chateau  at  Fontaines, 
near  Dijon,  in  France.  This  child  of  predilection  was  the 
great  St.  Bernard,  who  is  justly  styled  the  Propagator  of 
that  Order  which  was  then  in  a  struggling  condition.  It 
has  become  a  proverb,  "that  the  child  is  father  of  the 
man,"  and  a  very  clever  writer  exclaims — "  Blessed  is  the 
man  whose  infancy  has  been  watched  over,  kindled,  and 
penetrated  by  the  eyes  of  a  tender  and  holy  mother."  It 
was  St.  Bernard's  singular  privilege  to  have  such  a 
mother,   one  who  sedulously  watched  over  his  youthful 

c 


34)  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

days,  and  inspired  him  with  a  love  of  all  virtues.  Hence 
we  are  told,  that  even  in  early  childhood,  he  evinced  a 
love  of  piety  that  was  remarkable,  and  that  he  constituted 
his  mother  the  grand  model  which  he  was  hound  to  copy. 
He  considered  it  the  summit  of  his  ambition  to  do  all 
things  like  his  mother — to  pray  like  her,  to  give  alms  and 
visit  the  sick  poor  like  her;  for  this  noble  lady  was  wont 
to  go  along  the  roads  unattended,  carrying  medicine  and 
nourishment  to  the  indigent.  He  distinguished  himself 
at  the  public  school  where  he  received  his  education,  and 
returned  to  the  paternal  mansion  where  he  soon  after 
experienced  his  first  great  sorrow  in  the  death  of  his 
loving  mother.  He  was  now  approaching  manhood,  and 
he  must  needs  select  a  state  of  life  befitting  his  high 
birth.  At  that  time,  only  two  professions  were  worthy  of 
the  consideration  of  young  noblemen — the  Church  or  the 
Army.  With  Bernard's  distinguished  talents,  a  bright 
and  rosy  future  presented  itself  before  his  youthful 
imagination,  and  then  the  eloquent  persuasions  of  his 
relatives,  who  promised  him  their  powerful  patronage, 
were  not  wanting  to  arouse  his  ambition ;  but,  the  image 
of  his  saintly  mother  dispelled  all  dreams  of  promotion, 
and  her  pious  instructions,  which  sank  deep  into  his  young 
heart,  acted  as  potent  antidotes  against  the  allurements  of 
worldly  pomp  and  short-lived  honours.  After  much 
reflection  he  made  up  his  mind  to  renounce  ail  honours, 
and  to  become  a  monk.  By  his  irresistible  pleadings  he 
gained  over  his  four  brothers,  with  other  relatives  and 
friends,  to  the  number  of  thirty,  and  at  their  head, 
presented  himself  at  the  gate  of  the  Abbey  of  Citeaux, 
where  St.  Stephen  Harding  joyfully  admitted  them.  Two 
years  later  we  find  him  leaving  that  monastery  as  the 
Abbot  of  a  new  colony,  on  his  way  to  found  Clairvaux, 
being  then  in  his  twenty-fifth  year.     Here,  his  light  could 


36  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

no  longer  remain  hidden,  but  burst  forth  into  a  luminous 
flame  whose  splendour  aroused  and  powerfully  influenced 
the  whole  Christian  world.  The  Bishop  of  Chalons,  in 
whose  diocese  Clairvaux  was  situated,  was  the  first  to 
discover  the  transcendent  abilities  and  eloquence  of  the 
youthful  Abbot.  At  his  request,  St.  Bernard  consented  to 
deliver  a  course  of  sermons  in  the  churches  of  his  diocese, 
which  were  productive  of  incalculable  good,  and  spread 
the  fame  of  the  zealous  preacher.  Priests  as  well  as 
laymen,  attached  themselves  to  him  and  accompanied  him 
to  Clairvaux  on  his  return  from  those  missions.  One  of 
the  Saint's  biographers  cries  out — "  How  many  learned 
men,  how  many  nobles  and  great  ones  of  this  earth,  how 
many  philosophers  have  passed  from  the  schools  or 
academies  of  the  world  to  Clairvaux  to  give  themselves 
up  to  ihe  meditation  of  heavenly  things  and  the  practice 
of  a  divine  morality."  His  fame  reached  even  to  Ireland, 
and  we  are  told  that  in  this  country  the  little  children 
were  wont  to  ask  for  the  badge  of  the  Crusaders  which 
the  Saint  distributed.  In  a  word,  his  voice  was  the  most 
authoritative  in  Europe.  Kings  and  princes  dreaded  him, 
and  accepted  him  as  arbitrator  in  their  quarrels.  Even 
Popes  themselves  sought  his  counsel.  In  his  lifetime,  his 
own  disciple,  Bernard  of  Pisa,  occupied  the  Chair  of  Peter, 
as  Eugenius  III.  It  may  be  truthfully  said,  that  St. 
Bernard  reformed  Europe  and  infused  a  new  spirit  into 
the  monastic  orders.  Even  Luther  does  not  hesitate  to 
place  him  in  the  forefront  of  all  monks  who  lived  in  his 
time;  of  him  he  writes:  "Melius  nee  vixit  nee  scripsit 
quis  in  universe  coetu  monachorum." 

Whilst  the  Church  in  France  was  reaping  the  benefit 
of  the  holy  Abbot's  preaching  and  example,  a  zealous 
Irish  prelate  was  actively  and  successfully  eugaged  in 
eradicating  vice  which    sprang  up  in  this  country,  as    a 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  37 

consequence  of  the  long-protracted  wars  with  the  Danes, 
and  the  demoralising  effects  of  intercourse  with  that 
people.  Nevertheless,  Ireland  had  then  its  saints  and 
scholars,  and  the  ancient  seats  of  learning,  such  as 
Armagh,  Bangor,  Lismore,  Clonard,  and  Clonmacnoise 
were  once  more  inhabited  by  numerous  communities. 
This  saintly  prelate  was  St.  Malachy,  who,  being  on  his 
way  to  Rome,  heard  of  the  sanctity  of  the  great  St. 
Bernard,  and  would  fain  pay  him  a  visit.  This  visit 
would  St.  Malachy  have  gladly  prolonged  ;  for  then  and 
there  sprang  up  a  mutual  affection,  which,  writes  our  own 
Tom  Moore,  "  reflects  credit  on  both."  St.  Malachy  was 
so  enamoured  with  what  he  witnessed  at  Clairvaux,  and 
particularly  with  the  wise  discourses  of  the  learned 
Abbot,  that  he  determined  to  become  one  of  his  disciples. 
Innocent  IL,  who  then  ruled  the  flock  of  Christ,  on 
the  Saint  seeking  his  permission  to  retire  to  Clairvaux, 
would  not  hearken  to  his  request,  but  giving  him  many 
marks  of  his  esteem,  appointed  him  his  Legate  in 
Ireland,  and  commanded  him  to  return  thither.  If 
St.  Malachy  might  not  live  at  Clairvaux  in  the  midst  of 
the  fervent  men  whom  he  there  beheld  earnestly  intent 
in  the  great  work  of  mortification  and  expiation,  he 
resolved,  at  least,  to  have  a  colony  of  them  near  him  in 
his  own  country,  that  by  their  prayers  and  example,  they 
might  promote  God's  glory,  and  in  a  measure,  repeat  the 
glorious  traditions  of  the  ancient  monastic  ages  in 
Ireland.  In  furtherance  of  this  happy  project,  he  singled 
out  four  of  his  travelling  companions,  whom  he  gave  in 
charge  to  St.  Bernard,  with  these  words:  "I  most 
earnestly  conjure  you  to  retain  these  disciples,  and 
instruct  them  in  all  the  duties  and  observances  of  the 
religious  profession,  that,  hereafter  they  may  be  able  to 
teach    us."      On    receiving   an    assurance    of    a    hearty 


38  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

compliance  from  St.  Bernard,  he  took  cordial  leave  of  his 
friend  and  returned  to  Ireland.  Not  long  after  he  sent 
more  of  his  disciples  to  join  those  whom  he  had  already 
left  at  Clairvaux,  and  on  their  arrival,  St.  Bernard  wrote 
as  follows :  "  The  Brothers  who  have  come  from  a  distant 
land,  your  letter  and  the  staff  you  sent  me,  have  afforded 
me  much  consolation  in  the  midst  of  the  many  anxieties 
and  cares  that  harass  me.  .  .  .  Meanwhile,  according  to 
the  wisdom  bestowed  on  you  by  the  Almighty,  select  and 
prepare  a  place  for  their  reception,  which  shall  he 
secluded  from  the  tumults  of  the  world,  and  after  the 
model  of  those  localities  which  you  have  seen  amongst 
us."  The  place  selected  by  St.  Malachy  as  the  site  of 
the  future  monastery,  was  the  sequestered  valley  watered 
by  the  River  Mattock,  situated  about  three  and  one  half 
miles  from  Drogheda,  Co.  Louth,  and  much  resembling 
Clairvaux,  which,  too,  was  located  in  a  valley,  shut  in  by 
little  hills  on  all  sides.  Donogh  O'CarrolI,  Prince  of 
Oriel,  the  lord  of  the  territory,  freely  granted  the  site  to 
God  and  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  munificently  endowed  the 
monastery  with  many  broad  acres,  and  supplied  wood 
and  stone  for  the  erection  of  the  buildings.  This  grant 
was  made  in  either  1140  or  1141.  The  charter  of 
endowment  by  O'Carroll  has  not  been  found. 

It  would  appear  from  another  letter  of  St.  Bernard 
to  St.  Malachy,  that  he  had  sent  some  monks  from 
Clairvaux  to  make  preparations  for  those  w^ho  were  to 
immediately  follow,  and  that  already  their  number  was 
augmented  at  Mellifont  by  the  accession  of  new  members 
from  the  surrounding  district,  who  had  joined  them  on 
their  appearance  in  that  locality.  In  this  same  letter  St. 
Bernard  writes :  "  We  send  back  to  you  your  dearly- 
beloved  son  and  ours.  Christian,  as  fully  instructed  as  was 
possible  in  those  rules  which  regard   our  Order,  hoping. 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  39 

moreover,  that  he  will  henceforth  prove  solicitous  for 
their  observance."  This  Christian  is  commonly  supposed 
to  have  been  archdeacon  of  the  diocese  of  Down.  He 
was  certainly  first  Abbot  of  Mellifont,  and  his  name  shall 
turn  up  in  connection  with  important  national  events 
later  on.  With  Christian  came  a  certain  Brother  Robert, 
a  Frenchman,  a  skilful  architect,  who  constructed  the 
monastery  after  the  model  of  Clairvaux. 

That  these  were  the  pioneers  of  the  Cistercian  Order 
in  Ireland  cannot  for  one  moment  be  doubted,  both  from 
the  very  important  fact,  that  the  Abbot  of  Mellifont  took 
precedence  of  all  the  Abbots  of  his  Order  in  this  country, 
and  also,  because  it  is  an  historical  fact,  that  St.  Mary's 
Abbey,  Dublin,  the  other  claimant  for  priority,  did  not 
exchange  the  Benedictine  for  the  Cistercian  Rule  till, 
at  earliest,  1148,  when  the  Abbot  of  Savigni  in  France, 
with  the  thirty  houses  of  his  Order  (Benedictine)  subject 
to  his  jurisdiction,  were  admitted  into  the  Cistercian 
family  by  Pope  Eugenius  III.,  who  presided  at  the 
General  Chapter  of  the  Cistercians  that  year.  St.  Mary's 
was  founded  from  Buildewas,  in  Shropshire,  and  this 
latter  was  subject  to  Savigni. 

Various  reasons  are  assigned  for  the  adoption  by  these 
ancient  monks  of  the  name  Mellifont,  which  signifies 
"  The  Honey  Fountain."  Some  are  of  opinion  it  had  a 
spiritual  signification,  and  had  reference  to  the  abundance 
of  blessings  which  would  flow,  and  be  diffused  over  the 
whole  country  from  this  centre,  through  the  unceasing 
and  fervent  intercessory  prayer  of  its  holy  inmates;  for 
next  to  their  own  sanctification,  their  neighbour's  wants 
claimed  and  received  their  practical  sympathy.  Like 
divine  charity  it  gushed  forth  from  hearts  totally  devoted 
to  God's  service  and  interests,  and  this  zeal  would  be 
halting  and  incomplete  did  it  not  embrace  the  spiritual 


40  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

and  temporal  concerns  of  their  fellow  mortals.  Others 
derive  the  name  from  a  limpid  spring  which  supplied  the 
monks  with  a  copious,  unfailing  stream  of  sweet  water, 
which  had  its  source  in  Mellifont  Park  about  one  quarter 
of  a  mile  distant,  and  which  was  conducted  V)y  pipes 
through  the  various  parts  of  the  monastery.  This  seems 
a  very  plausible  account,  and  as  the  spring  rose  at  a  high 
level,  it  had  sufficient  pressure  to  obviate  the  necessity 
of  a  cistern  as  was  erroneously  supposed  in  connection 
with  the  Lavabo. 

It  was  customary  with  the  old  Irish  Cistercians  to  give 
their  monasteries  symbolical  names  at  their  foundation, 
and  these  names  often  denoted  some  local  feature  or 
peculiarity.  Thus,  Newry  was  called  of  the  "  Green 
Wood,"  from  the  abundance  of  yew  trees  around  the 
monastery  there;  Corcomroe,  Co.  Clare,  was  known  under 
the  title  of  the  "  Fertile  Rock  ;"  Baltinglas,  Co.  Wicklow, 
as  the  "Valley  of  Salvation,"  etc. 

It  is  said  that  the  "  Honey  Fountain"  had  its  source 
in  Mellifont  Park,  but  it  seems  that  few  of  the  present 
generation  living  in  the  vicinity  of  Mellifont  know  or 
appreciate  its  virtues.  In  the  Ordnance  Survey,  it  is 
stated  that  it  rose  in  Mellifont  Park,  which  was  formerly 
a  wood,  and  that  to  the  north  of  the  well,  a  few  trees  still 
remained  at  the  time  of  the  Survey,  when  the  farm 
belonged  to  a  Mr.  James  Curran. 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  41 


CHAPTER  III. 

AN  EPITOME  OF  THE  RULE  OBSERVED  AT  MELLIFONT  AT  ITS 
FOUNDATION  AND  FOR  ABOUT  A  CENTURY  AND  A  HALF 
AFTERWARDS. 

"  Here  man  more  purely  lives  ;  less  oft  doth  fall ; 
More  promptly  rises  ;  walks  with  stricter  heed  ; 
More  safely  rests  ;  dies  happier  ;  is  freed 
Earlier  fi'om  cleansing  fires  ;  and  gains  withal 
A  brighter  crown." 

(^Saint  Bernard.) 

'N  the  foregoing  verses  St.  Bernard  sum- 
marises the  manifold  advantages  accruing 
from  the  profession  and  practice  of  the 
rule  which  he  and  his  fellow  abbots  drew  up 
for  their  followers.  In  that  age  of  chivalry 
yj  j^  and  wide  extremes,  men's  minds  were  profoundly 
moved  by  the  world-wide  reputation  and  dis- 
courses of  an  outspoken,  fearless  monk,  who  confirmed  his" 
words  by  incontestable  and  stupendous  miracles.  Then, 
it  was  nothing  unusual  to  see  the  impious  sinner  of 
yesterday  become  a  meek  repentant  suppliant  for 
admission  into  some  monastery  to-day,  where  he  could 
expiate  and  atone  for  his  former  grievous  excesses.  The 
innocent,  also,  sought  the  shelter  of  the  cloister  from  the 
contaminating  influences  of  a  corrupt  and  corrupting 
world ;  and  in  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  presented  themselves 
as  victims  to  God's  outraged  justice.  At  that  same 
period,  that  is,  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century, 
there  was  witnessed    an    unwonted    movement    towards 


42  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

monasticism  in  its  regenerated  condition,  as  the  Church 
Annals  abundantly  testify.  This  happy  tendency  was 
mainly  due  to  St.  Bernard's  influence  and  popularity,  and 
was  well  illustrated  by  the  saying  of  the  historian  : 
"  The  whole  world  became  Cistercian." 

In  essaying  to  reform  St,  Benedict's  Rule,  the  first 
Fathers  of  the  Cistercian  Order  sought  only  to  restore  its 
primitive  simplicity  and  austerity,  but  they,  nevertheless, 
added  some  wise  provisions  which  established  their  reform 
on  a  firm  basis,  and  which  the  experience  of  ages  proved 
to  be  indispensable.  First  of  all,  it  was  ordained,  that  all 
houses  of  the  Order  should  be  united  under  one  central 
controlling  power,  and  that  all  the  Superiors  should  meet 
annually  for  deliberation  on  matters  appertaining  to  the 
maintenance  of  discipline  and  the  correction  of  abuses. 
This  assembly  w^as  called  the  General  Chapter,  over 
which  the  Abbot  of  Citeaux  presided  as  recognised  head 
of  the  Order.  Till  then,  no  such  institution  existed,  and 
an  Abbot  General,  as  we  may  call  him,  had  it  in  his 
power,  from  incapacity  or  any  other  cause,  to  disorganise 
a  whole  Order.  Under  the  General  Chapter  such  a 
catastrophe  Avas  impossible.  Besides  this  wise  enactment, 
St.  Stephen  drew  up  what  he  called  the  "  Chart  of 
Charity,"  by  which  it  was  ordained  that  the  abbot  of  a 
monastery  who  had  filiations  (that  is,  offshoots  or  houses 
founded  directly  from  that  monastery)  subject  to  him, 
should  visit  them  annually  either  in  person  or  by  proxy, 
and  minutely  inquire  into  their  spiritual,  disciplinary, 
and  financial  condition.  The  abbots  of  those  filiations 
were  bound  to  return  the  visit  during  the  year;  but 
they  did  so  in  quality  of  guest  and  not  as  "Visitor,"  the 
official  title  of  the  Abbot  of  the  Parent  House ;  or, 
"  Immediate  Father,"  as  he  is  called.  Thus  the  bands  of 
discipline  were   kept  tightly  drawn,  and  harmony,  with 


I 


44  Ml'JLLlFONT    AliBEY, 

uniformity  of  observance,  was  maintained  throughout  the 
entire  Order, 

The  denizens  of  the  Cloister  at  that  time  consisted  of 
two  great  classes,  who,  indeed,  enjoyed  alike  all  the 
advantages  of  the  state,  but  differed  in  their  functions 
and  employments.  One  was  busied  with  the  cares  of 
Martha,  the  other  was  admitted  to  the  privilege  of 
Mary.  The  former  were  employed  chiefly  in  domestic 
duties,  and  various  trades,  and  were  entrusted  with  the 
charge  of  the  granges  or  outlying  farms.  These  were 
the  Lay  Brothers.  Frequently  their  ranks  were  aug- 
mented by  the  noble  and  the  learned,  who,  unnoticed  and 
unknown  till  their  holy  death,  guided  the  plough,  delved 
the  soil,  or  tended  the  sheep  and  oxen  in  the  glades  of 
the  forest.  The  other  class  resided  in  the  monastery  and 
devoted  their  time  to  the  chanting  of  the  Divine  Office, 
alternating  with  study  in  the  Cloister  and  manual  labour 
in  the  fields  and  gardens.  These  were  the  choir  monks. 
Their  dress  was  white.  By  vigorous  toil  and  strict 
economy,  these  good  old  monks  wrested  a  competency 
from  their  farms,  and  freely  shared  their  substance  with 
the  needy  and  the  stranger.  They  exhibited  to  an 
astonished  world  a  practical  refutation  of  its  corrupt 
maxims  and  habits.  Thus  by  their  very  lives,  they 
preached  most  efficaciously ;  for  by  their  contempt  of 
worldly  honours  and  pleasures  they  gave  proof  abun- 
dant of  the  faith  that  enlightened  them  to  recognise 
the  sublimity  of  the  Gospel  truths  ;  of  the  hope  that 
sustained  them  to  courageously  endure  temporal  privations 
for  the  sake  of  future  rewards;  and  of  the  charity  that 
prompted  them  to  liken  themselves  to  Jesus  Christ,  their 
Master,  who,  being  rich,  became  poor  for  their  sakes. 
Some  may  be  inclined  to  consider  all  this  as  the  effect  of 
monkish  extravagance,  weak-mindedness,  and  folly  ;  but 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  45 

modern  investigation,  instituted  and  carried  to  a  success- 
ful issue  by  honest  Protestant  writers,  has  brushed  aside 
such  calumnies  as  hackneyed  catch-words,  and  has  proved 
that  beneath  the  monk's  cowl,  there  were  found  hearts  as 
warm  and  minds  as  broad  as  in  any  state  or  grade  of 
society.  It  must  also  be  remembered,  that  for  centuries 
the  monks  were  the  teachers  Avho  moulded  and  fashioned 
the  youth  of  the  upper  and  middle  classes. 

Two  o'clock  A.M.  was  the  usual  hour  for  rising,  when 
the  monks,  obedient  to  the  Sacristan's  signal,  rising 
from  their  straw  pallets  and  slipping  on  their  sandals  (for 
they  slept  fully  dressed,  as  the  poorer  classes  of  the  time 
are  said  to  have  done,)  they  left  the  Dormitory  by  the 
stairs  that  led  down  to  the  southern  transept,  and 
proceeding  noiselessly,  they  reached  the  Choir  where 
they  immediately  renewed  the  oblation  uf  themselves  to 
God.  Then  the  Office  of  Matins  was  commenced,  and 
it  Avith  Lauds  occupied  about  one  hour.  On  solemn 
festivals  the  monks  rose  at  midnight,  and  the  Office  lasted 
over  three  hours ;  for  then  the  whole  of  it  was  sung. 
Matins  and  Lauds  over,  they  proceeded  to  the  Reading- 
cloister  to  study  the  Psalms,  or  Sacred  Scripture,  or  the 
Fathers:  some  prolonged  their  devotions  in  the  church," 
where  with  clean,  uplifted  hands,  tliey  became  powerful 
mediators  betw^een  God  and  His  creatures;  too  many  of 
whom,  alas,  ignore  their  personal  obligations.  At  that 
time,  too,  the  priests  might  celebrate  their  Masses,  as  the 
ancient  Rule  gave  them  liberty  to  select  that  hour  if  they 
felt  so  inclined.  We  do  not  know  how  many  priests  were 
amongst  the  Religious  at  Mellifont  soon  after  its  establish- 
ment, but  they  must  have  numbered  about  twenty,  since 
there  were  ten  altars  in  the  church.  And  judging  by  the 
number  of  priests  in  other  monasteries  of  the  Order  at  that 
period,  this  figure  is  not  too  high.      "We  know  that  in 


4G  MELLIFONT   AUIJEY. 

1147,    there   were    fifty   priests    at    least    at   Poutigny, 
one  of  the  four  first  houses  of  the  Order.     About  five 
o'clock   the  monks   assembled  ia  Choir  for  Prime,  after 
which  they  went  to  Chapter,  where  the  Martyrology  and 
portion  of  the  Rule  were  sung,  as  has  been  already  ex- 
plained.   Chapter  over,  they  entered  the  Auditorium,  where 
they  took  off  and  hung  up  their  cowls,  and  each  went 
thence  to  the  manual   labour  assigned  him  by  the  Prior. 
In  winter,  nearly  all  went  out  to  work  in  the  fields,  grubb- 
ing up  brushwood  and  burning  it,  and  so  preparing  the 
ground  for  cultivation.     After  some  hours  spent  in  labour, 
they  returned  to  the  monastery  where  they  had  time  for 
reading ;  they  then  went  to   Choir  for  Tierce  and  High 
Mass.     During  winter  the  Mass  was  sung  before  going  out 
to  work.      In  summer  they  dined  at  11.30,  after  which 
an  hour  was  allowed  for  repose,  and  None  being  sung  they 
resumed  their  labour  in  the  fields.     In  winter,  dinner  was 
at  half-past  two;   the  evening  was  spent  in   study  and  in 
chanting  the  Offices  of  Vespers   and   Compline,   and  at 
seven   they  retired    to  rest.      Ia    summer  the    hour  for 
repose  was  eight  o'clock.     The  Office  of  Completoriura  or 
Compline  always  closed  the  exercises  of  the  day,  and  all 
passed  before  the  Abbot,  from  whom  they  received  holy 
water  as  they  left  the  church.     Each  went  straight  to  his 
simple  couch  where  sweet   repose  awaited  him  after  his 
day  of  toil  and  penitential  works.     His  frugal  vegetable 
fare,  without  seasoning   or  condiment,  barely  sufficed  for 
the  wants  of  nature,  and   even  this  was  sparingly  doled 
out  to  him  ;  for  during  the  winter  exercises,  that  is,  from 
the  14th  of  September  to  Easter,  he  got  only  one  refection 
daily  except  on  Sundays,  when  he  always  got  two.     Wine, 
though  allowed  in  small  quantities  at  meals  in  countries 
where  it  was  the  common  drink,  was  not  permitted  here, 
but  in    its    stead,  the    monks    used    beer  of  their   own 


L_ 


<r..' 


.,...>,ti>i^^^i>:^^-'^ 


From  Photo  by  W.  Lawrence,  Dublin. 

Arch  of  Lavabo  (Octagon.)     See  p.  26. 


48  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

brewing.  Their  raiment  consisted  of  a  white  woollen 
tunic  of  coarse  material  and  a  strip  of  black  cloth  over  the 
shoulders,  and  reaching  to  below  the  knees,  gathered  in  at 
the  waist  with  a  leathern  girdle.  Over  these,  when  not 
employed  in  manual  labour,  was  worn  the  long  white 
oarment  with  wide  sleeves,  called  the  cowl.  The  tunic  was 
the  ordinary  dress  of  peasantry  in  the  twelfth  century,  and 
was  retained  by  the  reformers  of  St.  Benedict's  Rule,  partly 
because  it  was  the  prescribed  dress  of  the  monks,  and 
partly  as  an  incentive  to  humility  ;  a  mark  of  the  perfect 
equality  which  reigned  in  monasteries,  and  which  removed 
all  distinction  of  class. 

Such  was  the  ordinary  routine  of  life  led  at  Mellifont, 
but  then  certain  officials  filled  important  offices  which 
necessarily  brought  them  in  constant  contact  with  the 
outer  world.  Such,  for  instance,  was  the  Cellarer,  who 
had  charge  under  the  Abbot  of  the  temporalities  of  the 
monastery,  and  catered  for  all  the  wants  of  the  com- 
munity. Some  were  deputed  to  wait  on  the  guests  and 
strangers,  while  others  cared  the  sick  poor  in  the  hospice 
with  all  charity  and  tenderness.  For  the  maintenance 
of  the  sick  poor  large  tracts  of  land  or  revenues  arising 
from  house-property  were  very  often  bequeathed  by  pious 
people,  and  the  monks  were  then  their  almoners  ;  but, 
with  or  without  such  a  provision  from  outside,  the 
monks  did  maintain  these  establishments  from  their 
own  resources. 

The  Abbot  entertained  the  guests  of  the  monastery  at 
his  own  table,  dispensing  to  them  such  frugal  fare  as  was 
in  keeping  with  the  Rule  ;  for  meat  was  not  allowed  to 
be  served,  except  to  the  sick.  He  had  his  kitchen  and 
dining-hall  apart,  but  in  every  other  respect,  he  shared 
in  all  the  exercises  with  his  brethren.  Though  he 
occupied  the  place  of  honour  and  of  pre-eminence  in  the 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  49 

monastery,  yet  he  was  constantly  reminded  in  the  Rule, 
that  he  must  not  lord  it  over  his  monks,  hut  must 
cherish  them  as  a  tender  parent.  His  object  in  all  his 
ordinances  should  be  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  flock 
entrusted  to  him,  for  which  he  should  render  an  account 
on  the  last  day. 

From  this  relation  of  the  manner  of  life  at  Mellifont, 
we  see  that  it  was  in  strict  conformity  with  St.  Bernard's 
definition  of  the  Cistercian  Institute,  when  he  writes : 
"  Our  Order  is  humility,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Our  Order  is  silence,  fasting,  prayer,  and  labour, 
and  above  all,  to  hold  the  more  excellent  way,  which  is 
charity." 


I> 


50  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MELLIFONT  TAKES   ROOT   AND   FOUNDS    NEW   HOUSES    OF    THE 

ORDER. 

"Even  thus  of  old 
:  Our  ancestors,  within  the  still  domain 

Of  vast  Cathedral  or  Conventual  church, 

Their  vigils  kept ;  where  tapers  day  and  night 

On  the  dim  altars  burned  continually, 

In  token  that  the  House  was  evermore 

Watching  to  God.     Religious  men  were  they  ; 

Nor  Avould  their  reason  tutored  to  aspire 

Above  this  transitory  world,  allow 

That  there  should  pass  a  moment  of  the  year 

When  in  their  land  the  Almighty's  service  ceased." 

( Wordsworth.) 

;HE  history  of  Mellifont  may  be  justly  said 
to  reflect  the  concurrent  history  of  Ireland. 
It  is  so  intimately  connected  and  inter- 
woven with  that  of  our  countr}-,  that  they 
touch  at  many  points,  and  we  can  collect 
matter  for  both  as  we  travel  back  along  the 
stream  of  time  and  observe  the  footprints  on 
the  sands,  where  saint,  and  king,  chieftain,  bishop,  and 
holy  monk,  have  left  their  impress  and  disappeared,  to 
be  succeeded  later  on  by  the  baron  and  his  armed 
retainers.  How  different  the  Ireland  of  to-day  from  the 
Ireland  that  Christian,  the  first  Abbot  of  Mellifont, 
beheld  when  he  and  his  companions  settled  down  in  the 
little  valley,  in  the  laud  of  the  O'Carroll !  How  many 
changes  have  passed  over  it  since,  leaving  it  the  poorest 
country  in  Europe,  though  one  of  the  richest  in  natural 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  51 

resources !  But  these  considerations  appertain  to  the 
politician  ;  they  do  not  lie  within  the  scope  of  the  present 
writer.  Next  to  building  their  church  and  monastery, 
the  first  care  of  the  monks  on  their  immediate  arrival  at 
Mellifont,  w^as  to  prepare  the  soil  for  tillage;  for,  judging 
from  the  nature  of  the  surroundings,  it  must  have  been 
overrun  with  dense  brushwood,  unbroken,  save  at  distant 
intervals,  by  patches  of  green  sward.  Most  houses  of  the 
Order  in  Ireland  had  to  contend  with  similar  conditions 
at  their  foundation ;  of  Dunhrody,  Co.  Wexford,  we  are 
expressly  told,  that  the  monk  sent  by  the  Abbot  of 
Buildewas  to  examine  the  site  of  the  future  monastery, 
found  on  it  only  a  solitary  oak  surrounded  by  a  sivamp. 
But  these  old  monks  were  adepts  in  the  reclamation  of 
waste  lands,  and  soon  the  hills  rang  with  the  instruments 
of  husbandry.  Pleasant  gardens  and  fertile  meadows 
rewarded  their  toil,  and  their  example  gave  a  stimulus  to 
agriculture,  which,  till  then,  was  neglected  by  a  pastoral 
people.  At  the  same  time,  they  manufactured  bricks  in 
the  locality,  and  employed  them  in  their  buildings. 
Then  rumour  on  her  many  wings  flew  far  and  near,  and 
spread  the  fame  of  the  new-comers  to  that  remote  valley, 
and  soon  the  monastery  was  crowded  with  visitors  intent 
on  seeing  the  strangers  and  observing  closely  their 
manner  of  life.  The  sight  pleased  them.  The  ways  of 
these  monks  accorded  with  the  traditions  handed  down 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  ancient  monasteries,  before  the 
depredations  of  the  Danes,  and  the  hearts  of  a  highly 
imaginative  race,  with  quick  spiritual  instincts,  were 
attracted  towards  St.  Bernard's  children.  Immediately 
began  an  influx  of  postulants  for  the  Cistercian  habit,  and 
every  day  brought  more,  till  the  stalls  in  the  Choir  were 
filled,  and  Abbot  Christian's  heart  overflowed  with  glad- 
ness.    In  consultation  with  St.  Malachy,  Abbot  Christian 


52  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

decided  on  founding  another  monastery,  as  his  own  could 
no  longer  contain  the  now  greatly-increased  community. 
A  new  colony  was  sent  forth  from  it,  and  thus  in  two 
years  from  the  foundation  of  Mellifont,  was  established 
**  Bective  on  the  Boyne."  Some  say  that  Newry,  which 
was  endowed  by  Maurice  M'Loughlin,  King  of  Ireland,  at 
St.  Malachy's  earnest  entreaty,  was  the  first  filiation  of 
Mellifont.  The  charter  of  its  (Newry)  foundation  happily 
has  come  down  to  us,  but  it  bears  no  date.  However, 
O'Donovan,  who  translated  it  into  English  from  the  Latin 
original  in  MS.  in  the  British  Museum,  says  it  was 
written  in  IIGO.  As  it  is  the  only  extant  charter  granted 
to  a  monastery  by  a  native  king  before  the  Invasion,  a 
copy  of  the  translation  is  given  in  the  Appendix. 

Under  the  patronage,  then,  of  St.  Malachy  and  the 
native  princes,  and  by  the  skill,  industry,  and  piety  of  its 
inmates,  Mellifont  rose  and  prospered,  and  merited  an 
exalted  place  in  popular  esteem.  The  monastery  was  in 
course  of  construction,  and  their  new  church  nearing 
completion,  when  a  heavy  trial  befell  the  monks  in  the 
death  of  their  unfailing  friend,  wise  counsellor,  and  loved 
father,  St.  Malachy,  which  took  place  at  Clairvaux,  in  the 
arms  of  St.  Bernard,  A.D.  1148.  St.  Bernard  delivered  a 
most  pathetic  discourse  over  the  remains  of  his  friend, 
and  wrote  a  consoling  letter  to  the  Irish  Cistercians, 
condoling  with  them  on  the  loss  they  and  the  whole 
Irish  Church  had  sustained  on  the  death  of  St.  Malachy. 
He,  later  on,  wrote  his  life,  and  willed,  that  as  they 
tenderly  loved  each  other  in  life,  so  in  death  they  should 
not  be  separated.  Their  tombs  were  side  by  side  in  the 
church  of  Clairvaux,  till  their  relics,  enshrined  in 
magnificent  altars,  with  many  costly  lamps  burning  before 
them,  were  scattered  at  the  French  Revolution,  and  the 
rich    shrines  were   smashed  and  plundered.     Portions  of 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  53 

their  bodies  were,  however,  preserved  by  the  good,  pious 
people  of  the  locality,  and  their  heads  are  now  preserved 
with  honour  in  the  cathedral  of  Troyes,  France.  The 
writers  of  the  Cistercian  Order  claim  St.  Malachy  as 
having  belonged  to  them ;  for,  they  say  that  being 
previously  a  Benedictine,  he  received  the  Cistercian  habit 
from  St.  Bernard  during  one  of  his  visits  to  Clairvaux. 
They  add  that  St.  Bernard  exchanged  cowls  with  him, 
and  that  he  wore  St.  Malachy 's  ever  after  on  solemn 
festivals.  The  Saint's  life  is  so  well  known  that  it  needs 
no  further  notice  here.  Before  his  death,  he  saw  three 
houses  founded  from  Mellifont,  namely,  Bective,  Newry, 
and  Boyle. 

Two  years  after  St.  Malachy's  death,  that  is,  in  1150, 
the  monks  of  Mellifont  experienced  another  serious  loss 
when  their  venerated  Abbot,  Christian,  was  appointed 
Bishop  of  Lismore,  and  Legate  of  the  Holy  See  in 
Ireland,  by  Pope  Eugenius  III.,  who  had  been  his  fellow- 
novice  in  Clairvaux.  Christian's  brother,  Malchus,  was 
elected  to  the  abbatial  office  in  his  stead.  Malchus 
proved  himself  a  very  worthy  superior,  and  Mellifont 
continued  on  her  prosperous  coarse,  so  much  so,  that  in 
1151,  or  nine  years  from  its  own.  establishment,  it  could 
reckon  as  many  as  six  important  filiations,  namely, 
Bective,  Newry,  Boyle,  Athlone,  Baltinglas,  and  Manister, 
or  Manisternenay,  Co.  Limerick. 

In  1152,  St.  Bernard  passed  to  his  reward,  after  having 
founded  IGO  houses  of  his  Order,  having  edified  Christen- 
dom by  the  splendour  of  his  virtues,  and  astonished  it  by 
his  rare  natural  gifts,  which  elevated  him  far  above  all 
his  contemporaries.  From  the  moment  that  he  accepted 
the  pastoral  staff  as  Abbot  of  Clairvaux,  till  his  death, 
that  is,  during  the  space  of  forty  years,  he  was  the  figure- 
head of  his  Order  in  whom  its  whole  history  was  merged 


54  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

during  that  long  period.  In  fact,  he  became  so  identified 
with  the  Order  to  which  he  belonged,  that  it  was  often 
called  from  him,  Bernardine  ;  or,  of  Claraval,  from  his 
famous  monastery;  and  it  was  in  a  great  measure  owing 
to  his  influence,  and  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the 
splendid  services  which  he  rendered  the  Church  in 
critical  times,  that  Sovereign  Pontiffs  heaped  so  many 
favours  on  it.  He  was  the  fearless  and  successful 
champion  of  the  oppressed  in  all  grades  of  society,  and 
all  looked  up  to  him  as  their  guide  and  instructor.  And 
yet  this  paragon  of  wisdom,  this  stern  judge  of  the  evil- 
doer, was  remarkable  for  his  naturalness  and  affectionate 
disposition.  On  the  occasion  of  his  brother  Gerard's 
death,  he  attempted  to  preach  a  continuation  of  bis 
discourses  on  the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  but  his  affection 
for  his  brother  overcame  him,  and  after  giving  vent  to  his 
grief,  he  delivered  a  most  touching  panegyric  on  his 
beloved  Gerard.  To  the  last  moment  of  his  life  he 
entertained  a  most  vivid  recollection  of  his  mother,  and 
cherished  the  tenderest  affection  towards  her  memory. 
It  may  be  doubted,  that  any  child  of  the  Church  ever 
defended  her  cause  with  such  loyalty  and  success.  One 
stands  amazed  on  readijig  what  the  Rev.  Mr.  King  writes 
in  his  Church  History  of  Ireland,  where  he  taxes  St. 
Bernard  with  superstition,  because  the  Saint  relates  in 
his  Life  of  St.  Malachy,  how  that  holy  man  wrought 
certain  miracles.  So  evident  were  St.  Bernard's  own 
miracles,  that  Luden,  a  German  Protestant  historian, 
calls  them  "incontestable."  'Twere  supreme  folly  to 
accuse  a  man  of  St.  Bernard's  endowments  and  culture, 
of  the  weakness  that  admits  or  harbours  superstition, 
which  generally  flows  from  ignorance,  or  incapacity  to 
sift  matters,  and  to  test  them  in  their  general  or  parti- 
cular bearings.  Oq  the  whole,  Protestant  writers  speak 
and  write  approvingly  of  him. 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  55 

In  that  year  (1152),  a  Synod  was  held  at  Mell,  which, 
according  to  Ussher,  is  identical  with  Mellifont,  though 
now  a  suburb  of  Drogheda  is  known  by  that  name. 
Other  Irish  writers  say  that  this  Synod  was  held  at  Kells. 
At  it  Christian,  then  Bishop  of  Lisniore  and  Legate  of 
the  Holy  See,  presided.  In  the  Annals  of  the  Four 
Masters  it  is  related,  that  a  "Synod  was  convened  at 
Drogheda,  by  the  bishops  of  Ireland,  with  the  successor 
of  Patrick,  and  the  Cardinal,  John  Paparo,"  etc. 
O'Donovan,  quoting  Colgan,  tells  us  that  Mellifont  was 
known  as  the  "  Monastery  at  Drogheda." 

In  this  same  year  occurred  the  elopement  of  Dervor- 
gilla,  wife  of  Tiernan  O'Rourke,  Prince  of  Brefny,  with 
Dermod  M'Murchad,  King  of  Leinster.  She  is  styled 
the  Helen  of  Erin,  as  it  is  commonly  supposed  that  her 
flight  with  Dermod  occasioned  the  English  Invasion. 
When  O'Rourke  heard  of  her  departure,  he  was  "  marvel- 
lously troubled  and  in  great  choler,  but  more  grieved  for 
the  shame  of  the  fact  than  for  sorrow  or  hurt,  and, 
therefore,  was  fully  determined  to  be  avenged."  It  is 
mentioned  in  the  Annals  of  Clonmacnois  that  O'Rourke 
had  treated  her  harshly  some  time  previous,  and  that  her 
brother  M'Laughliu  connived  at  her  conduct.  Dervorgilla 
(which  means  in  Irish,  The  True  Pledge),  was  forty-four 
years  of  age  at  the  time,  whilst  O'Rourke  (who  was  blind 
of  one  eye)  and  M'Murchad,  were  each  of  them  sixty-two 
years  old.  O'Rourke  was  the  most  strenuous  opponent 
of  the  English  at  the  Invasion,  and  was  treacherously 
slain  by  a  nephew  of  Maurice  Fitzgerald  at  the  Hill  of 
Ward,  near  Athboy,  in  1172.  He  was  decapitated,  and 
his  head  hung  over  the  gates  of  Dublin  for  some  time. 
It  was  afterwards  sent  to  King  Henry,  in  England. 

From  1152  to  1157  the  monks  attracted  no  attention 
worth    chronicling;     for    during    these    five    years    they 


56  MELLIFONT   ABBI-Y, 

passed  by  unnoticed  in  our  Annals.  It  is,  however, 
certain  that  they  were  busily  engaged  in  the  completion 
of  their  church  and  in  making  preparations  for  its  solemn 
consecration.  And  what  a  day  of  rejoicing  that  memo- 
rable day  of  the  consecration  was,  when  Mellifont  beheld 
the  highest  and  holiest  in  Church  and  State  assembled  to 
do  her  honour  !  This  ceremony  far  eclipsed  any  that  had 
been  witnessed  before  that  in  Ireland.  What  commotion 
and  bustle  filled  the  abbey,  the  valley,  and  the  sur- 
rounding hills !  A  constantly  increasing  crowd  came 
thronging  to  behold  a  sight  which  gladdened  their  hearts 
and  aroused  their  piety  and  admiration.  For,  there  stood 
the  Ard  High  (High  King)  of  Erin,  surrounded  by  his 
princes  and  nobles  in  all  the  pride  and  pageantry  of  state, 
the  Primate  Gelasius,  and  Christian,  the  Papal  Legate, 
with  seventeen  other  bishops,  and  almost  all  the  abbots 
and  priests  in  Ireland.  Then  the  solemn  rite  was  per- 
formed, and  many  precious  offerings  were  made  to  the 
monks  and  to  their  church — gold  and  lands,  cattle,  and 
sacred  vessels,  and  ornaments  for  the  altars,  were  be- 
stowed with  a  generosity  worthy  of  the  princely  donors. 
O'Melaghlin  gave  seven-score  cows  and  three-score  ounces 
of  gold  to  God  and  the  clergy,  for  the  good  of  his  soul. 
He  granted  them,  also,  a  townland,  called  Fiunabhair-na- 
ninghean,  a  piece  of  land,  according  to  O'Donovan,  which 
lies  on  the  south  side  of  the  Boyne,  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  Mattock,  in  the  parish  of  Donore,  Co.  Meath. 
O'CarroU  gave  sixty  ounces  of  gold,  and  the  faithless  but 
now  repentant  Dervorgilla  presented  a  gold  chalice  for 
the  High  Altar,  and  cloths  for  the  other  nine  altars  of 
the  church. 

Mellifont  looked  charming  on  that  propitious  occasion, 
and  presented  a  truly  delightful  picture,  with  its  beautiful 
church  and  abbey  buildings  glistening  in  the  sun  in  all  the 


M  ELL  1  FONT   ABBEY.  57 

purity  and  freshness  of  the  white,  or  nearly  white, 
sandstone  of  which  they  were  composed.  Yet,  beautiful 
as  were  the  material  buildings,  far  more  so  were  those 
stones  of  the  spiritual  edifice,  the  meek  and  prayerful 
cenobites,  who  were  gathered  there  to  adore  and  serve 
their  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  From  that  valley  there 
arose  a  pleasing  incense  to  the  Lord — the  prayers,  and 
hymns,  and  canticles,  which  unceasingly  resounded  in 
that  church  from  hearts  truly  devoted  to  God's  worship, 
and  dead  to  the  world  and  themselves. 


58 


MKLI.IKOJST    ABBEY. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MELLIFONT   CONTINUES  TO   FLOURISH    UNDER    SUCCESSIVE 
EMINENT   SUPERIORS. 

"  This  is  no  common  spot  of  earth, 
No  place  for  idle  words  or  mirth  ; 
Here  streamed  the  taper's  mystic  light ; 
Here  flashed  the  waving  censers  bright ; 
Awhile  the  Church's  ancient  song 
Lingered  the  stately  aisles  along, 
And  high  mysterious  words  were  said 
Which  brought  to  men  the  living  Bread." 

{W.  Chatterton  Dix.) 


FTER  the  consecration  of  their  church  the 
monks  settled  down  to  their  ordinary- 
quiet  way.  The  erection  of  the  monastic 
buildings  had  hitherto  kept  them  occupied  ; 
now  that  these  were  completed,  they  de- 
voted their  attention  to  the  improvement  of 
their  farms,  which  they  tilled  with  their  own 
hands,  and  to  the  embellishment  of  their  immediate 
surroundings.  Even  at  this  early  period  of  her  history, 
Mellifont  was  a  hive  of  industry  where  all  the  trades 
flourished  and  many  important  arts  were  encouraged. 
At  that  time  hired  labour  was  sparingly  employed  by  the 
monks;  for  they  themselves  bore  a  share  in  the  work  of 
the  artisans  as  well  as  in  the  ordinary  drudgery  of  tillage^ 
Labour  placed  all  on  a  footing  of  equality  whilst  it  gave 
vigour  to  the  body  by  healthy  exercise  in  the  open  air. 
Perhaps,  this  healthy  exercise  was  one  of  the  secrets  of 
the    longevity  for  which    the    monks   were   remarkable. 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  59 

Regularity  of  life  continued  for  years  contributes  to  a 
state  of  health  which  dispenses  with  physicians.  Where- 
ever  monks  settled  down  they  inomediately  erected  mills 
for  grinding  corn,  for  preparing  and  finishing  the  fabrics 
of  which  their  garments  were  made,  etc.  St.  Benedict 
enjoined  on  his  monks  the  necessity  of  practising  all  the 
trades  and  arts  within  the  walls  of  the  monastery,  so  that 
they  need  never  leave  their  enclosure  for  the  purpose,  or 
under  the  pretext,  of  having  their  work  done  by  externs. 

Eleven  years  passed  without  Mellifont  receiving  any 
notice  from  our  native  chroniclers,  and  then  at  the  year 
1168,  it  is  recorded,  that  Prince  Donogh  O'Carroll,  the 
Founder,  died  and  was  buried  in  the  church  there. 
Ware  tells  us  that  bis  tomb  and  those  of  other  remark- 
able personages  had  been  in  the  church.  As  it  Avas  an 
almost  general  custom  in  Ireland,  that  the  Founders  of 
religious  houses  were  interred  on  the  north,  or  Gospel 
side  of  the  High  Altar,  so  it  may  be  justly  inferred  that 
he  was  buried  within  the  chancel,  and  that  the  recess  on 
the  north  side  is  where  his  monument  was  erected. 
Thus,  King  Charles  O'Connor's  tomb  occupies  the  same 
place  in  Knockmoy  Abbey,  Co.  Galway,  of  which  he  was 
Founder.  So,  too,  in  Corcomroe  Abbey,  Co.  Clare,  the 
tomb  of  Conor  O'Brien,  King  of  Thomond,  grandson  of 
the  Founder  of  that  abbey,  is  still  to  be  seen  in  a  niche  in 
the  wall  on  the  north  side  of  the  High  Altar.  No  doubt 
they  were  buried  under  the  pavement.  The  ancient 
Statutes  of  the  Order  permitted  kings  and  bishops  to  be 
buried  in  the  churches,  but  assigned  no  particular  part 
as  proper  to  them. 

In  1170,  a  monk  named  Auliv,  who  had  been  expelled* 

*  The  Annals  of  Ulster  simply  state  "  for  the  monks  of  Ireland  did 
banish  him  (Auliv)  out  of  their  abbacy,  through  lawful  causes."  The 
Four  Ma><ters  tell  us  it  was  the  monks  of  Drogheda  who  had  expelled 


€0  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

from  Mellifont,  instigated  Manus,  the  King  of  Ulster,  to 
commit  an  "  unknown  and  attrocious  crime,"  as  the 
Annals  of  the  Four  blasters  call  it ;  that  is,  to  banish 
the  monks  whom  St.  Malachy  brought  to  Saul,  Co.  Duwn, 
and  to  deprive  them  of  everything  they  were  possessed  of. 
Instances  of  Avicked  men  deceitfully  entering  monasteries, 
at  that  time  and  at  other  periods  of  monastic  history,  are 
given,  but  invariably  the  guilty  party  is  severely  censured, 
and  it  is  related  that  his  fellow-monks  rid  themselves  of 
him.  St.  Bernard  himself  was  deceived  by  his  secretary, 
Nicholas,  who  afterwards  left  the  Order.  "  He  went  out 
from  us,"  said  the  Saint,  "  but  he  did  not  belonsf  to  us." 

The  Order  was  spreading  rapidly  in  Ireland,  and  the 
filiations  from  Mellifont  in  their  turn  sent  out  new 
filiations,  till  most  of  the  picturesque  valleys  in  this 
country  sheltered  and  nurtured  thriving  establishments  ; 
so  much  so,  that  O'Daly  tells  us  "  there  were  twenty-five 
grand  Cistercian  abbeys  in  Ireland  at  the  Invasion." 
But  then  a  new  era  dawned  on  this  unhappy  nation,  and 
might  usurped  the  place  of  right,  cruel  unending  strife 
and  fierce  jealousies  were  imported  into  the  country,  and 
it  became  one  vast  battle-field.  Ireland  would  have 
assimilated  the  two  contending  races,  but  their  amalga- 
mation would  have  been  detrimental  to  English  interests 
in  this  kingdom,  and  hence  by  statute,  by  bribe,  by  all 
means  available,  the  representatives  of  that  Crown  only 

him  from  the  abbacy  foi"  his  own  crime.  A  writer  iu  the  Dahlia  Penny 
Journal,  ]  835-36,  says  this  Auliv  was  Abbot  of  the  monastery  of  St. 
Mary  de  Urso,  near  the  West  Gate,  Drogheda.  He  quotes  some  old 
Annals  without  particularising  them.  And  Dalton,  in  his  History  of 
Drogheda,  tells  us  that  Auliv  had  been  Abbot  of  that  same  Abbey  of 
St.  Mary's,  Drogheda,  and  was  expelled.  Dalton  evidently  confounds 
this  monastery  with  Mellifont.  No  Cistercian  Community  had  power 
to  depose  their  abbot,  such  power  being  vested  in  the  General  Chapter 
of  the  Ordoi . 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  61 

too  successfully  kept  the  feuds  alive.  Fain  would  they 
have  made  the  Church  an  instrument  for  the  furtherance 
of  these  ulterior  purposes,  but,  whilst  she  stood  firm  as  an 
integral  part  of  Peter's  Rock,  neither  English  bribes  nor 
English  wiles  could  subjugate  her.  True,  Englishmen: 
were  appointed  to  the  richest  benefices  within  the  Pale  to 
which  the  Euglish  kings  had  the  right  of  presentatioD, 
and  these  strove,  with  as  much  zeal  as  the  knight  or 
baron,  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  the  shire-lands.  But 
the  Irish  prelates,  by  their  disinterestedness,  and  their 
personal  and  episcopal  virtues,  saved  the  Church  from 
the  degradation  that  imperilled  her.  We  shall  see  the 
result  of  this  policy  as  we  proceed. 

Judging,  by  analogy,  from  the  progress  of  society  in 
other  countries,  and  from  the  relative  cumber  of  monas- 
teries founded  in  them  and  in  Ireland  before  the  Invasion, 
it  may  be  conjectured  that  the  monastic  system  in  all  its 
branches  would  have  produced  in  this  country  the  same 
fruits  in  agriculture,  in  learning,  and  in  the  arts,  as  are 
attributed  to  it  in  the  history  of  other  nations ;  and,  in  a 
special  manner,  it  would  have  helped,  by  the  unity  of 
government  enforced  in  Religious  Orders,  to  bind  together 
the  discordant  elements  of  society.  Quite  different,  how- 
ever, was  it  in  Ireland ;  for  the  sphere  of  action  of  each 
monastery  was  cramped,  and  confined  within  a  certain 
radius,  beyond  wdiich  its  influences  were  not  felt,  nor 
regarded  otherwise  than  in  a  hostile  spirit,  or  at  best  as 
an  object  of  suspicion. 

In  1172,  the  Abbot  of  Mellifont  was  sent  to  Rome  on 
an  embassy  by  King  Roderic  O'Connor.  We  are  not  told 
its  nature. 

In  1177,  Charles  O'Buacalla,  then  Abbot  of  this 
monastery,  was  elected  Bishop  of  Emly,  where  he  died 
within  a  month   after  his  consecration.     In  1182,  King 


62  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

Henry  II.  granted  to  the  Abbot  and  community  of 
Mellifont  a  confirmation  of  their  possessions,  and  three 
years  later,  King  John,  at  that  time  styled  Lord  of 
Ireland,  renewed  the  confirmation  while  he  was  residing 
at  Castleknock,  during  his  brief  visit  to  this  country,  in 
1185,  the  thirty-second  year  of  his  father's  reign.  A 
copy  of  the  Charter  may  be  seen  in  the  Miscellany  of  the 
Archaeological  Society,  Vol.  I.,  page  158.  The  original, 
which  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Anglo-Irish  documents 
that  have  come  down  to  us,  is  preserved  in  Trinity 
College,  Dublin.  By  this  Charter  King  John  confirmed  to 
the  monks  of  Mellifont  the  "donation  and  concession" 
which  his  father  made  to  them.  By  it  he  confirmed  to 
the  monks  "  the  site  and  ambit  of  the  abbey,  with  all  its 
appurtenances,  namely,  the  grange  of  Kulibudi  (not  on 
the  Ordnance  map),  and  Munigatinn  (Monkenewtown), 
with  its  appurtenances,  the  granges  of  Mell  and  Drogheda 
(in  Irish  Droichet-atha,  that  is,  bridge  of  the  ford)  and 
their  appurtenances,  and  Rathmolan  (Rathmullen)  and 
Finnaur  (Femor),  with  their  appurtenances,  the  grange  of 
Teachlenni  (Stalleen),  and  the  grange  of  Kossnarrigh 
(Rossnaree),  with  their  appurtenances,  the  townland  of 
Culen  (CuUen)  and  its  appurtenances,  the  grange  of 
Cnogva  (Knowth),  the  grange  of  Kelkalma  (not  known 
now),  with  their  appurtenances,  Tuelacnacornari  (not 
known),  and  Callan  (Collon),  with  their  appurtenances,  and 
the  grange   of  Finna  (  )  with  its  appurtenances." 

He  also  confirms  the  grants  of  two  carucates  of  land  made 
to  the  monks  by  Hugh  de  Lacy,  viz.,  of  Croghan  and 
Bally bregan  (?),  and  also  one  carucate  of  kind  given  by 
Robert  of  Flanders,  called  Crevoda,  now  Creewood,  two 
miles  west  of  Mellifont. 

In  1186,  St.  Christian  O'Connarchy,  or  Connery,  who 
had   been   the  first  Abbot   of   Mellifont  and  afterwards 


(54  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

Bishop  of  Lismore  and  Legate  of  the  Holy  See,  died,  and 
was  buried  at  O'Dorney,  Co.  Kerry,  a  monastery  of  his 
Order,  which  was  founded  in  1154,  from  Manister-Nenay. 
He  had  resigned  all  his  dignities  six  years  before,  in  order 
the  better  to  prepare  himself  for  a  happy  death.  He  was 
enrolled  in  the  Calendar  of  the  Saints  of  the  Cistercian 
Order,  and  his  festival  was  kept  in  England  in  pre-Refor- 
mation  times,  on  the  18th  March.  In  the  eulogy  of  him 
in  the  Cistercian  Menology  it  is  said,  "  that  he  was 
remarkable  for  his  sanctity  and  wonderful  miracles,  and 
that  next  to  St.  Malachy,  he  was  regarded  by  the  Irish 
nation  as  one  of  its  principal  patrons,"  even  down  to  the 
time  that  that  was  written,  A.D.  1630.  An  Irish  gentle- 
man who  visited  Italy  in  1858,  wrote  from  Venice  to  a 
friend,  that  he  had  seen  amongst  the  fresco  paintings 
which  covered  the  wall  of  the  beautiful  church  of  Chiara- 
valla,  the  first  Cistercian  monastery  founded  in  Italy,  a 
painting  of  St.  Malachy;  also  one  entitled,  "S.  Christi- 
anus  ArcMeps.  in  Hibemia  Cisterciensis" — "St.  Chris- 
tian, a  Cistercian  monk,  and  Archbishop  in  Ireland."  The 
error  in  ranking  him  as  Archbishop  probably  arose  from 
his  having  succeeded  St.  Malachy  as  Legate.  It  was  in 
his  Legatine  capacity  that  he  presided  at  several  Synods, 
chiefly  the  memorable  one  convened  by  King  Henry  at 
Cashel,  in  1172. 

About  the  same  time,  there  died  at  Mellifont,  a  holy 
monk  named  Malchus,  who  is  said  to  have  been  St. 
Christian's  brother  and  successor  in  the  abbatial  office,  as 
has  been  related  above.  Ussher,  quoting  St.  Bernard, 
positively  asserts  that  he  was  St.  Christian's  brother. 
And  Sequin,  who,  in  1580,  compiled  a  Catalogue  of  the 
Saints  of  the  Cistercian  Order,  mentions  Malchus  in  that 
honoured  roll,  and  styles  him  "  a  true  contemner  of  the 
world,  a  great  lover  of  God,  and  a  pattern  and  model  of 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  65 

all  virtues  to  the  whole  Order."  He  says,  "  he  was  one 
of  St.  Malachy's  disciples  iu  whose  footsteps  he  faithfully 
followed,  and  that  he  was  renowned  for  his  sanctity  and 
learning,  as  well  as  for  the  many  miracles  he  wrought." 
His  feast  was  kept  on  the  28th  of  June. 

In  1189,  Rudolph,  or  Ralph  Feltham,  Abbot  of 
Furness,  died  and  was  buried  here.  And  in  the  same 
year,  died  Murrogh  O'Carroll,  cousin  of  the  Founder,  near 
whom  he  was  interred. 

la  1190,  Pope  Clement  III,  issued  a  Bull  addressed 
to  the  General  Chapter  of  the  Cistercian  Order,  dated 
July  6th  of  that  year,  enrolling  St.  Malachy  in  the 
Calendar  of  Saints,  and  appointing  the  3rd  of  November 
for  his  festival. 

At  that  same  General  Chapter,  it  was  decreed  that  the 
Irish  Abbots  be  dispensed  from  attending  the  General 
Chapter  annually,  and  it  was  decided  that  they  should 
be  present  every  third  year;  and  a  few  years  later,  the 
Abbot  of  Mellifont  was  charged  to  select  three  of  their 
number  who  should  repair  thither  every  year. 

In  1193,  Dervorgilla  died  at  the  monastery  of  Mellifont. 
The  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters  and  other  Annals 
simply  relate  the  fact  of  her  having  died  there  in  the 
yoth  year  of  her  age,  without  alluding  to  the  place  of  her 
sepulture. 

In  that  year,  also,  portions  of  the  Relics  of  St.  Malachy 
were  brought  to  Mellifont  and  were  distributed  to  the 
other  houses  of  the  Order  in  Ireland.  Several  of  our 
Annals  say  that  the  Saint's  body  was  brought  over  from 
Clairvaux,  but  that  is  obviously  a  mistake;  for  until  the 
French  Revolution,  the  bodies  of  St.  Malachy  and  St. 
Bernard  occupied  two  magnificent  altar-tombs  of  red 
marble  within  the  chancel,  at  Clairvaux.  A  charter, 
dated    1273,  is   still   extant,  whereby  Robert  Bruce,  the 


66  MELLIFONT   ABBKY. 

rival  of  John  Baliol  for  the  Scottish  Crown,  conveys  his 
land  of  Ostieroft  to  the  Abhot  of  Clairvaux  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  lamp  before  St.  Malachy's  tomb  in  that 
church.  And  the  General  Chapter  of  the  Order  held  in 
1323,  when  raising  the  Saint's  festival  to  a  higher  rank, 
expressly  mentioned  that  his  body  "  rested  "  at  Clairvaux. 
Meglinger,  a  German  Cistercian  monk,  who  visited  Clair- 
vaux in  1667,  and  wrote  a  description  of  that  famous 
abbey  as  he  beheld  it,  says  that  he  was  shown  the  heads 
of  Saints  Malachy  and  Bernard,  which  were  preserved  in 
silver  cases.  He  also  mentions  the  superb  altar-tombs 
of  the  two  Saints.  Later  on,  the  two  celebrated  Bene- 
dictine monks,  Dom  Mart^ne  and  Dom  Durand,  when 
in  quest  of  MSS.,  called  at  Clairvaux,  and  were  shown 
the  tombs  and  heads  of  the  Saints.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  remark  that  this  respect  and  veneration 
were  entertained  for  the  tombs  only  because  they  con- 
tained the  bodies  of  the  holy  men. 

In  1194,  Abbot  Moelisa,  who  then  governed  Mellifont, 
was  made  Bishop  of  Clogher. 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 


67 


CHAPTER  VI. 


MELLIFONT   IN   TROUBLOUS  TIMES.      . 

"  But  I  must  needs  confess 
That  'tis  a  thing  impossible  to  frame 
Conceptions  equal  to  the  soul's  desires  ; 
And  the  most  diflScult  of  tasks  to  keep 
Heights  which  the  soul  is  competent  to  gain." 

(  Wordsworth.') 

IXTY  years  of  uninterrupted  prosperity 
have  passed  over  Mellifont,  during  which 
period  it  has  been  honoured  by  princes 
and  people  alike,  and  even  the  English 
Kings  have  marked  their  esteem  for  it  by 
heaping  fresh  favours  on  it.  It  was  still 
flourishing  in  1201,  when  Thomas  O'Connor, 
Archbishop  of  Armagh,  whom  the  Annals  of  St.  Mary's 
Abbey,  Dublin,  style  "a  noble  and  worthy  man,"  chose 
it  as  his  burial-place,  and  was  buried  there  with  great 
honour.  He  was  brother  to  Roderick  O'Connor,  King 
of  Connaught.  It  was  at  his  instance  that  Joceline  wrote 
his  Life  of  St.  Patrick. 

In  1203,  King  John  "  of  his  own  fee"  granted  a  new 
charter  confirming  that  given  by  his  father  some  years 
before,  and  also  giving  the  monks  free  customs,  together 
with  the  fishery  on  both  sides  of  the  Boyne. 

In  1206,  Benedict  and  Gerald,  monks  of  Mellifont,  were 
deputed  by  Eugene,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  to  wait  on 
the  King  and  to  tender  him,  on  the  Archbishop's  behalf, 
three  hundred   marks   of  silver   and   three   of  gold   for 


68  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

restitution  of  the  lands  and  liberties  belonging  to  that 
See.  It  was  the  King's  custom  to  appropriate  the 
revenues  of  the  vacant  bishoprics,  and  on  the  confirmation 
by  the  Pope  of  the  bishop-elect,  he  issued  a  writ  of 
restitution  of  the  temporalities,  or  episcopal  possessions 
and  rights.  The  King,  in  order  to  keep  the  temporalities 
the  longer,  often  refused  his  "conge  d'elire,"  without 
which  an  election  was  invalid  by  the  civil  law.  Soon 
after  the  Invasion,  King  Henry  II.  held  in  his  possession, 
pending  the  appointment  of  new  prelates,  one  arch- 
bishopric, five  bishoprics,  and  three  abbeys,  here  in 
Ireland. 

In  1211,  Thomas  was  Abbot,  and  seven  years  later, 
Carus,  or  Cormac  O'Tarpa,  Abbot,  and  presumably 
immediate  successor  to  Thomas,  was  made  Bishop  of 
Achonry,  which  See  he  resigned  in  1226,  and  returned  to 
Mellifont,  where  he  died  that  same  year,  and  Avas  buried 
there.  Some  two-and-one-half  miles  north  of  Mellifont, 
and  one-half  mile  east  of  Collon,  between  that  village  and 
Tinure,  there  is  a  crossing  of  the  roads  still  popularly 
known  as  "Tarpa's  Cross."  Local  tradition  has  it  that 
this  Cormac  O'Tarpa,  when  Abbot,  was  wont  to  walk 
daily  from  the  monastery  to  this  spot. 

About  that  time,  or  in  1221,  Mellifont,  from  some 
unrecorded  cause,  fell  from  its  first  fervour,  but  only  for 
a  very  brief  period ;  for  the  remedy  applied  effected  a 
thorough  reform.  In  the  Statutes  of  the  Order  for  that 
year,  the  General  Chapter  authorised  the  Abbot  of  Clair- 
vaux  to  set  things  right  by  bringing  in  monks  from  other 
monasteries,  and  so,  as  it  were,  infuse  new  and  healthier 
blood  into  the  monastic  life  there.  As  no  further  mention 
is  made  of  the  matter,  the  trouble,  whatever  its  nature 
was,  must  have  been  permanently  removed. 

In  1227,  Luke  Netterville,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  was 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  69 

buried  here.  It  was  he  who,  three  years  previous,  founded 
the  Dominican  monastery  in  Drogheda,  of  which,  now, 
only  the  Magdalen  Tower  remains.  And  in  that  year 
(1227),  Gerald,  a  monk  of  Mellifont,  was  elected  Bishop 
of  Dromore. 

In  1229,  the  King  granted  to  the  Abbot  and  Com- 
munity of  Mellifont  a  Tuesday  market  in  their  town  of 
Collon. 

In  1233,  the  General  Chapter  authorised  all  the  Abbots 
of  the  Order  to  have  the  Word  of  God  preached  on 
Sundays  and  festivals,  to  their  servants  and  retainers,  in 
some  suitable  place.  And  in  1238,  the  King  gave  a  new 
confirmation  to  the  monks  of  Mellifont. 

In  1248,  the  General  Chapter  granted  permission  to 
the  English  and  Irish  Abbots  of  the  Order,  to  hold 
deliberations  on  important  local  matters  in  their  respec- 
tive countries.  The  Abbots  of  Mellifont,  of  St.  Mary's 
Abbey,  Dublin,  and  of  Duiske,  Co.  Kilkenny,  were 
empowered  to  convoke  all  the  other  Irish  Abbots  of  the 
Order  for  consultation;  the  assembly  thus  somewhat 
partaking  of  the  nature  of  a  Provincial  Chapter. 

In  1250,  no  Englishman  would  be  admitted  to  pro- 
fession at  Mellifont.  In  12G9,  David  O'Brogan,  who  had 
been  a  monk  of  this  house,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of 
Clogher,  was  buried  here.  In  1272,  Hore  Abbey,  near 
Cashel,  was  founded  from  Mellifont.  In  1275,  the  General 
Chapter  decreed  that  in  the  admission  of  novices  into  the 
Order  there  should  be  no  question  of  nationality. 

Hitherto,  the  Cistercians  confined  themselves,  in  dis- 
charging the  offices  of  their  sacred  ministry,  to  their 
guests,  servants,  and  the  sick  poor  in  the  hospitals  at 
their  gates ;  but  now,  the  altered  circumstances  of  the 
times  demand  a  change  in  their  usages  and  impose 
fresh   burdens  on  them,  for  which  they  get   no   credit. 


70  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

The  new  Orders  of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic  had 
settled  down  in  this  country,  and  were  attracting  a 
large  percentage  of  the  young  men,  who,  till  then, 
entered  the  ranks  of  the  Lay  Brethren,  and  managed  the 
granges,  or  outlying  farms,  under  the  Cellarer.  In 
consequence,  therefore,  of  the  insufficiency  of  their 
numbers  to  work  the  farms  profitably,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  lease  these  granges  to  tenants,  and  hence  the 
origin  of  many  villages  and  towns  that,  in  several 
instances,  arose  on  the  site  of  the  granges.  The  chapel 
attached  to  the  grange  (for  every  grange  had  its  chapel 
for  the  use  of  the  Brothers  in  charge)  was  converted  into 
a  parish  church  for  the  new  population  that  clustered 
around  it.  Of  this  church  the  monks  became  the  pastors, 
except  when  it  lay  at  too  great  distance  to  be  served  from 
the  monastery;  in  which  case,  the  monks  employed 
secular  priests.  They  built  schools  also,  where  the 
children  of  the  tenants  and  dependants  received  gratui- 
tously from  the  monks  themselves,  an  education  similar  to 
that  at  present  imparted  in  our  primary  schools. 

Though  the  study  of  Sacred  Scripture,  Theology,  and 
Canon  Law  was  encouraged  in  the  Order  from  its  founda- 
tion ;  yet  it  was  not  until  1245  that  studies  were  fully 
organised  by  drawing  up  a  curriculum  that  should  be 
obligatory.  In  that  year  it  was  ordained  by  the  General 
Chapter  that  in  every  Province  there  should  be  a  central 
monastery  to  which  the  monks  should  repair  to  read  the 
prescribed  course  of  studies  under  members  of  the  Order, 
who  had  graduated  at  some  university.  We  are  not  told 
which  of  the  Irish  monasteries  was  selected  as  the  House 
of  Studies ;  but,  in  1281,  the  General  Chapter  decided  and 
decreed  that  in  all  the  larger  abbeys  such  Houses  of 
Studies  should  be  established. 

There  is  an  entry  in  the  Annals  of  St.  Mary's  Abbey,  at 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  71 

the  year  1281,  giving  the  price  of  cattle  at  that  time.  As 
it  is  interesting  it  is  given  here :  viz.,  twenty  shillings 
each  for  a  horse,  a  cow,  or  a  bullock. 

In  1306,  Mellifont  first  experienced  the  baleful  effects 
of  racial  jealousies  and  bickerings ;  for  the  monks  could 
not,  or  would  not,  agree  to  elect  an  Abbot ;  and  during 
their  dissensions,  the  King  seized  the  possessions  of  the 
monastery.  We  are  not  informed  how  matters  terminated 
on  that  occasion. 

In  1316,  the  General  Chapter  ordered  that  the  English, 
Welsh,  and  Irish  Abbots  should  send  some  of  their  monks, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  in  their  respective  monasteries, 
to  the  University  of  Oxford,  to  be  educated  there.  A  few 
years  previous,  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  endowed  at  Oxford 
the  College  of  St.  Bernard  (now  St.  John's),  for  the 
Cistercians.  How  far  the  Irish  monks  availed  of  this 
college  cannot  be  known ;  probably  those  within  the  Pale 
did  largely  benefit  by  it.  One  who  obtained  an  unenviable 
notoriety  by  his  intemperate  invectives  against  the 
Mendicant  Orders,  was  educated  there — Henry  Crump,  an 
Englishman,  and  monk  of  the  Abbey  of  Baltinglas.  But 
it  is  very  dubious  that  the  "  mere  Irish"  ventured  to  cross 
its  threshold.  They  would  abstain  from  doing  so  from 
prudential  motives. 

The  fourteenth  century  was  ushered  in  by  the  re- 
petition of  feuds  between  the  Anglo-Irish  and  the  Irish ; 
and,  as  it  grew  older,  the  former  fought  amongst  them- 
selves, with  Irish  auxiliaries  on  both  sides.  It  may  be 
here  remarked,  as  a  curious  historical  fiict,  that  it  was  the 
Irish  who  fought  the  battles  for  the  English  Crown  in 
Ireland ;  it  was  they,  too,  who  retained  their  country 
subject  to  that  dominion,  according  to  Sir  John  Davis 
{Discoverie,  p.  639)  ;  for  no  army  ever  came  out  of 
England  from  the  time  of  King  John,  except  the  expedi- 


72  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

tioT)ary  army  of  Richard  II.  The  few  forces  subsequently 
sent  over,  until  the  twenty-ninth  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
"were  to  quell  the  rebellions  of  the  English  settlers. 

The  most  disastrous  calamity  in  Ireland  in  this  century, 
next  to  the  great  plague  of  1348, or  the  "Black  Death,"  as 
it  was  called,  was  Bruce's  invasion  in  1315.  Friar  Clyn 
tells  us  in  his  Annals,  that  Bruce  and  his  followers  "  went 
through  all  the  country,  burning,  slaying,  depredating, 
spoiling  towns  and  castles,  and  even  churches,  as  they 
■went  and  as  they  returned."  As  a  result  the  country 
was  visited  by  a  dreadful  famine,  and,  moreover,  the  Pope, 
writing  to  the  Archbishops  of  Dublin  and  Cash  el  in  1317, 
alludes  to  scandals,  murders,  conflagrations,  sacrileges, 
and  rapine,  as  following  from  that  invasion.  Though 
Bruce  failed  in  his  object  to  overthrow  the  English  power 
in  Ireland,  yet  he  so  far  succeeded,  that  he  weakened  it 
considerably. 

In  the  year  1316  (according,  to  Ussher),  O'Neill 
addressed  his  famous  Remonstrance  to  Pope  John  XXII., 
in  which,  amongst  other  complaints,  he  remarked,  that  the 
religious  communities  were  prohibited  by  the  law  from 
admitting  anyone  not  an  Englishman  into  monasteries 
within  the  Pale.  In  response  to  this,  the  Pope  sent  two 
Cardinals  to  investigate  the  matter,  and  also  wrote  a 
letter  to  King  Edward  II.,  exhorting  him  to  adopt  merciful 
measures  towards  the  Irish.  The  letter  had  not  much 
efifect,  and  the  cruelties  and  injustice  continued;  but, 
about  twenty  years  later,  there  was  exhibited  an  unpre- 
cedented tendency  on  the  part  of  the  Anglo-Irish  and  the 
Irish  towards  incorporation.  The  Irish  people  clung  to 
the  great  Geraldine  family  with  a  romantic  afifection  which 
that  chivalrous  race  fully  reciprocated.  So,  too,  did 
they  lean  towards  the  rivals  of  the  Geraldines,  the 
Ormondes,  and  to  other  Anglo-Irish  barons,  who,  likewise, 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  73 

had  adopted  Irish  customs  and  sirnames.  Eoglish  power 
in  this  country  had  grown  to  be  regarded  as  merely 
nominal,  and  the  administration  of  the  law  and  the  office  of 
Lord  Deputy  could  no  longer  be  committed  to  one  or  other 
of  the  two  principal  families  (the  Geraldine  or  Ormonde), 
to  whom  the  Deputyship  had  been  usually  entrusted. 
To  preclude  the  danger  of  these  haughty  noblemen 
attempting  to  arrogate  the  state  of  the  independent  native 
chieftains,  and  to  firmly  establish  the  English  power,  a 
Parliament,  which  assembled  at  Nottingham,  in  the 
seventeenth  of  Edward  III.  (1343),  enacted  laws  for  the 
reformation  of  the  Irish  Government.  A  few  months 
previous  to  the  sitting  of  this  Parliament,  Sir  Ralph  Ufford 
had  been  sent  over  as  Lord  Deputy,  to  stamp  out  this 
incipient  spirit  of  independence,  and  to  impede  the  fusion 
of  the  two  races.  This  nobleman,  by  rigid  and  cruel 
measures,  executed  the  nefarious  intentions  of  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament.  He  appropriated  the  goods  of  others, 
plundered,  without  discrimination,  the  clergy,  the  laity,  the 
rich  and  the  poor;  assigning  the  public  welfare  as  a 
pretext.  He  broke  down  the  pride  of  the  Earl  of 
Desmond,  and  for  a  while  seized  his  estates ;  but,  on 
Ufford's  recall  to  England  and  the  appointment  of  Sir 
Walter. Bermingham  as  his  successor,  Desmond  was  re- 
stored to  royal  favour.  Gradually  the  old  animus  was 
revived,  and  old  dormant  jealousies  between  the  two  races 
were  awakened,  until,  in  the  year  1376,  the  "Statute  of 
Kilkenny"  threw  the  whole  nation  into  a  state  of  com- 
motion and  chaos,  and  aroused  a  fierce  hatred  between 
the  Anglo-Irish  and  the  later  arrivals  from  England,  who 
were  styled  by  that  Act,  "  the  English  born  in  Eugland." 
The  latter  despised  the  former  and  called  them  "  Irish 
Dogg;"  the  Anglo-Irish  retorted,  giving  them  the  name 
of  "English  Hobbe,"  or  churl.     These  bickerings  were 


74  MELLIFONT  AllBEY. 

reprobated  by  the  said  Statute,  which,  at  the  same  time, 
banned  the  whole  race  of  the  native  Irish.  Sir  John 
Davis  writes  of  it :  "  It  was  manifest  from  these  laws 
that  those  who  had  the  government  of  Ireland  under  the 
Crown  of  England  intended  to  make  a  perpetual  separa- 
tion between  the  English  settled  in  Ireland  and  the 
native  Irish,  in  the  expectation  that  the  English  should 
in  the  end  root  out  the  Irish."  And  another  Englishman 
writes  of  this  Statute :  *'  Imagination  can  scarcely  devise 
an  extremity  of  antipathy,  hatred,  and  revenge,  to  which 
this  code  of  aggravation  was  not  calculated  to  provoke 
both  nations  "  (Plowden,  Historical  Revieiv  of  the  State 
of  Ireland.)  The  foregoing  summary  of  the  condition  of 
affairs  in  Ireland  in  the  fourteenth  century  has  been 
given,  in  order  to  illustrate  and  explain  the  bald  historical 
facts  handed  down  to  us  having  reference  to  Mellifont 
during  the  same  period. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  year  1316,  O'Neil 
complained  to  the  Pope  that  Irishmen  were  by  law 
excluded  from  entering  monasteries  within  the  Pale ; 
accordingly,  we  read  that  in  1322,  the  monks  of  Mellifont, 
amongst  whom  the  English  element  then  prevailed, 
would  admit  no  man  to  profession  there  who  had  not 
previously  sworn  that  he  was  not  an  Irishman.  Cox, 
who  derives  his  information  from  some  old  document  in 
the  Tower  of  London,  tells  us  that  in  1323,  the  General 
Chapter  of  the  Order  strongly  denounced  this  pernicious 
practice,  but  there  is  no  such  decree,  nor  is  there  any 
allusion  to  it  in  Martene  at  that  date.  That  spirit  seems 
to  have  been  gratifying  to  King  Edward  II. ;  for,  in  1324, 
he  complained  to  the  Pope  of  the  violation  of  the  law  of 
exclusion,  and  Nicholas  of  Lusk,  who  was  then  Abbot, 
was  superseded  ;  very  likely,  was  summarily  deposed,  for 
the  infraction  of  it. 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  75 

At  that  very  time,  some  of  the  other  Cistercian 
monasteries  under  the  protection  of  the  native  chieftains, 
and  totally  composed  of  Irishmen,  were  in  a  most 
prosperous  condition,  and  merited  the  genuine  esteem  of 
princes  and  people.  Thus,  the  Abbey  of  Assaroe,  or 
Ballyshannon,  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Princes  of 
Tyrconel,  attained  celebrity  by  the  regularity  of  its 
monks  and  the  learuing  and  sanctity  of  its  Abbots,  three 
of  whom  were  made  Bishops  at  no  distant  intervals.  Of 
Boyle  Abbey,  Co.  Roscommon,  the  same  can  also  be  said  ; 
for  it  throve  and  flourished  without  royal  favour  or 
charter.  On  the  other  hand,  Mellifont  had  a  plethora  of 
charters,  for  which  the  monks  there  must  have  paid 
dearly.  But,  surrounded  as  it  was  by  covetous  and  not 
over-scrupulous  neighbours  in  lawless  times,  such  safe- 
guards were  decidedly  necessary.  So,  in  1329,  Edward 
III.  granted  them  a  confirmation  of  all  former  privileges, 
together  with  the  right  of  free  warren  in  all  their  manors  ; 
and  again  in  1848,  he  gave  them  a  fresh  confirmation, 
with  the  right  to  erect  a  prison  in  any  of  their  lands  in 
the  Co.  Meath,  and  also  the  power  to  erect  a  pillory  and 
gallows  in  their  town  of  Collon.  The  Abbot  then,  as  a 
temporal  lord  over  his  own  manors,  had  power  of  life  and 
death  over  his  vassals  therein  ;  but  he  never  exercised  the 
authority  so  vested  in  him  by  condemning  anyone  to 
death,  nay,  even,  he  refrained  from  adjudicating  on  civil 
matters,  as  is  seen  by  dispensations  granted  by  Popes  to 
Irish  Cistercian  Abbots  freeing  them  from  the  obligation 
of  acting  as  Justices. 

It  is  recorded  that  in  1329,  in  the  battle  in  which  the 
Louth  men  killed  their  new  Earl,  John  Birmingham, 
"  there  fell  Caech  O'Carroll,  that  famous  tympanist  and 
harper,  so  pre-eminent  that  he  was  a  phoenix  in  his  art, 
and  with  him  fell  about  twenty  tympanists  who  were  his 


70  MEL  LI  FONT   ABBEY. 

scholars.  He  Avas  called  Caech  O'CarroU  because  his 
eyes  were  not  straight,  but  squinted  ;  and  if  he  was  not 
the  first  inventor  of  chord  music,  yet  of  all  his  prede- 
cessors and  contemporaries,  he  was  the  corrector,  the 
teacher,  and  director." 

How  it  fared  with  Mellifont  during  the  fearful  pesti- 
lence that  ravaged  all  Europe  in  1348,  is  not  related. 
Friar  Clyn,  the  Franciscan  Annalist,  wrote  of  it: — "  That 
pestilence  deprived  of  human  inhabitants,  villages  and 
cities,  and  castles  and  towns,  so  that  there  was  scarcely 
found  a  man  to  dwell  therein."  The  mortality  ia  the 
religious  houses  was  very  great,  and  in  some  instances, 
only  a  few  monks  were  left  out  of  large  and  numerous 
communities.  It  is  said  that  in  these  countries  the 
religious  Orders  never  recovered  from  the  loss  of  the  best 
and  most  learned  of  their  members  who  were  then  swept 
away. 

In  1351,  Abbot  Reginald  was  charged,  as  if  it  were  a 
crime,  and  found  guilty,  of  having  within  two  years 
collected  of  his  own  money,  and  from  the  Abbots  of 
Boyle,  Knockmoy,  Bective,  and  Cashel,  and  of  having 
remitted  the  sum  of  664  florins  to  the  Abbot  of  Clairvaux, 
while  war  was  being  waged  between  England  and  France. 
But  there  was  no  treason  or  treasonable  intent  in  that ; 
for  the  money  was  to  defray  the  current  expenses  of  the 
Order,  and  was  levied  off  every  monastery  in  proportion 
to  the  resources  of  each.  Richard,  Coeur  de  Lion, 
Alexander  II.  of  Scotland,  and  Bela  IV.  of  Hungary  had, 
in  their  day,  contributed  largely  to  this  fund. 

In  1358,  the  Abbot  of  Mellifont  made  good  his  claim 
to  three  weirs  upon  the  Boyne,  at  Rosnaree,  Knowth,  and 
Staleen ;  but,  in  1366,  he  was  indicted  at  Trim,  for 
erecting  an  unlawful  weir  at  Oldbridge,  when  the  Jury 
found  against  him,  and  he  was  ordered  to  reduce  the  weir 


MELLIFONT   ABBKY.  77 

to  a  certain  breadth  and  space,  and  he,  himself,  was 
sentenced  to  a  term  of  imprisonment ;  but,  on  his  paying 
a  fine  of  £10  to  Roland  de  Shalesford,  the  sheriff  of  the 
Co.  Meath,  this  sentence  was  commuted.  Ten  years 
later,  John  Terrour,  successor  to  this  Abbot,  was  sued  for 
obstructing  the  King's  passage  of  the  Boyne. 

In  the  years  1373  and  1377,  the  Abbot  was  summoned 
to  attend  Parliaments  held  at  Dublin  and  Castledermot 
respectively.  In  the  former  Parliament,  one  hundred 
shillings  were  ordered  to  be  levied  from  him,  as  his 
portion  of  the  subsidy  granted  to  the  Lord  Justice, 
William  de  Windesore,  by  the  same  Parliament.  In 
1380,  the  King  gave  a  special  mandate  that  no  mere 
Irishman  should  be  admitted  to  profession  in  this  abbey. 
In  1381  and  1382,  the  Abbot  attended  Parliaments  held 
in  Dublin,  and  in  1400,  the  King  granted  a  royal  con- 
firmation of  all  the  land,  manors,  and  liberties,  bestowed 
on  the  abbey  by  former  charters ;  and  in  1402,  he 
pardoned  the  Abbot  and  monks  for  their  having  admitted 
Irishmen  to  profession.  However,  they  were  mulcted 
in  the  sum  of  £50.  In  1415,  Leynagh  Bermingham, 
William  Davison,  and  John  D'Alton  were  committed  to 
the  custody  of  the  Abbot  to  be  kept  by  him  as  hostages 
for  the  allegiance  of  their  respective  fathers.  In  1424, 
the  Abbot,  with  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh  and  Nicholas 
Taafi'e,  was  appointed  Justice  and  Conservator  of  the 
Peace  for  the  Co.  Louth. 

The  allusions  to  Mellifont  during  the  remainder  of  this 
century  are  very  few  and  uninteresting.  Whether,  or 
not,  it  shared  the  fate  of  many  other  Irish  monasteries 
at  that  time  and  had  no  regular  Abbot,  but  one  who  was 
called  Abbot  in  commendam,  is  not  known ;  but  the 
presumption  is  that  it  had  not  a  regular  Abbot.  These 
Abbots  in  commendam  were  not  monks,  or  members  of 


78  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

any  Religious  Order;  but  secular  clerics,  not  necessarily 
in  Holy  Orders.  Sometimes,  especially  when  the  abuse 
had  reached  its  greatest  height  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
they  were  even  laymen;  nevertheless,  they  enjoyed  the 
revenues  of  the  abbeys  committed  to  them,  with  the  style 
and  title  of  Abbots,  but  exercised  no  spiritual  jurisdiction 
in  their  abbeys.  This  latter  was  confided  to  regular 
Priors  who  were  selected  by  their  own  Religious  superiors. 
When  laymen  held  the  abbeys  in  commendam  they 
commonly  resided  in  them  with  their  wives,  families, 
retinues,  servants,  etc.,  to  the  distraction  and  interference 
with  the  monks  in  their  regular  observances,  and  finally, 
to  the  complete  subversion  of  discipline.  At  that  very 
time  this  pernicious  practice  had  brought  the  whole 
Order  to  the  brink  of  ruin  ;  for  we  find  the  General 
Chapter  on  several  occasions  deploring  the  injuries 
inflicted  on  religion,  and  lamenting  the  havoc  wrought 
by  it,  and  they  decided  to  send  three  of  their  number  to 
Rome  to  implore  the  Pope's  protection  against  the 
growing  evil.  Still,  it  survived,  more  or  less,  in  these 
countries  till  the  Reformation.  Scotland  suffered  more 
from  it,  apparently,  than  Ireland  did,  as  can  be  seen  from 
the  lists  furnished  by  Brady  in  his  Episcopal  Succession. 
In  1476,  the  Abbot  of  Mellifont  complained,  that 
"owing  to  oppressions  and  extortions  within  the  County 
of  Louth  and  Uriell,  his  monastery  was  greatly  indebted 
and  impoverished."  Certain  it  is,  that  for  some  time 
previous,  it  had  fallen  from  its  former  regularity  and 
fervour;  but,  through  the  zeal  and  tact  of  Abbot  Roger 
who  then  governed  it,  it  regained  its  wonted  prominence 
amongst  the  most  observant  monasteries.  In  1479,  this 
same  Roger  having  set  forth  to  the  King  that  he  had 
"Jurisdiction  Ecclesiastical  of  all  persons  within  his  lands, 
as  well  secular  as  ecclesiastical,  the  King,  out  of  his  love 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  79 

to  the  Cistercian  Order,  granted  to  the  Abbot  and  his 
successors,  the  Jus  cle  excommunicatis  capiendis,  and 
episcopal  jurisdiction,"  (Stat.  Roll.  19  Ed.  IV.,  c.  5.) 
The  former  privilege  refers  to  the  concession  made  to  the 
Church  by  the  first  clause  of  the  Statute  of  Kilkenny,  and 
which  had  been  confirmed  by  subsequent  Parliaments  for 
centuries  after  its  first  enactment.  Under  the  headino: — 
"The  Church  to  be  free — Writ  De  Excommunicato 
capiendo,"  the  clause  proceeds  to  ordain,  "  that  Holy 
Church  shall  have  all  her  franchises  without  injury,  .... 
and  if  any  (which  God  forbid)  do  to  the  contrary,  and  be 
excommunicated  by  the  Ordinary  of  the  place  for  that 
cause,  so  that  satisfaction  be  not  made  to  God  and  Holy 
Church  by  the  party  so  excommunicated  within  a  month 
after  such  excommunication,  that  then,  after  certificate 
thereupon  being  made  by  the  said  Ordinary  into  the 
Chancery,  a  writ  shall  be  directed  to  the  Sheriff,  Mayor, 
Seneschal  of  the  franchise,  or  other  officers  of  the  King,  to 
take  his  body,  and  to  keep  him  in  prison  without  bail, 
until  due  satisfaction  be  made  to  God  and  Holy  Church, 
etc."  By  episcopal  jurisdiction  is  here  meant  the  civil 
rights  and  privileges  appertaining  to  the  episcopal  office, 
and  enjoyed  at  that  time  by  bishops  over  their  subjects, 
lay  and  clerical.  And  as  to  the  spiritual,  quasi-episcopal 
jurisdiction — the  Abbots  of  the  Order  had  that  as  well  as 
exemption  in  relation  to  their  own  monks  from  the  very 
foundation  of  the  Order;  but  by  a  Decree  dated  28th 
September  1487,  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  granted  to  all 
Cistercian  Abbots  quasi-episcopal  jurisdiction  over  their 
tenants,  vassals,  subjects,  and  servants.  By  this  Decree, 
the  Pope  "  took  all  the  Abbots,  Abbesses,  Monks  and 
Nuns  of  the  Order  under  his  special  protection,  together 
with  all  their  goods,  vassals,  subjects,  and  servants,  and 
exempted   and    freed    the    same   from   all  jurisdiction, 


80  MliLLIFOXT    ABBEY. 

superiority,  correction,  visitation,  subjection  and  power 
of  Archbishops,  Bishops  and  their  Vicars,  etc.,  ....  and 
subjected  them  immediately  to  himself  and  the  Holy- 
See."  This  Decree  is  given  in  full  in  the  Privilegia 
Ordinis  Cisterciensis,  p.  179. 

That  the  Abbots  of  the  Order  exercised  that  privilege  in 
this  country  cannot  be  doubted.  We  read  an  instance  of 
it  in  the  Triumphalia,  so  ably  edited  hy  the  late  Father 
Denis  Murphy,  S.J.,  where,  even  after  the  Council  of 
Trent  and  so  recently  as  1621,  a  certain  secular  priest,  who 
had  been  appointed  by  the  Abbot  of  Holy  Cross  to  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  parish  attached  to  that  abbey  and  of 
one  or  more  outlying  parishes  subject  to  the  same  Abbot, 
denied  after  some  time,  that  he  had  his  faculties  from  the 
said  Abbot,  but  rather  from  the  Archbishop,  or  his  Vicar. 
The  controversy  lasted  long,  but  finally,  it  was  decided 
in  the  Abbot's  favour,  and  Dr.  Kearney,  then  Archbishop 
of  Cashel,  acknowledged  the  Abbot's  title.  And  again, 
in  the  Spicelegium  Ossoriense  there  is  a  letter  from 
Dr.  O'Reilly,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  written  to  the 
Propaganda  in  1633,  in  which  he  complained  that  the 
Cistercians  claimed  the  privilege  of  "  Visitation,  Correc- 
tion, Sum/moning  to  Synods,  Approbation  to  hear 
confessions,  together  ivith  entire  and  absolute  episcopal 
jurisdiction!'  And  a  further  proof  in  favour  of  the 
practice  is  found  in  the  fact  that  laymen  who  acquired  the 
suppressed  monasteries  of  the  Order  claimed  and  exercised 
that  same  privilege.  Thus,  in  1622,  Archbishop  Ussher 
in  a  Report  of  Bective  parish  said  it  belonged  to 
Bartholomew  Dillon,  Esq.  of  Riverstown,  his  Majesty's 
farmer  of  the  impropriate  property.  "  This  church 
belongeth  to  the  Abbey  of  Bectiffe,  in  the  possession  of 
the  said  Mr.  Dillon,  who  pretendeth  to  have  an  exemption 
from  the  Lord  Bishop's  jurisdiction,  and  doth  prove  wills 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  81 

and  grant  administrations."  And  in  1744,  Harris  writes 
of  Newry,  where  once  was  a  Cistercian  Abbey  also:  "A 
mitred  Abbot  formerly  possessed  the  lordships  of  Newry 
and  Mourne,  and  exercised  therein  Episcopal  Jurisdiction, 
which  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Abbey  was  done  by  the 
temporal  proprietor,  and  at  the  present  Robert  Needham, 
Esq.,  to  whom  the  town  and  manor  belong,  enjoys  an 
exempt  Jurisdiction  within  the  said  manors,  and  the  seal 
of  his  court  is  a  Mitred  Abbot  in  his  Albe  sitting  in  a 
chair,  and  supported  by  two  yew  trees  with  this  inscrip- 
tion:  '  Sig ilium  exemptce  Jurisdictionis  de  Viride 
Ligno  alias  N'eivry  et  Mourne.'"'  Which  in  English 
means,  the  seal  of  the  Exempt  Jurisdiction  of  Newry  and 
Mourne.  Verily!  this  savours  of  Popery;  for,  it  was 
from  the  Pope  the  monks  received  their  exemption.  A 
modern  example  of  this  Papal  concession,  exercised  in  the 
Anglican  Church,  is  to  be  found  in  the  case  of  the  Dean 
of  Westminster  who  is  immediately  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  her  Gracious  Majesty  the  Qaeen,  and  consequently 
exempt  from  that  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  It  is 
as  successor  to  the  Abbot  of  Westminster  that  he  claims 
and  is  allowed  that  privilege  of  exemption ;  for  the  Abbot 
was  immediately  subject  to  the  Pope  in  pre-Reformation 
times. 

The  Abbot  of  Mellifont  was  implicated  in  the  rebellion 
of  Lambert  Simnel ;  for  in  1488,  he  received  pardon  from 
the  King  for  his  offences  in  that  connection.  The  close 
of  the  fifteenth  century  found  Mellifont  recovering  and 
maintaining  its  old  prestige  amongst  the  Religious  Orders 
of  this  country,  and  with  the  dawning  of  a  new  century,  it 
had  regained  its  former  level,  from  which  a  host  of 
circumstances  had  conspired  to  drag  it  down  and  to 
degrade  it.  These  circumstances  have  been  already 
detailed  and  need  not  be  here  repeated. 

F 


82  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

In  civil  matters,  Ireland  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  presented  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same, 
condition  as  she  did  more  than  three  centuries  before, 
when  the  English  first  landed  on  her  sliores.  The  Pale 
was  literally  bounded  by  the  Liffey  and  the  Boyne,  and 
the  old  feuds,  the  long-protracted  wars  between  the 
Anglo-Irish  and  the  natives  still  subsisted.  The  regular 
administration  of  the  law  was  limited  to  the  four  counties 
adjoining  the  capital,  called  the  "  Four  Obedient  Counties." 
It  seeems  incontestable  that  religion  was  in  a  flourishing 
condition  in  this  country  during  the  period ;  for  an 
unwonted  activity  and  fervour  animated  both  clergy  and 
people,  as  can  be  inferred  from  the  number  of  religious 
houses  established  ;  the  frequency  of  Synods  held  denoting 
zeal  and  regularity  on  the  part  of  the  prelates  convening 
them  ;  and  the  common  practice,  so  much  then  in  vogue, 
of  visiting,  through  a  spirit  of  penance  and  devotion,  the 
Holy  Places  at  home  and  in  far-off  countries.  Our  Annals 
prove  this  to  demonstration.  But,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  spirit  of  exclusion  was  still  in  full  force 
amongst  the  Anglo-Irish  clergy,  and  no  Irishman  was 
eligible  for  benefices  within  the  Pale.  Learning,  which  is 
ever  the  handmaid  of  true  piety,  found  its  home  as  in 
ancient  times  amongst  the  two  classes  of  the  clergy,  the 
secular  and  regular.  The  number  of  learned  works 
published  at  that  time  clearly  proves  it.  Amongst  the 
many  eminent  men  who  then  adorned  the  Church  in 
Ireland,  Maurice  O'Fihely,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  ranks 
foremost.  His  biographers,  for  he  had  many,  inform  us, 
that  he  "  was  eminent  for  his  extraordinary  knowledge  in 
Divinity,  Logic,  Philosophy,  and  Metaphysics,"  that  he 
published  a  Dictionary  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  was 
styled  by  his  contemporaries  at  home  and  abroad,  "The 
Flower  of  the  World."     He  had  been  a  Franciscan  Friar 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  83 

before  his  promotion  to  the  See  of  Tuam,  but  did  not  long 
survive  his  appointment. 

Now,  capital  has  been  made  by  some  writers  out  of  a 
description  of  the  Church  in  Ireland  taken  from  the  State 
Papers,  Part  III.,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  15, 16.  If  it  reflected  a  true 
picture,  a  Reformation  would  indeed  have  been  needed, 
but  not  the  kind  introduced  by  Henry  VIII.,  nurtured 
by  Edward  VI.,  and  propagated  with  fire  and  sword  by 
Elizabeth.  Tbe  Report  states:  "Some  sayeth,  that  the 
prelates  of  the  Church  and  the  clergy  is  much  the  cause 
of  all  the  mysse  order  of  the  land,  for  there  is  no  arch- 
byshop,  ne  bysshop,  abbot,  ne  prior,  parson  ne  vicar,  ne  any 
other  person  of  the  church,  high  or  lowe,  greate  or  smalle, 
Englysh   or  Irish e,  that  usythe   to  preach  the   worde  of 

Godde,  saveing  the  poor  fryers  beggars." 

"  Some  sayeth" — Who  were  these  "  Some,"  or  what  was 
their  assertion  worth  ?  Were  they  parties  who  benefited 
by  the  disturbance  of  the  old  order  of  things  at  the 
Suppression,  and  so  suspected  of  having  been  partial,  and 
eager  to  seek  any  and  every  palliation  for  the  State  Church 
as  by  law  established.  Now  every  student  of  Irish  history, 
as  contained  in  our  Annals,  knows  that  that  anonymous 
statement  is  unwarranted  by  fact.  It  will  suffice  to  take 
two  instances,  as  we  find  them  recorded  in  Dowling's 
Annals  about  this  time,  to  show  the  fallacy  of  the 
accusation  of  wholesale  neglect  of  preaching  the  Word  of 
God.  Of  Nicholas  Maguire,  Bishop  of  Leighlin,  1490- 
1512,  Dowling  (Protestant  Chancellor  of  Leighlin)  writes: 
"  When  he  was  Prebendary  of  Ullard,  he  preached  and 
delivered  great  learning  with  no  less  reverence,  being  in 
favour  with  the  King  and  nobility  of  Leinster,  v/ho, 
together  with  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  elected  him  Bishop 
of  Leighlin."  And  of  Maurice  Deoran,  or  Doran,  who  a 
few  years  later  succeeded  him  in  Leighlin,  Dowling  again 


84  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

writes :  "  He  was  a  most  eloquent  preacher."  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  at  that  time  some  Church  dignitaries 
affected  the  airs  and  magnificence  of  worldly  magnates, 
nor  that  they  gave  scandal  to  their  flocks  by  their  ab- 
senteeism. Other  abuses,  no  doubt,  existed,  but  the 
watchful  providence  of  God  had  made  provision  for  their 
removal  through  His  authorised  ministers.  But,  alas  !  a 
new  condition  of  affairs  shall  soon  arise.  The  most  power- 
ful political  engine  ever  fabricated  for  the  extension  of  the 
English  power  in  Ireland  shall  b?  introduced,  one  which 
shall  eventually  break  up  the  tribe  lands,  annihilate  the 
sway  of  the  ancient  chieftains,  and  reduce  their  im- 
poverished descendants  to  the  condition  of  serfs  and 
menials.  And  this  shall  be  called  reforming  the  Church  ! 
Even  in  this  revolution,  Mellifont  shall  play  her  part,  and 
become  revolutionized  and  misappropriated. 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  85 


CHAPTER   VI I. 

THE   SUPPRESSION   OF   MELLIFONT. 

"  No  more  shall  Chtvrity  with  sparkling  eyes, 
And  smiles  of  welcome,  wide  unfold  the  door, 
Where  pity  listening  still  to  nature's  cries, 
Befriends  the  wretched  and  relieves  the  poor." 

(Keats.) 


r^ 


^  f^^:M^l^. HE  Religious  Orders,  which  succeed  each 
"^  ~  IS^^^  other  in  the  Catholic  Church,  are  subject 
-^f  *^  to  laws  similar  to  those  that  govern  the 
productions  of  nature.  They  grow  from 
feeble  and  imperceptible  seeds,  increase, 
flourish,  and  bear  fruit ;  then  decrease,  fade,  and 
fall  to  the  ground.  But  they  have  produced  a 
fruit,  which  contains  within  it  the  germs  of  a  new  seed- 
time, and  which  bursts  forth  vigorously  from  the  decaying 
sheath  to  reproduce  its  never-failing  kind.  This  work  of 
reproduction  and  subsequent  expansion  is  aided,  directed, 
and  encouraged  by  him,  to  whom  is  divinely  committed 
the  government  of  the  Church  ;  and  when  pseudo,  self- 
styled  reformers  essay  the  difficult  task,  their  true 
character  is  unmasked  in  the  inevitable  ruin  and  desola- 
tion which  follow,  instead  of  the  order  and  rehabilitation 
which  were  promised.  Bluff  Kiug  Hal,  or  the  ^[errie 
Monarch,  as  Henry  VIII.  was  familiarly  and  affectionately 
called  by  his  loving  subjects  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
was  in  need  of  money  to  squander  on  his  passions  and 
pleasures.  In  his  newly  assumed  character,  therefore,  of 
Head  of  the  Church  in  his  dominions  (which,  by  Act  of 


8()  MELLIF(JNT   ABBEY. 

Parliament,  lie  made  it  high  treason  to  deny),  he  suppressed 
the  lesser  monasteries  whose  annual  income  did  not 
exceed  £200.  This  was  done,  forsooth,  in  the  interests  of 
religion  ! ! !  The  proceeds  of  the  confiscation  were  soon 
dissipated,  and  the  wily  Cromwell,  whom  the  King  had 
appointed  his  Vicar-  General,  suggested  the  suppression 
and  appropriation  to  the  King's  uses,  of  all  the  monas- 
teries within  the  realm.  Again  it  is  his  zeal  for  the 
promotion  of  God's  glory  that  is  pleaded  as  bis  motive  for 
the  nefarious  deed.  Three  years  before,  when  addressing 
the  Houses  of  Parliament  in  behalf  of  the  measure  for  the 
suppression  of  the  lesser  monasteries,  he  publicly  gave 
thanks  to  God,  that  in  the  large  communities  "religion  is 
right  well  kept  and  observed."  And  yet,  what  a  meta- 
morphosis in  such  a  short  space!  All  had  now  fallen 
away,  and  had  inexplicably  sunk  into  all  manner  of 
iniquity !  Spelman,  in  his  History  of  Sacrilege,  tells 
the  mode  adopted  by  this  model  Reformer  to  carry  his 
motion  for  investing  in  the  Crown  the  property  of  all  the 
Religious  Orders.  "  The  King  sent  for  the  Commons,"  he 
tells  us,  "  and  informed  them  he  would  have  the  Bill  pass, 
or  take  off  some  of  their  heads."  This  they  knew  to  be 
no  empty  threat ;  and  pass  the  Bill  they  did  on  that 
memorable  day  of  May  13,  1539.  The  Lords,  as  a  body, 
voted  for  it;  partly  through  a  feeling  of  jealousy  towards 
the  Churchmen,  who  enjoyed  no  inconsiderable  share  of 
the  monarch's  confidence  and  favour,  and  so  they  rejoiced 
at  whatever  promised  to  destroy  this  good  understanding 
between  them  ;  and  partly  through  cupidity,  for  they 
hoped  for  a  share  in  the  booty.  The  Bishops  at  that 
juncture  are  blamed  for  their  weakness  in  complying  with 
so  unjust  a  proceeding;  but  they  were  divided  in  their 
councils;  some  considering  it  the  less  of  two  evils  to 
sacrifice    the   Religious   houses,   in    the    hope    that   the 


MKLLIFONT   ABBEY.  87 

misunderstanding  between  tlie  King  and  the  Pope  would 
be  soon  adjusted  and  the  monks  restored,  yielded  to  the 
King;  others,  unworthy  of  their  office,  as  it  must  be 
admitted,  worldly  men,  courtly  prelates,  who  dreaded  the 
King's  displeasure,  obsequiously  obeyed  his  mandate. 

Besides  his  greed  for  gold,  the  King  had  another  potent 

motive  for  suppressing  the  monasteries,  one  that  gave  a 

zest  to  this  disgraceful  act:  he  wanted  the  further  to  spite 

the   Pope    by    inflicting  such    an    unheard-of    injury  on 

religion.     Other  motives,  too,  were  not  wanting,  such  as 

state  policy,  so  the  King  alleged,  and  the  want  of  constant 

affection  towards  his  person  on  the  part  of  the  Religious, 

particularly  in   his   new  capacity.      This,    Lord   Herbert 

(who  was  no  friend  of  the  monks)  admits  in  his  Life  of 

the    King.      His    Lordship    writes :    "  The    monks   were 

looked  upon  as  a  body  of  reserve  for  the  Pope,  and  always 

ready  to  appear  in  his  quarrels."     Perhaps,  their  oppo- 

sitiou    to    the    King's    assumption    of    spiritual    power 

precipitated  matters.     At  all  events,  one  of  them,  zealous 

for  God's  law,  had  the  courage  to  reproach  him  to  his  face 

in  a  sermon   preached    at  Greenwich   before  the   King's 

marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn.     This  fearless  champion  of 

justice,  this  intrepid  son  of  St.  Francis,  thus  addressed  the 

dissolute  monarch: — "I  am  that  Micheas,  0  King,  whom 

you  will  hate   because  I    must  tell  you   truly   that  this 

marriage  is  unlawful;  and  I  know   that  I   shall  eat  the 

bread   of  affliction  and  drink  the  water  of  sorrow  ;  yet, 

because  our  Lord  has  put  it  in  my  mouth,  I  must  speak 

it."     And  when  he  and  another  faithful  brother  friar  were 

brought  before  the  King's  council,  who  rebuked  them,  and 

declared  them  deserving  of  being  shut  up  in  a  sack,  and 

thrown  into  the  Thames,  for  the  boldness  of  their  language 

in   the   matter   of  the   King's  marriage,   his  companion 

smiling  said :  "  Threaten   these   things   to    the   rich   and 


8(S  MEI.LIFONT   A1JI3ET. 

dainty  persons,  vvho  are  clothed  in  purple,  and  fare 
delicionsly,  and  have  their  chiefest  hope  in  this  world ; 
for  we  esteem  them  not,  but  are  joyful,  that,  for  the 
discharge  of  our  duty  we  are  driven  hence;  and,  with 
thanks  to  God,  we  know  the  way  to  heaven  to  be  as  ready 
by  water  as  by  land."     (Stowe,  Church  Chronicle.) 

It  was  not,  then,  for  dissoluteness  of  morals,  nor  for 
illiteracy,  nor  for  backwardness  in  preaching  the  Word  of 
God,  nor  yet  for  being  drones  in  society,  that  the  monks 
were  turned  from  their  peaceful  homes.  The  true  cause 
was,  that  the  King  knew,  and  his  criminal  advisers  also 
knew,  that  the  monasteries  were  as  impregnable  fortresses, 
which  in  defence  of  truth  and  justice,  would  hold  out 
firm  against  seductive  bribes,  and  the  most  appalling 
threats  ;  hence  they  must  be  swept  away  under  plea  of 
general  corruption  of  morals,  etc.,  and  their  properties 
held  up  as  a  bait  to  draw  over  proselytes  to  the  new  order 
of  things.  The  historian,  Lingard,  writing  of  the  attitude 
of  the  monks  towards  the  King's  supremacy  in  spiritual 
matters,  says :  "Secluded  from  the  world,  the  Religious 
felt  fewer  temptations  to  sacrifice  their  consciences  to  the 
commands  of  their  Sovereign,  and  seemed  more  eager  to 
court  the  crown  than  to  flee  the  pains  of  martyrdom," 

Here,  in  Ireland,  one  of  the  King's  advisers  counselled 
him  to  suppress  some  of  the  monasteries,  and  to  convert 
them  into  residences  for  young  noblemen,  who  would 
promote  and  defend  the  King's  interests.  Patrick  Finglas, 
created  by  Henry  VIII.  Chief  Baron  of  the  King's 
Exchequer,  and  afterwards  Lord  Chief  Justice,  wrote  a 
book  entitled  :  "  A  Breviate  of  the  getting  of  Ireland  and 
of  the  decay  of  the  same,"  in  which  he  recommends  the 
suppression  of  the  monasteries  bordering  on  the  Pale, 
"  because  they  were  giving  more  aid  and  supportacion  to 
the  Irish  than  to  the  King."     "Let  the  Abbeys,"  he  goes 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  89 

on  to  say,  "be  given  to  young  lords,  knights,  and  gentle- 
men out  of  England,  which  shall  dwell  upon  the  sanae." 
This  advice  seemed  good  to  the  King,  and  it  was  literally 
carried  out,  but  to  far  greater  extent  than  this  astute 
lawyer  had  anticipated. 

Mellifont,  in  common  with  the  other  Religious  establish- 
ments in  Ireland  within  grasp  of  the  King  (for  in  Ulster, 
they  were  free  from  molestation  under  O'Neil  and 
O'Donnell),  must  have  heard  with  dismay  the  rumours 
afloat  about  a  general  suppression,  and  grief  and  con- 
sternation must  have  filled  the  hearts  of  the  monks. 
Was  it  possible,  they  asked,  that  the  King,  whose  person 
they  respected,  whose  laws  they  obeyed,  would  drive 
them  forth,  wanderers  over  the  world,  which  many  of 
them  had  renounced  in  early  youth  ;  and  now,  without 
adequate  provision,  were  they,  in  their  declining  years, 
to  perish  by  the  roadside  ?  Were  their  beautiful  church, 
their  loved  cloister,  their  shady  groves,  no  more  to  shelter 
them,  and  were  they  to  sever  connection  with  a  spot 
endeared  to  them  by  so  many  holy  associations?  Yes, 
it  is  true,  alas !  for  the  Abbot  of  St.  Mary's,  Dublin, 
being  nearer  authentic  sources  of  information,  has  heard 
it  and  has  sent  word,  that  sentence  is  passed  on  all,  and 
their  doom  has  sounded;  for  the  following  Royal  Com- 
mission was  forwarded  to  the  Deputy,  with  peremptory 
orders  to  have  it  executed  forthwith : — 

Royal  Commission  directed  to  John  Allen,  Chancellor; 
George,  Archbishop  of  Dublin  ;  William  Brabazon,  Vice- 
Treasurer  ;  Robert  Cowley,  Master  of  the  Rolls ;  and 
Thomas  Cusacke,  Esq. ;  reciting,  "  That  from  the  informa- 
tion of  trustworthy  persons,  it  being  manifestly  apparent 
that  the  monasteries,  abbeys,  priories,  and  other  places  of 
Religious  or  Regulars,  in  Ireland,  are  at  present  in  such  a 
state,  that  in  them,  the  praise  of  God  and  the  welfare  of 


90  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

man  are  next  to  notliing  regarded  ;  tlie  Regulars  and 
nuns  dwelling  there  being  so  addicted,  partly  to  their  own 
superstitious  ceremonies,  partly  to  the  pernicious  worship 
of  idols,  and  to  the  pestiferous  doctrines  of  the  Roman 
Pontiif,  that  unless  an  effectual  remedy  be  promptly 
provided,  not  only  the  weak,  low  order,  but  the  whole 
Irish  people,  may  be  speedily  infected  to  their  total 
destruction.  To  prevent,  therefore,  the  longer  continu- 
ance of  such  Religious  men  and  nuns  in  so  damnable  a 
state,  the  King  (having  resolved  to  resume  into  liis  hands 
all  the  monasteries  and  Religious  houses  for  their  better 
reformation,  to  remove  from  them  the  Religious  men  and 
women,  and  to  cause  them  to  return  to  some  honest  mode 
of  living  and  to  true  religion,)  directs  the  Commissioners 
to  signify  this  his  intention  to  the  heads  of  Religious 
houses ;  to  receive  their  resignations  and  surrenders 
willingly  tendered  ;  to  grant  to  those  tendering  it  liberty 
of  exchanging  their  habit  and  of  accepting  benefices 
under  the  King's  authority;  to  apprehend  and  punish 
such  as  adhere  to  the  Roman  Pontiff  and  contumaciously 
refuse  to  surrender  their  houses ;  to  take  charge  for  the 
King's  use  of  the  possession  of  those  houses,  and  assign 
competent  pensions  to  those  who  willingly  surrender." 
{Patemt  and  Close  Rolls,  Chancery,  Ireland,  Morrin, 
1539-40,  April  30,  Henry  VIII.,  30^,  p.  55.) 

Most  marvellous,  indeed,  and  sudden,  and  quite  un- 
precedented in  history,  was  this  utter  decadence  from 
godliness  to  "  idolatry  and  the  pestiferous  doctrine  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff "  on  the  part  of  100,000  persons  within 
the  space  of  three  short  years  !  But,  behold  !  the  godly 
monarch  will  reform  them  (supposing  they  needed 
reform)  in  the  fashion  recorded  in  the  old  English 
proverb:  "The  devil  amended  his  dame's  leg;  when  he 
should  have  set  it  right,  he  brake  it   quite    in  pieces." 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  91 

That  the  Deputy,  Lord  Gray,  did  uot  consider  the  monks 
and  nuns  an  effete  body,  addicted  to  evil  practices,  will 
appear  evident  from  the  letter  he  addressed  to  Cromwell, 
and  which  was  signed  by  his  Council.  It  bears  date  21st 
May  1589  :— 

"May  it  please  your  honourable  Lordship  to  be 
advertised,  that  by  the  report  of  Thomas  Cusacke  and 
others  repaired  lately  out  of  the  realm  of  England  into 
this  land,  it  hath  been  openly  bruited  the  Kind's  grace's 
pleasure  to  be,  that  all  the  monasteries  within  this  land 
should  be  suppressed,  none  to  stand.  Amongst  which, 
for  the  common  v/eal  of  this  land,  if  it  might  stand  with 
King's  most  gracious  pleasure  by  your  good  Lordship's 
advertisement,  in  our  opinion  it  were  right  expedient 
that  six  houses  should  stand  and  continue,  changing  their 
habit  and  rule  into  such  sort  as  the  King's  grace  shall 
will  them:  which  are  namely,  St.  Mary's  Abbey,  adjoining 
Dublin,  a  house  of  white  monks  (Cistercian.s)  ;  Christ 
Church,  a  house  of  canons  situated  in  the  middle  of  the 
City  of  Dublin  ;  Grace  Dieu  Nunnery,  in  the  County 
Dublin;  Connell,  in  the  County  Kildare ;  Kenlys  or 
Kells,  and  Jerpoint  (this  latter  Cistercian  also),  in  the 
County  Kilkenny.  For  in  these  commonli/,  and  in 
others  such  like,  in  default  of  common  inns,  which  are  not 
in  this  island  the  King's  Deputy  and  all  others  his 
Grace's  Council  and  Officers,  also  Irishmen  and  others 
resorting  to  the  King's  Deputy  in  these  quarters  is  and 
hath  been  most  commonly  lodged  at  the  cost  of  the  said 
houses.  Also,  in  them,  young  vien  and  children,  both 
gentlemen's  children  and  others,  both  of  man  hind  and 
woman  kind  be  brought  up  in  virtue  and  in  tlie 
Englishe  tongue  and  behaviour  to  the  great  charge  of 
the  said  liouscs ;  that  is  to  say,  the  woman  kind  of  the 
whole  Euglishie  of  this  land,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  said 
nunnery,  and  the  man  kind  in  the  other  houses." 


02  MELLIFONT   ABBKY. 

And  the  Abbot  of  St.  Mary's,  petitioning  soon  after  for 
exemption  from  the  general  suppression,  pleads  in  a  letter 
to  the  same  Cromwell:  "Verily  we  be  but  stewards  and 
purveyors  to  other  men's  uses  for  the  King's  honour, 
keeping  hospitality,  and  many  poor  men,  scholars  and 
orphans." 

All  petitions  are  unavailing;  the  King  is  inexorable; 
and  St.  Mary's  and  Mellifont,  and  the  others  included  in 
the  original  list  must  go  down  before  the  despot's  unholy 
will,  untried,  unheard,  but  Avith  the  nation's  regret,  those 
alone  excepted,  who  thirsted  for  and  shared  the  sacri- 
legious booty.  Before  the  lamp  of  piety  and  learning  be 
extinguished  for  ever  in  Mellifont,  let  us  take  a  parting 
glance  at  it,  so  that  the  contrast  may  be  the  more  marked 
as  we  note  its  vicissitudes  later  on. 

In  that  bright  July  morning  (1539),  when  the  bell 
summoned  the  monks  of  Mellifont  to  matins  for  the  last 
time,  the  sun  rose  over  as  fair  a  picture  as  could  well  be 
conceived,  when  its  brilliant  rays  shot  floods  of  light 
through  the  woods  and  valley,  and  gilt  the  quivering 
tree-tops  with  lustrous  gold.  And  the  enormous  piles  of 
white  masonry  looked  whiter  for  the  glinting  of  the 
sun-beams,  and  many  a  fantastic  shadow  was  cast  on  the 
tesselated  pavement  in  the  church  by  the  "  dim  religious 
light "  of  the  gorgeous  stained  glass  windows.  The 
statues  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  looked  down  patronisingly 
from  lofty  pedestals,  and  bore  the  minds  of  the  beholders 
aloft,  to  where  the  guerdon  awaits  the  faithful  soldier  of 
Christ  when  his  term  of  service  here  below  shall  have 
expired.  Loud  rose  the  rhythmic  measure  of  the  majestic 
Gregorian  Chant  rendered  by  over  one  hundred  full- 
voiced  singers  on  that  beautiful  morning,  ere  yet  the 
skylark  shook  the  dew-drops  from  his  wings,  or  intoned 
his  early  carol   o'er  the  meadows    by  the   Boyne.     The 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  93 

pealing  of  the  organ  sounded  loud  and  louder  as  they 
chanted  their  solemn  Mass,  but  to  many  who  then  took 
part  in  that  sacred  function,  its  plaintive  notes  presaged 
the  speedy  end  of  their  time-honoured  establishment, 
which  at  any  moment  may  receive  the  fatal  visit  of  the 
Commissioners.  In  its  internal  economy  it  was  wisely 
and  worthily  governed,  its  community  numbered  150 
Choir  monks,  besides  Lay  Brothers  and  familiars,  its 
schools  were  prosperous,  and  from  their  widespread  repu- 
tation, merited  the  title  of  "  famous  "  which  was  accorded 
them.  The  children  of  the  monks'  tenants  received  a 
free  education  here ;  moreover,  the  monks  conducted  a 
school,  which  we  would  now  call  a  seminary,  where 
gentlemen's  children  and  others  were  taught  the  higher 
branches  suited  to  prepare  them  for  their  career  in  after- 
life. Their  peaceful  valley  was  screened  on  every  side 
from  wintry  blasts  by  tasteful  plantations,  useful  and 
ornamental ;  for  a  thickly  planted  orchard,  chiefly  of 
apple  and  pear  trees,  which  covered  both  sides  of  the 
River  Mattock  from  the  mill  to  where  the  bridge  now 
spans  the  river,  survived  till  within  the  memory  of  many 
still  living  who  describe  it  as  having  been  so  dense  that 
one  could  cross  the  valley  on  the  tops  of  them.  The 
grounds  surrounding  the  monastery  were  laid  out  with 
commendable  taste ;  the  lands  yielded  plentiful  crops, 
and  supported  numerous  herds  of  cattle.  The  hill  south- 
east of  the  abbey  was  covered  over  with  oak  of  gigantic 
size — the  growth  of  centuries — and  on  the  Meath  side 
were  screens  of  valuable  timber.  Their  tenants  were 
contented  and  prosperous ;  for  the  monks  were  indulgent 
landlords.  Their  rents  were  paid  in  kind,  and  for  the 
rest,  they  found  a  ready  market  always  at  the  abbey, 
where  a  huge  supply  of  provisions  was  constantly  needed 
for  the  strangers  and  the  poor  who  sought  and  found  a 
ready  welcome  there. 


04  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

The  spiritual  wants  of  the  tenants  and  dependants 
were  attended  to  by  one  of  the  monks,  John  Byrrel, 
whose  name  occurs  first  in  the  list  of  those  belonging 
to  Mellifoiit  to  whom  pensions  were  granted.  He  is 
styled  Parson  of  Mellifont.  It  is  probable,  too,  that 
others  of  the  abbey  priests  ministered  to  Tullyallen 
parish  (though  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  the  present 
parish  is  conterminous  with  the  old  one),  to  Monk- 
newtown  and  Donore;  for  in  the  English  Episcopal 
Registers,  twelve  volumes  of  which  have  been  recently 
published,  it  is  noted  that  their  brethren  in  England 
served  the  parishes  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
monasteries :  and,  moreover,  we  find  in  the  list  of 
pensioners  of  other  Cistercian  houses  in  Ireland,  the 
names  of  three  or  more,  in  the  same  monaster}',  who 
are  called  parsons.  Medical  advice  and  medicine  were 
dispensed  gratis  at  the  Abbey.  The  sick  poor  were 
visited  and  cared  for  in  their  homes  by  physicians 
employed  by  the  monks;  they  were  also  admitted  into  the 
hospital  at  the  gate.  On  fixed  days  weekly,  the  poor  of 
the  locality  came  for  and  received  loaves  of  bread  which 
were  specially  baked  for  them,  and  meat  in  abundance, 
with  beer,  was  distributed  to  them.  In  those  days  there 
were  no  poor  laws;  for  the  monks  provided  for  all  the 
wants  of  tlio  indigent.  The  monks  were  in  constant  touch 
with  all  cla.^ses  of  society,  at  least  the  principal  officers 
were,  and  they  were  the  advisers,  as  well  as  the  instructors, 
of  all.  Tlie  History  of  the  English  Abbeys  of  the  Order, 
or  the  fragments  that  have  survived  the  vandalism  of  the 
Dissolution,  and  which  have  been  published  by  impartial 
Protestants,  clearly  prove  that  this  picture  of  far-reaching 
and  ungrudging  beneficence  is  by  no  means  fanciful. 
(See  Ruined  Abbeys  of  Britain,  by  Frederick  Ross.) 
The  Abbot  of  Mellifont  took  a  prominent  place  in  the 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  <).5 

councils  of  the  nation.  He  ranked  as  a  Peer,  and  had  a 
seat  in  the  House  of  Lords  before  all  the  other  Pteligious 
superiors,  twenty-three  more  of  whom  were  privileged  to 
sit  there.  He  was  bound  to  supply  a  certain  number  of 
horsemen  for  the  King's  musters,  and  to  maintain  them  at 
his  own  charge.  Tradition  has  it  that  he  could  ride  on 
his  own  territory  from  the  sea  at  Drngheda  to  the 
Shannon  at  Athlone,  but  this  requires  confirmation.  He 
owned  some  4,000  acres  at  the  suppression,  extending  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Boyne  from  Drogheda  to  Rossnaree, 
and  on  the  north,  to  Slane,  including  the  fisheries  and  five 
salmon  weirs  on  the  river.  He  rented  the  fishing  of  six- 
teen corraghs  at  Oldbridge,  for  which  he  got  £13  13s.  4d. 
annually.  The  toiun  of  Tullyallen  belonged  to  him.  It 
was  then  in  a  flourishing  condition,  but  has  fallen  since 
from  its  rank  as  a  town  to  that  of  a  mere  village, 
composed  of  a  few  scattered  cottages.  The  district  was 
then  populous;  for  another  village  grew  up  near  the 
Abbey  occupied  by  tradesmen  and  dependants  who  were 
constantly  employed  by  the  monks.  It  was  called  Doagh. 
It  is  now  level  with  the  field.  It  stood  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  north-west  of  Mellifont,  beyond  the  Mattock.  Its 
site  is  an  elevated  plateau,  locally  known  as  the  Doagh 
Meadows.  The  entire  annual  revenue  of  the  Abbey  was 
estimated  at  £316,  which, allowing  for  the  difference  in  value 
of  money  since,  would  be  equivalent  to  an  income  of  close 
on  £4,000  at  the  present  day.  On  that  the  monks  main- 
tained themselves  and  a  large  staff  of  servants,  "kept 
hospitality,  and  many  poor  men,  scholars,  and  orphans." 
The  Abbot  entertained  his  guests  daily  at  his  own  table 
in  a  spacious  building  apart  from  the  monks'  quarters,  and 
was  a  man  of  light  and  leading,  unlike  the  helpless 
imbecile  portrayed  by  Scott  in  his  novels.  The  Abbot 
was  chosen,  often  from  some  distant  monastery,  for  his 


96  MELLIFONT  ABBEY, 

aptitude  "  in  goveruing  souls,"  which  was  the  paramount 
consideration  with  St.  Benedict  in  the  selection  of  a 
superior.  He  should  be  learned,  and  sound  both  in 
doctrine  and  morals,  to  be  entrusted  with  such  a  charge. 
It  is  only  too  true  that  unworthy  persons,  contrary  to  the 
Canons,  were  sometimes  intruded  into  the  position  by 
powerful  relatives,  and  they,  alas !  generally  brought 
disgrace  on  religion. 

As  to  the  spiritual  condition  of  Mellifont  at  the  time 
of  its  suppression,  it  was  certainly  on  a  high  level.  No 
charge  was  brought  against  that  community,  on  that  score, 
even  by  its  worst  enemies  ;  none  but  the  general  ones 
mentioned  in  the  Commission.  In  truth  and  in  fact,  the 
observances  then  in  force  at  Mellifont  were  identical  with 
those  introduced  by  Abbot  Christian  and  practised  at 
Clairvaux  by  St.  Bernard  and  his  saintly  companions. 
If  they  were  "  idolatrous,"  and  "  superstitious,"  and 
savouring  of  the  "  pestiferous  doctrines  of  the  Roman 
Pontiff,"  so  must  have  been  the  ancient  practices  of  the 
Cistercians ;  and  wonderful  indeed  was  it,  that  till  King 
Henry  and  his  advisers  discovered  it,  our  ancestors,  for 
four  hundred  years  at  least,  approved  of  and  took  part  in 
these  same  practices  without  a  suspicion  of  the  "  perni- 
cious" errors  they  were  now  found  to  contain  !  In  the 
matter  of  discipline  alone  was  there  any  decadence,  and 
then  the  altered  conditions  of  the  times  demanded  some 
modifications.  The  use  of  flesh  meat  three  days  in  the 
week  was  introduced,  and  instead  of  manual  labour,  other 
duties  were  substituted,  such  as  teaching,  copying,  study, 
etc.  In  their  daily  lives,  we  are  told  by  Rev.  Dr.  Gasquet, 
O.S.B.,  perhaps  the  greatest  living  authority  in  such 
matters,  that  the  Cistercians  at  that  time  differed  little 
from  the  Benedictines. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  Mellifont  on  that  fatal  day, 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  97 

the  23rd  July  1539,  when  the  Commissioners,  with  an 
armed  band,  demanded  admission  and  surrender,  in  the 
King's  name.  Remonstrance  with  them  was  vain,  and 
the  usual  formality  was  gone  through.  They  seized  on 
the  charters,  registers,  ledgers,  etc.,  together  with  the 
keys  of  the  treasury  and  store-rooms  ;  took  an  inventory 
of  all  the  possessions  of  the  monastery,  and  sealed  the 
Library  and  strong  room.  They,  then,  summoned  the 
Abbot  and  all  the  monks  to  the  Chapter-house,  to  sign 
the  Act  of  Surrender.  In  the  Calendar  of  Patent  and 
Close  Rolls,  Chancery,  Ireland,  Henry  VIII.  (edited  by 
James  Morrin),  the  synopsis  of  it  is  given  as  follows  at 
p.  135  : — "  Surrender  of  the  Abbey  or  House  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary  at  Mellyfount,  in  the  County  of  Louth,  by 
Richard  Contoure,  Abbot,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Convent  ;  and  of  the  church,  belfry,  cemetery,  manors, 
lands,  and  all  its  possessions  in  the  counties  of  Dublin, 
Kildare,  and  Carlow,  with  all  charters,  evidences,  muni- 
ments, goods,  utensils,  ornaments  and  jewels." — July  23, 
SI''.  (1539).  "  Endorsed  on  the  preceding  surrender  is  a 
memorandum  that  the  Abbot  and  Convent,  assembled  in 
the  Chapter-house,  voluntarily  acknowledged  the  preced- 
ing surrender,  delivered  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  and  prayed  it  might  be  enrolled  in  Chancery, 
in  ]}evpetiiain  rei  meinoriam.  Witness,  George,  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin;  Wm.  Brabazon,  Vice-Treasurer;  Robert 
Cowley,  Master  of  the  Rolls."     July  23,  31°. 

How  often  have  these  "  voluntary"  surrenders  been 
Haunted  by  writers  hostile  to  the  monks,  as  if  the  farce  of 
signing  the  document  which  made  them  beggars  were  a 
free  act !  They  were  anxious,  forsooth,  to  shake  off  the 
burden  of  their  religious  obligations,  through  the  facile 
dispensation  so  liberally  accorded  by  the  new  Head  of  the 
Church,   in   the   flush   of  his   accession   to   ecclesiastical 

G 


98  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

supremacy!  The  late  scholarly  and  liberal-minded  Deau 
Butler,  Protestant  Rector  of  Trim,  wrote  thus  on  the 
subject: — "The  form  of  surrender  then  executed  omitted 

no  property  which  could  belong  to  the  house 

There  were  added  their  charters,  evidences,  writings  and 
manuscripts,  their  goods,  chattels,  utensils,  ornaments, 
jewels,  and  debts,  all  these  were  granted  to  the  King,  to 
be  disposed  of  at  his  good  pleasure,  without  appeal  or 
complaint,  and  the  unhappy  men  were  forced  to  declare, 
that  they  thus  deprived  themselves  of  house  and  home 
of  their  oivn  free  ivill,  and  that  they  put  an  end  to  a 
venerable  institution,  to  which  they  were  bound  by  so 
many  solemn  obligations,  certain  just  and  reasonable 
causes  thereto  moving  their  minds  and  their  consciences." 
{Register  of  the  Priory  of  All  Hallows.  Preface,  p. 
xxix.) 

The  next  step  was,  there  and  then,  to  auction  off  all  the 
moveables  of  the  monastery,  except  the  jewels  of  the  rich 
reliquaries,  chalices,  and  other  sacred  vessels,  with  the 
plate  and  bells,  which  formed  the  King's  special  perquisite. 
The  whole  artistic  woodwork  of  the  church  (choir  and 
waiuscotting)  was  smashed  in  pieces,  and  even  the  very 
tombs  of  the  founders  and  others  interred  there,  were  sold 
and  carted  off.  For  a  description  of  the  work  of  destruc- 
tion, as  related  by  an  eye-witness  of  such  vandalism  at  the 
suppression  of  an  English  Cistercian  monastery,  see  The 
Irish  Cistercians,  p.  45.  The  sale  realised  £141  7s.  3d., 
but  no  detailed  account  is  given  of  the  sum  that  each 
article  fetched.  According  to  another  Commission  ad- 
dressed to  John  Allen,  Chancellor;  William  Brabazon, 
Vice-Treasurer  ;  and  Robert  Cowley,  Master  of  the  Bolls; 
dated  May  20,  1539,  the  proceeds  of  such  sales  were 
ordered  to  be  allocated  "  to  pay  the  officers  and  servants 
of  the  Crown."     When  the  church  and  monastery  were 


MKLLIFONT   ABBEY.  99 

dismantled,  and  every  article  of  value,  no  matter  how 
trifling,  had  been  removed,  the  order  to  clear  out  the 
monks  was  promptly  given  and  executed ;  and  the  gates 
were  shut  behind  them.  Whither  they  went  nobody 
cared,  and  whither  to  go  was  a  problem  to  themselves 
difficult  to  be  solved  ;  for  without  money  or  provision,  they 
were  in  a  worse  condition  than  the  most  destitute  of 
beggars.  The  hoary  old  walls  caught  up  their  groans 
and  lamentations  on  that  day,  as  with  breaking  hearts 
they  looked  upon  each  familiar  spot  for  the  last  time. 
This  is  one  of  the  secrets  the  old  stones  of  the  few 
remaining  buildings  yet  withhold  from  us.  Mellifont 
beheld  many  moving  spectacles  during  the  four  centuries 
of  her  existence,  but  none,  perhaps,  so  deeply  affecting  as 
when  her  150  children,  amongst  whom  were  the  aged, 
tottering  on  the  brink  of  the  grave  and  leaning  for  support 
on  some  younger  brethren,  turned  their  back  upon  their 
happy  home  where  they  enjoyed  an  anticipated  paradise. 
As  the  sad  procession  slowly  gained  the  top  of  the  hill, 
many  a  time  they  turned  to  take  a  last  farewell  look  at 
their  beloved  monastery,  till  it  faded  from  their  view  for 
ever.  A  few  shillings  each  were  allowed  them  for  their 
immediate  wants,  but  of  that  multitude  only  thirteen  and 
the  Abbot  received  pensions.  This  grant  was  fixed  for 
them  three  days  after  their  expulsion,  after  which  they  all 
disappear  from  the  scene  as  effectually  as  if  the  Boyne 
had  engulphed  them. 

The  following  entries  are  found  in  the  Patent  and  Close 
Rolls  Calendar,  Henry  VIII.,  pp.  59,  60 :  "  Pension  of 
£40  Ir.  to  Richard  Contour,  late  Abbot  of  Mellyfount, 
payable  out  of  the  parishes  of  Kuockmohan,  Donowre, 
and  Monkenewton,  with  clause  of  distress." — Sept.  10, 
1539.  And  at  p.  CO,  ihid.,  "Pension  to  John  Byrrell, 
late  parson  of  Mellifount,  £3  6s.  8J.;  to  Thomas  Bagot, 


100  MKLLIFONT   ABBEY. 

£4;  to  Peter  Rewe,  40/-;  to  Thomas  Aleu,  53/4;  to 
William  Norreis,  40/-;  to  Robert  Nangle,  40/-;  to  Patrick 
Contour,  53/4 ;  to  William  Veldon,  £3  Os.  8d. ;  to  Patrick 
Lawles,  40/- ;  to  John  Ball,  40/- ;  to  Clement  Bartholo- 
mewe,  20/-  ;  to  Phelim  O'Neil,  20/-  ;  payable  out  of  the 
rents  and  lands  of  the  parishes  of  Knoekamowan,  Donower, 
and  Montuewton  "  (Monknevvtown),  2G  July,  1539. 

Thus,  then,  were  these  fourteen  provided  for,  but,  of 
the  others,  not  one  received  a  single  shilling,  except,  as 
has  been  said,  a  mere  pittance  that  sufficed  to  procure 
them  a  few  nights'  shelter.  This  is  no  picture  drawn 
from  fancy;  it  is  a  well-authenticated  fact,  that  where  a 
peaceful  surrender  was  not  given  or  signed,  no  provision 
whatsoever  was  made  for  those  who  so  refused.  They 
were  given  a  trifle  at  their  expulsion,  and  turned  adrift  to 
swell  the  army  of  beggars,  or  to  perish,  as  they  did  in 
hundreds,  of  hardships  to  which  they  were  unaccustomed. 
The  imagination  cannot  now  well  conceive  the  heartless, 
wanton  cruelty  then  practised  on  the  expelled  Religious ; 
who,  if  they  had  betrayed  their  consciences  and  taken  the 
oath  of  Supremacy,  might  have  staved  off,  at  least  for  a 
time,  the  calamities  that  befell  them.  But  only  for  a 
time;  for  in  some  instances  where  the  monks,  through 
mistaken  notions,  obeyed  the  Royal  mandate,  they  shared 
the  fate  of  their  more  steadfast  brethren,  owing  to  the 
insatiable  rapacity  of  the  King  and  his  advisers.  To 
those  of  the  expelled  who  were  priests,  the  hope  was  held 
out  to  them,  in  case  of  "free  surrender,"  that  they  should 
be  promoted  to  the  first  vacant  benefices.  As  not  one  of 
the  Religious  expelled  from  Mellifont  is  enrolled  on  the 
list  of  those  promoted  to  vacancies  during  that  or  the 
subsequent  reigns,  it  is  obvious  that  they  held  fast  to 
their  principles,  and  denied  the  Kiug's  Supremac}',  an 
acknowledgment  of  ^yhich  was  indispensable  before  pro- 


MKLLIFONT   ABBEY.  101 

motion.  All  honour  to  them  for  their  generous  sacrifices, 
which  made  them  worthy  to  be  the  last  who  saw  the 
venerable  institution  reel  and  fall  beneath  the  despot's 
blows.  Their  noble  attitude  was  befitting  the  close  of  a 
work  which  was  inaugurated  with  such  splendour  amid  a 
nation's  rejoicing.  Like  the  setting  sun,  Meilifont  dis- 
appeared in  a  halo  of  glory. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MKLLIFONT    BECOMES    THE    HOME     OF    A    NOBLE    FAMILY — IS 
SOLD,    AND   IS   DELIVERED    UP  TO   RUIN  AND   DECAY. 

"  ilute  is  the  matin  bell,  whose  early  call 

Warn'd  the  grey  fathers  from  their  humble  beds  ; 
No  midnight  taper  gleams  along  the  wall, 
Or,  round  the  sculptur'd  saint  its  radiance  sheds." 

(^Keats.) 


/HE  long  line  of  distinguished  men  being 
thus  rudely  and  abruptly  terminated  at 
Meilifont,  with  the  suppression  of  the 
monastery,  all  memorials  of  their  history 
were  lost,  and  no  trace  of  them  has  been 
left.  Not  a  book,  nor  cross,  nor  chalice,  register, 
nor  chartulary  remains.  It  appears  that  Meili- 
font had  its  Annalist  and  its  Annals  like  all  the  other 
monasteries  of  the  Order  in  Ireland  ;  for  Bishop  Nicolson, 
who  wrote  his  "Irish  National  Library"  in  1724,  says: 
"  The  Annals  of  Ireland  from  the  foundation  of  this 
Abbey  in  1142  to  the  year  1500,  are,  or  were  lately,  in 
the  hands  of  some  of  the  learned  men  of  this  kingdom." 
He  does  not  tell  us  the  name  of  the  compiler,  but  only 


102  MtLLIFONT    AHIJKY, 

the  fact  that  they  had  been  written  at  Mellifont.  These 
are  not  cited  by  later  writers,  so  they,  also,  must  have 
perished  long  since.  At  the  suppression  of  monasteries, 
the  archives,  chronicles,  and  registers  were  carefully 
sought  by  the  Commissioners,  because  they  contained 
correct  information  on  the  value  and  extent  of  the 
possessions  of  each  house  respectively  ;  and  the  more 
extensive  these  were,  the  more  sedulously  were  the  records 
sought  for.  Hence  it  is  that  because  the  Cistercian  Order 
had  large  possessions,  the  manuscripts  were  all  seized  aud 
handed  over  with  the  monasteries  to  the  grantees.  The 
monks  could  not  possibly  take  one  away  with  them.  So 
their  history  is  now  derivable  from  other  sources,  which, 
at  best,  are  very  meagre.  Mellifont,  which  occupied  so 
prominent  and  respected  a  position  during  its  career, 
would  not  be  found  inferior  to  other  houses  of  the  Order 
in  the  number  of  its  learned  and  remarkable  men,  were 
its  ancient  documents  now  available  ;  and,  judging  from 
the  long  roll  of  distioguished  men,  who  in  every  depart- 
ment of  knowledge  rendered  the  Order  illustrious  in  other 
countries,  we  may  safely  allot  a  respectable  quota  of  the 
same  to  Mellifont.  De  Yisch  compiled  his  Writers  of  the 
Cistercian  Order  in  1656,  and  Sartorius  published  a 
large  tome  in  1700,  each  containing  notices  of  the  illus- 
trious men  of  the  Order.  No  less  than  sixty-three  large 
folio  pages  of  this  latter  work  are  occupied  with  the 
names  of  the  learned  men,  and  the  dates  at  which  they 
flourished.  He  places  all  in  distinct  categories,  and  so  we 
have  St.  Bernard  heading  the  list,  after  whom  come  the 
Grammarians,  next  follow  the  Poets,  Orators,  Historians, 
Philosophers,  Mathematicians,  Astronomers,  Musicians, 
then  Doctors  of  Canon  aud  Civil  Law,  and  Doctors  of 
Theology  ;  finally,  Professors  in  universities,  and  others, 
whose  general  attainments  precluded  classification.     As 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  103 

these  works  were  written  after  the  suppression  of  the 
monasteries  in  these  countries,  the  materials  relating  to 
the  Irish  and  English  monasteries  having  passed  into 
hostile  hands  or  been  destroyed,  were  no  longer  accessible. 
Ireland  was  ever  remarkable  for  the  thirst  for  learning 
displayed  by  her  children,  and  for  the  singular  pro- 
ficiency attained  by  them,  when  the  opportunity  for  it 
was  afforded  ;  we  may,  then,  justly  conclude  that  learning 
and  the  polite  arts  found  a  homo  at  Mellifont.  For  this 
latter  branch,  the  beautiful  buildings  would,  of  them- 
selves, suffice  as  an  argument  in  favour  of  an  advanced 
state  of  culture  and  refinement. 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  neither  the  Irish  people,  nor 
the  representatives  of  the  Government  in  this  country, 
brought,  much  less  substantiated,  any  direct  charges 
against  the  Irish  monks,  prior  to  the  suppression.  Hence 
it  is,  that  their  maligners  had  to  import,  for  use  against 
them,  the  staple  arguments  commonly  used  in  England, 
and  there  only  by  venal  scribblers,  and  those  who  profited 
by  the  downfall  of  the  monks.  To  such  the  learned  and 
impartial  Protestant  historian,  the  Rev.  Doctor  Maitland, 
adverts,  when  after  giving  credit  to  the  monks  for  their 
having  been  benefactors  to  mankind,  he  writes  in  his 
preface  to  the  Dark  Ages: — "In  the  meantime,  let  me 
thankfully  believe  that  thousands  of  the  persons  at  whom 
Robertson,  and  Jortin,  and  other  such  very  miserable 
second-hand  writers,  have  sneered,  were  men  of  enlarged 
minds,  purified  affections,  and  holy  lives,  that  they  were 
justly  reverenced  by  men,  and,  above  all,  favourably 
accepted  by  God,  and  distinguished  by  the  highest  honours 
which  He  vouchsafes  to  those  whom  He  has  called  into 
existence,  that  of  being  the  channels  of  His  love  and  mercy 
to  their  fellow-creatures."  And  in  our  own  time,  the 
Guardian,  an  English  Protestant   newspaper,  when   re- 


104  MELLIFONT   ABIiKY. 

viewing  tlie  Rev.  Doctor  Gasqiiet's,  O.S.B.,  learned  work, 
Henry  VIII.  and  the  English  Monasteries,  approvingly 
cites,  amongst  others,  the  following  paragraph: — "The 
voices  raised  against  the  monks  were  those  of  Cromwell's 
agents,  of  the  cliques  of  the  new  men  and  of  his  hireling 
scribes,  who  formed  a  crew  of  as  truculent  and  as  filthy 
libellers  as  ever  disgraced  a  revolutionary  cause.  The  later 
centuries  have  taken  their  tale  in  good  faith,  but  time  is 
showing  that  the  monasteries,  up  to  the  day  of  their  fall, 
had  not  forfeited  the  good  will,  the  veneration,  the  affection 
of  the  English  people."  Mr.  Lecky,  too,  with  his  usual 
candour  and  liberality,  writes: — "Monastic  institutions 
were  the  only  refuges  of  a  pacific  civilisation  ;  the  only 
libraries,  the  only  schools,  the  only  centres  of  art,  the  only 
refuges  for  gentle  and  intellectual  natures  ;  the  chief 
barriers  against  violence  and  rapine  ;  the  chief  promoters 
of  agriculture  and  of  industry."  {The  Political  Value'  of 
History,  p.  14.     London,  1892.) 

The  monks  being  now  expelled,  Mellifont  was  delivered 
up  to  desecration  and  ruin  ;  the  silence  of  the  tomb  reigned 
supreme,  and  the  voice  of  prayer  was  heard  no  more ;  no 
longer  did  the  bells  from  the  tower  send  forth  their 
cheering  notes  over  the  surrounding  district  to  raise  the 
hearts  of  the  toiler  to  Heaven.  These  sweet  toned  bells, 
the  gift  of  some  priucel}^  benefactor,  had  been,  with  all 
the  other  moveable  property,  carried  off  by  the  spoiler. 
The  Abbey,  with  all  its  spiritual  and  temporal  possessions, 
was  given,  in   1541,  to   Laurence  Townley,  for  21    years. 

They  passed  by  reversionary  lease  to   Brabazon,  in 

1546.  In  1551,  they  were  leased  to  the  same  for  21 
years  more,  and  in  1566,  they  came  by  reversionary  lease 
to  Edward  Moore,  the  founder  of  the  Drogheda  family, 
who,  at  that  time,  came  into  Ireland,  as  a  soldier  of  for- 
tune. {Ai^pendix  to  the  Rejyort  of  the  Deputy-Keeper  of 
the  Rolls  and  Grants  of  Elisabeth.) 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  105 

This  Edward  Moore,  who  was  accompanied  by  Ids 
brother  John,  the  founder  of  the  Charleville  family  (now 
extinct),  was  descended  from  an  ancient  Kentish  House. 
He  fixed  his  residence  at  Mellifont,  changing  the  church 
into  a  dwelling,  which  he  strongly  fortified  against  the 
attacks  of  the  Ulster  Irish,  The  statues  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  which  once  occupied  places  in  the  church,  he 
caused  to  be  removed  to  the  hall,  clad  in  red  uniforms, 
with  muskets  on  their  shoulders,  as  a  protest,  no  doubt, 
against  "  Popish  idolatry,"  It  is  even  said  that  he  suifered 
the  Founder's  tomb,  and  those  of  others,  or  such  portions 
of  them  as  still  were  left,  to  remain  as  part  of  his  domestic 
arrangements,  without  his  being  disturbed  by  such  solemn 
surroundings.  He  was  knighted  by  the  Deputy,  Sir  Wm. 
Drury,  and  dying  soon  after,  was  succeeded  by  his  son. 
Sir  Garret,  to  whom  Mellifont,  with  six  other  dissolved 
monasteries,  and  all  their  spiritualities  (that  is,  the 
revenues  of  them,  right  of  patronage,  etc.)  and  tempora- 
lities, were  granted  in  fee.  By  these  means,  was  adhesion 
to  the  Crown  purchased  and  services  to  it  rewarded — 
services,  which  bore  no  equivocal  meaning  ever  since  the 
Invasion,  as  the  Irish  knew  by  long  and  bitter  experience. 

At  this  time,  the  Church,  as  by  Law  Established, 
became  part  and  parcel  of  the  State,  and  its  most 
obsequious  servant.  Its  ministers  looked  to  the  civil 
power  for  patronage,  and  even  hoped  for  promotion 
through  the  officials  of  the  Court;  but  only  in  a  few 
instances  were  the  livings  worth  the  asking,  as  the 
greater  part  of  their  temporalities  were  bestowed  on  lay- 
men, favourites  of  the  Queen,  We  have  a  picture  of  the 
state  of  that  Church  in  Ireland,  soon  after  the  suppression 
of  monasteries,  drawn  by  the  Lord  Deputy  himself,  in  a 
letter  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  They  who  would  fain  believe 
in  the  blessed  advantages  which  flowed  from  the  Dissolu- 


lOG  MELLTFONT  AliBEY. 

tion  of  Monasteries,  and  the  introduction  of  the  new- 
religion,  may  take  to  heart  the  lesson  it  teaches.  Sir 
Henry  Sydney  wrote  to  the  Queen  in  April,  1576,  on  the 
condition  of  the  diocese  of  Meath  : — "  There  are  within 
this  diocese,"  he  writes,  "  224  parish  churches,  of  which 
number,  105  are  impropriated  to  sundry  possessions ;  no 
parson  or  vicar  resident  on  any  of  them,  and  a  very  simple 
or  sorry  curate  for  the  most  part  appointed  to  serve  them  ; 
among  which  number  of  curates,  only  eighteen  were  found 
to  be  able  to  speak  English,  the  rest  being  Irish  ministers, 
or  rather,  Irish  rogues,  having  very  little  Latin  and  less 

learning  and  civility In   many  places   the  very 

walls  of  the  churches  are  thrown  down,  very  few  chancels 
covered;  windows  and  doors  ruined  and  spoiled.  There 
are  52  parish  churches  in  the  same  diocese  which  have 
vicars  endowed  upon  them,  better  served  and  maintained 
than  the  others,  yet  badly.  There  are  52  parish  churches 
here,  residue  of  the  first  number  of  224,  which  pertain  to 
divers  particular  lords;  and  these,  though  iu  better  state 
than  the  others  commonly,  are  yet  far  from  well."  He 
concludes  by  saying  : — "  But  yet  j^our  Majesty  may  believe 
it,  that  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  where  Christ  is  professed, 
there  is  not  a  church  in  so  miserable  a  case."  Lord 
Grenville,  in  his  Past  and  Present  Policy  of  England 
fovjards  Ireland,  when  commenting  on  Sydney's  letters, 
from  one  of  which  the  above  is  an  extract,  writes  : — "  Such 
was  the  condition  of  a  church  which  was  half  a  century 
before  rich  and  flourishing,  an  object  of  reverence  and  a 
source  of  consolation  to  the  people.  It  was  now  despoiled 
of  its  revenues ;  the  sacred  edifices  were  in  ruins,  the 
clergy  were  either  ignorant  of  the  language  of  their  flocks, 
or  illiterate  and  uncivilised  intruders ;  and  the  onlv  ritual 
permitted  by  the  laws  was  one  of  which  the  people  neither 
comprehended   the  language  nor  believed  the  doctrines ; 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  107 

and  this  is  called  establishing  a  reformation."  That  this 
condition  of  affairs  was  not  confined  to  any  particular 
diocese,  but  rather  was  the  state  in  all,  is  evident  from 
the  sketch  given  by  Spenser  in  his  View  of  the  State  of 
Ireland.  "  They"  (the  ministers),  he  says,  "  neither  read 
the  Scriptures  nor  preach  to  the  people,  nor  administer 
the  Communion  ....  only  they  take  the  tithes  and 
offerings,  and  gather  what  fruit  else  they  may  of  their 

livings It   is   a   great   wonder   to   see    the   zeal 

between  the  Popish  priests  and  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel ;  for  they  spai'e  not  to  come  out  of  Spain,  from 
Rome,  and  from  Rheims,  by  long  toil  and  dangerous 
travelling  thither,  where  they  know  peril  of  death 
aw^aiteth  them,  and  no  reward  or  riches  are  to  be  found, 
only  to  draw  people  to  the  Church  of  Rome."  Such  were 
the  immediate  fruits  of  the  Reformation  as  admitted  and 
described  by  Protestant  contemporaries. 

One  of  the  first  proprietary  acts  of  Sir  Edward  Moore, 
on  his  acquiring  Mellifont,  seems  to  have  been  to  cut 
down  and  sell  some  of  the  magnificent  timber  planted  by 
the  monks.  The  old  wooden  house,  so  long  an  object  of 
curiosity  in  Drogheda,  and  which  was  taken  down  in 
1824,  was  chiefly  composed  of  oak  obtained  from  Mellifont 
Park.  It  was  situated  at  the  angle  formed  by  the 
junction  of  Laurence  Street  and  Shop  Street,  and  was 
erected  by  Nicholas  Bathe,  as  an  inscription  in  raised 
characters,  each  six  inches  in  length,  testified.  This 
inscription  was  on  the  Laurence  Street  side,  "  Made .  Bi . 
Nicholas  .  Bathe .  in  .  the  .  ieare .  of.  our .  Lord  .  God .  1570 . 
Bi .  Hiu  .  Mor .  Carpenter." 

In  1592,  Red  Hugh  O'Donnell,  fleeing  from  Dublin 
Castle,  where  he  had  been  detained  a  close  prisoner,  was 
received  and  kindly  treated  by  Sir  Edward  Moore,  at 
Mellifont.      His  reception  is  thus  related  in  the  Life  of 


108  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

Red  Hugh,  edited  with  notes  by  the  late  Father  Denis 
Murphy,  S.J. : — "  After  crossing  theBoyne  near  Drogheda, 
Red  Ilugh  and  his  companion  mounted  their  horses, 
and  proceeded  about  two  miles  from  the  river,  where  they 
saw  a  dense  bushy  grove  in  front  of  them  on  the  road  they 
came,  and  a  large  rampart  all  around  it,  as  if  it  was  a 
kitchen-garden.  There  was  a  fine  mansion  (called  the 
great  monastery),  belonging  to  an  illustrious  youth  of  the 
English,  by  the  side  of  the  wood.     He  was  much  attached 

to  O'Neil He  (O'Donnell)  went  into  the  house 

and  was  entertained  ;  for  he  was  well  known  there  especi- 
ally more  than  in  other  places." 

In  1599,  according  to  the  family  pedigree,  Sir  Garret 
Moore  and  Sir  Francis  Stafford  were  the  only  English 
house-keepers  in  the  County  Louth;  all  the  lands  being 
wasted  by  the  Ulster  rebels.  The  next  important  event 
at  Mellifont  was  the  great  O'Neil's  surrender  there  to 
the  Deputy,  Lord  Mountjoy,  on  the  24th  March,  1602. 
The  Lord  Deputy  sent  Sir  Garret  Moore,  as  an  old 
acquaintance  of  O'Neil's,  with  Sir  Wra.  Godolphin  to 
parley  with  him,  and  O'Neil  returned  with  them  to 
Mellifont,  where  (on  his  knees,  it  is  said  by  English 
writers,)  he  made  his  submission  to  the  Deputy.  Here, 
again,  we  have  further  proof  of  what  has  been  stated 
before,  that  it  was  Irishmen  who  retained  this  country  for 
the  English  Crown  ;  for  when  Sir  George  Carew  sat  down 
before  Kinsale,  where  O'Neil  Avas  defeated,  his  army 
consisted  of  three  thousand  men,  of  whom  two  thousand 
were  Irish.* 

Five  years  later,  that  is,  in  1607,  O'Neil  was  again  at 

*  It  is  not  generally  known  that  it  was  an  Irishman  who,  on  the  fata 
day  of  Aughriin,  as  St.  Ruth  rode  to  victory  waving  his  cap,  pointed  him 
out  to  the  gunner  whose  faithful  shot  deprived  St.  Ruth  of  his  head  and 
the  Irish  Army  of  a  valiant  General. 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  109 

the  "  fair  mansion  of  Mellifont  to  bid  good-bye  for  ever  to 
his  good  friend,  Sir  Garret,  the  fosterer  of  his  son  John,"' 
He  tarried  two  days  with  him,  and  then  said  farewell. 
Having  given  his  blessing,  "according  to  the  Irish  fashion," 
to  every  member  of  his  fiiend's  household,  he  and  his  suite 
took  horse,  and  rode  rapidly  by  Dundalk  on  his  way  to 
Lough  S willy,  where  a  ship  awaited  him  to  bear  him  from 
his  native  land  for  ever. 

By  an  Inquisition  taken  on  the  14th  June,  1G12,  the 
possessions  of  this  Abbey  were  found  as  follow  : — "  The 
site,  a  water-mill,  a  garden,  an  orchard,  a  park  called  Legan 
Park,  the  old  orchard  containing  two  acres ;  the  silver 
meadow,  nine  acres ;  the  wood  meadow,  ten  acres  j  and 
the  doves'  park  ;  80  acres  of  underwood ;  Killingwood, 
being  great  timber,  containing  twelve  acres  ;  Ardagh, 
twenty  acres,  being  the  demesne  lands ;  and  the  grange 
and  town  of  Tullyallen,"  etc. 

In  1615,  July  20th,  Sir  Garret  was  created  Baron 
Moore  of  Mellifont,  by  King  James  I.  In  1619,  Baron 
Moore  obtained  a  royal  grant  of  St.  Mary's  Abbey, 
Dublin,  from  the  same  King  ;  and  in  1621,  he  was  created 
a  Viscount,  with  the  title  of  Viscount  Moore  of  Drogheda. 
St.  Mary's  Abbey,  Dublin,  passed  from  the  family  some 
fifty  years  later. 

As  has  been  said,  no  trace  of  the  expelled  religious 
remains  after  the  suppression  of  Mellifont.  It,  however, 
may  be  assumed,  that  some  few  of  them  lingered  around 
the  hallowed  spot  to  which  their  affections  clung,  and  that 
they  shared  the  labours  and  dangers  incident  to  the 
Catholic  missionaries  of  the  period,  as  is  well  known 
their  brethren  in  other  parts  of  Ireland  did  after  their 
expulsion.  It  cannot  now  be  ascertained  whether,  or  not, 
an  unbroken  line  of  titular  Abbots  of  Mellifont  was 
maintained  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Abbey  ;   but,  in 


110  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

1623,  an  oratory  in  Drogheda,  belonging  to  the  Cistercians, 
was  served  by  five  or  six  Fathers  of  the  Order  under 
Patrick  Barnewall,  who  had  been  appointed  Abbot  of 
Mellifont  by  the  Pope;  and  in  1625,  he  received  the 
abbatial  benediction  in  the  church  of  St.  John,  in 
Waterford,  at  the  hands  of  the  Most  Rev.  Thomas 
Fleming,  Archbishop  of  Dublin.  This  Patrick  Barnewall 
belonged  to  the  Bremore  branch  (Co.  Dublin)  of  the 
ancient  and  illustrious  family  of  that  name.  After  having 
studied  the  Humanities,  Philosophy,  Theology,  and  Canon 
Law  in  the  Universities  of  Douay  and  Paris,  he  was  ordained 
priest,  and  discharged  missionary  duties  in  Drogheda. 
In  a  sketch  of  his  life  given  by  a  fellow-labourer,  it  is 
related,  that  one  night  as  he  lay  awake,  St.  Bernard 
appeared  to  him  and  told  him  he  would  be  a  monk  of  his 
Order.  Though  he  relished  the  idea,  yet  he  did  not 
immediately  correspond  with  his  inclinations  till  he  was 
grievously  afflicted  with  a  severe  sickness,  when  he  re- 
membered the  vision,  and  being  urged  b}'  his  two  sisters, 
who  had  consecrated  themselves  to  God,  he  entered  the 
Novitiate  of  the  Order  in  Kilkenny,  and  was  at  once 
restored  to  health.  Soon  after  his  profession  he  was 
appointed  Abbot  of  Mellifont  by  Apostolic  authority  ;  and 
he  admitted  novices  into  the  Order  at  his  "  hiding-place" 
at  Drogheda,  whom  he  sent  to  be  educated  at  the 
Cistercian  College,  Louvain,  and  to  other  Continental 
Colleges.  He  was  a  very  learned  man,  particularly  in 
Canon  Law,  and  was  consulted  as  an  authority  on  this 
subject.  During  the  siege  of  Drogheda,  in  1641,  his 
goods  were  seized  and  himself  cast  into  prison,  but 
through  the  influence  of  some  powerful  relatives  he  was 
liberated.  He  died  in  his  father's  house  in  September, 
1644,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  Donore,  which 
formerly  belonged  to  Mellifont.     John  Devereux,  a  native 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  Ill 

of  the  Co.  Wexford,  who  had  been  educated  at  Louvaiu, 
was  appointed  by  the  Pope,  Abbot  of  MelHfont,  in  1G48. 
He,  with  Father  Luke  Bergin  and  Father  Patrick  Grace, 
both  natives  of  Co.  Kilkenny,  Father  Malachy  O'Hartry,  a 
native  of  Waterford,  Father  John  Bryan,  a  native  of 
Drogheda,  and  Father  Piunket,  constituted  the  new 
community  of  Cistercian  monks  under  Abbot  Patrick 
Barnewall,  when  he  opened  the  oratory  in  Drogheda,  in 
1623.  Whether  all  or  any  of  them  perished  in  the  general 
massacre  of  Drogheda,  under  Cromwell,  we  cannot  tell, 
but  they  disappeared  thenceforth,  and  John  Devereux 
seems  to  have  been  the  last  titular  Abbot  of  Mellifont. 

In  the  Eebellion  of  1641,  Mellifont  and  its  owner.  Lord 
Charles  Moore,  son  of  Garret,  the  first  Viscount,  became 
involved.  On  the  21st  November,  just  a  short  time  after 
the  outbreak,  the  rebels  under  Sir  Phelim  G'Neil,  when 
on  their  way  to  besiege  Drogheda,  made  a  halt  at  Tully- 
allen,  and  "  sent  a  party  of  1,300  foot  down  to  Mellifont, 
the  Lord  Moore's  hout^e,  which  their  design  was  suddenly 
to  Surprise ;  but,  contrary  to  their  expectation,  they  found 
there  twenty-four  musketeers  and  fifteen  horsemen,  who 
very  stoutly  defended  the  house  as  long  as  their  powder 
lasted.  The  horsemen,  when  they  saw  themselves  beset 
so  as  they  could  no  longer  be  serviceable  to  the  place, 
opened  the  gates,  issued  out  and  made  their  passage 
through  the  midst  of  the  rebels,  and  so,  notwithstanding 
the  opposition  they  made,  escaped  safe  to  Drogheda. 
The  foot  having  refused  to  accept  of  the  quarter  at  the 
first  offered,  resolved  to  make  good  the  place  to  the  last 
man  ;  they  endured  several  assaults,  slew  one  hundred- 
and-forty  of  the  rebels,  before  their  powder  failed  them  ; 
and  at  last  they  gave  up  the  place  upon  promise  of 
quarter,  which  was  not  kept,  for  some  of  them  were 
killed    in    cold    blood,  all  were    stripped,  and    two   old 


112  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

(lecrepid  men  slain,  the  house  ransacked  and  all  the  goods 
carried  away." 

The  above  is  from  Sir  John  Temple's  History  of  the 
Irish  Rebellion,  and  it  has  been  quoted  by  Catholics  and 
Protestants  alike  when  alluding  to  ]\Iellifont ;  they  each 
add,  however,  a  little  spice  to  suit  the  palates  of  their 
respective  readers.  Of  this  attack  on  Mellifont  we  have 
no  less  than  four  versions,  two  of  which  deserve  but  little 
credence,  viz.,  that  already  given,  and  that  of  Dean 
Bernard.  The  account  given  by  the  latter  is  fuller,  and 
enters  more  minutely  into  detail,  so  that  some  particulars 
tax  the  capacity  of  the  most  credulous ;  as,  for  instance, 
when  he  tells  us  that  twenty-four  musketeers  killed  one 
hundred -and-forty  rebels  though  they  had  only  "  six 
shots "  of  powder,  "  some  only  four,"  and  that  they 
rammed  in  six  bullets  together,  and  how  each  shot  killed 
several.  Verily,  every  bullet  had  its  billet  there !  That 
be  sharp  practice  without  doubt !  He  also  tells,  how  the 
loss  on  the  part  of  the  garrison  was  thirteen  killed, 
'•  whom  a  Friar  ivas  so  forivard  for  deed  of  charity  as 
to  'procure  them  burial  in  the  church  adjoining.^' 
Thank  goodness,  he  has  the  grace  to  credit  even  a  Friar 
with  some  remnant  of  humanity  !  He  does  not  say  that 
the  rebels  stripped  all.  They  could  not  have  done  so ; 
for  eleven  escaped  to  Drogheda.  These  godless  Papists 
capped  their  iniquity  in  this  holy  man's  estimation  when 
they  "threw  a  fair  church  Bible  into  the  mill-pond." 
The  last  charge  on  the  sheet  is — "  Their  best  language  to 
them  all  was  '  English  dogs,'  '  rogues,'  etc." 

Before  producing  the  other  two  versions,  let  us  examine 
the  characters  of  both  these  witnesses  as  drawn  by  Protes- 
tant writers.  Sir  John  Temple  wrote  his  History  in  1656, 
from  the  "Depositions"  preserved  then  in  Dublin  Castle, 
but  Avhich  are  now  in  Trinity  College.     These  "Deposi- 


MELLIFONT    ABBEY.  118 

tions"  comprise  the  list  of  murders,  burnings,  etc.,  said 
to  have  been  perpetrated  by  the  Irish  on  the  English 
Protestants  during  the  war,  and  fill  thirty-two  volumes. 
He  was  some  time  Privy  Councillor,  but  was  removed  by 
Ormonde,  and  Carte  tells  how  "  two  traitorous  and 
scandalous  letters  against  his  Majesty  written  by  Temple 
were  read  in  Committee."  And  Dr.  Nalson,  another 
Protestant  writer,  accuses  him  of  having  been  in  league 
with  the  Parliamentarians,  whom  Ormonde  describes  as 
those  who  became  the  "murderers  of  his  (the  King's) 
royal  person,  the  usurpers  of  his  rights,  and  destro}ers  of 
the  Irish  nation  ;  by  whom  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  it 
were  massacred  at  home,  and  led  into  slavery,  or  driven 
into  beggary  abroad."  In  1674,  Temple  protested  that 
the  work  was  published  without  his  knowledge,  as  appears 
from  State  Papers,  Dublin  edition,  p.  2. 

Dean  Bernard  was  Primate  Ussher's  chaplain,  and  like 
his  master,  was  a  Puritan.  During  the  siege  of  Drogheda 
he  watched  over  the  Primate's  library  lest  the  rebels 
should  attack  the  magnificent  palace  which  had  been 
built  with  the  fines  from  the  recusants.  He  was  after- 
wards Cromwell's  chaplain  and  almoner,  in  either  of 
which  capacities,  it  would  be  quite  unreasonable  to  expect 
justice  to  the  Irish  from  him. 

As  to  the  "  Depositions"  themselves,  they  are  summarily 
dealt  with  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Warner,  another  English 
Protestant  historian  of  that  Eebellion.  "  There  is  no 
credit  to  be  given  to  anything  that  was  said  by  these 
Deponents  which  had  not  others'  evidence  to  confirm  it." 
And  again,  the  same  Dr.  Warner,  who  went  through  the 
drudgery  of  perusing  and  examining  these  "  Depositions," 
says :  "As  a  great  stress  has  been  laid  upon  this  collection 
in  print  and  conversation,  and  as  the  whole  evidence  of 
the  massacres  turns  upon  it,  I  spent  a  great  deal  of  my 

H 


114  MEJ.LHONT    AJJBEY. 

time  exaujiuiug  the  books;  and  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that 
they  have  been  made  the  foundation  of  much  more 
clamour  and  resentment  than  can  be  warranted  by  truth 
and  reason."  It  was  in  them  that  Temple  found  the 
story  of  the  ghosts  of  the  murdered  Protestants,  in  the 
River  Bann,  at  the  Bridge  of  Portadown,  shrieking  for 
revenge,  and  one  in  particular,  who  was  seen  there  from 
the  29Lh  December  to  the  end  of  the  following  Lent!  ! ! 
He  sets  down  the  number  of  English  and  Protestants  who 
were  "  murdered  in  cold  blood,  destroyed  some  other  way, 
or  expelled  out  of  their  habitations  in  two  years  by  the 
Irish,  as  exceeding  300,000,"  though,  according  to  Petty, 
there  were  not  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion  20,000 
English  Protestants  in  Ulster,  where  nearly  all  the 
murders  were  said  to  have  been  committed.  Dr.  Warner 
also  tells  how  he  saw  in  the  Council  books  at  Dublin,  the 
letter  which  the  Commissioners  of  the  Irish  Parliament 
wrote  to  the  English  Parliament,  urging  them  to  show  no 
mercy  to  the  Irish,  hut  rather,  to  revenge  the  murders 
and  massacres  committed  by  them.  They  tell  them, 
"that  besides  eight  hundred-and-forty-eight  families,  there 
were  killed,  hanged,  burned,  and  drowned,  six  thousand 
and  sixty-two."  Dr.  Warner  considers  2,000  about  the 
correct  number.  A  prodigious  number  to  be  sure,  but 
how  far  less  than  Temple's  300,000.  Warner  says,  finally, 
at  p.  296  of  his  work  so  often  cited :  "  It  is  easy  enough 
to  demonstrate  the  falsehood  of  every  Protestant  historian 
of  this  Rebellion." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Carte,  an  English  Protestant  clergyman, 
who  wrote  the  celebrated  Life  of  the  Duke  of  Ormonde, 
tears  all  Temple's  assertions  in  pieces,  and  demonstrates 
from  indubitable  authority  the  falsehoods  of  his  state- 
ments. Writing  of  these  "Depositions"  he  says,  at  Vol. 
II.,  p.  263  :  "Anyone  who  has  ever  read  the  examinations 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  115 

and  depositions  which  were  generally  given  on  hearsay, 
and  contradicting  one  another,  must  think  it  very  hard 
upon  the  Irish,  to  have  all  those  without  distinction  to  be 
admitted  as  evidence."  And  in  the  Preface  to  the  collec- 
tion of  Letters  affixed  to  the  Life  he  alludes  to  the 
"  uncertain,  false,  mistaken,  and  contradictory  accounts, 
which  have  been  given  of  the  Irish  Uebellion,  by  parties 
influenced  by  selfish  views  and  party  animosities,  or 
unfurnished  with  proper  and  authentic  materials  and 
memoirs." 

It  is  obvious  from  the  first  pages  of  Temple's  History 
what  the  scope  of  the  work  is.  It  is  a  gross  libel  on  the 
whole  Irish  nation  from  the  earliest  times.  In  one  page, 
he  twice  applies  to  them  the  epithet  of  a  beastly  race, 
and,  no  doubt,  worthy  to  be  rooted  out,  to  make  room  for 
Royalists  of  his  type,  who  worshipped  the  rising  sun. 

Carte,  in  his  Life  of  Ormond,  Vol.  II.,  p.  135,  gives  an 
account  of  the  attack  on  Mellifont  as  follows : — "  This 
detached  body  of  the  northern  rebels  appeared  on 
November  21st  in  sight  of  the  town  of  Drogheda,  within 
four  miles  of  it,  presuming  (as  was  imagined)  upon  some 
party  within  the  place.  Sir  H.  Tichburne,  Governor  of 
Drogheda,  had  the  week  before  sent  a  party  of  fifteen 
horse  and  twenty-two  foot  to  Mellifont  (formerly  an 
Abbey  of  Bernardino  monks,  founded  by  Donagh  O'Car- 
roU,  prince  of  Ergall,  about  A.D.  1142,  but  then  an  house 
of  the  Lord  Viscount  Moore's,  three  miles  from  town),  as, 
well  as  to  secure  that  place  from  the  incursions  of  roving 
parties,  as  to  keep  abroad  continual  sentinels  and  scouts, 
that  might  inform  him  of  the  rebels'  motions.  His  orders 
were  not  well  observed,  nor  his  party  so  vigilant  as  they 
ought  to  have  been ;  for  on  the  21st,  the  rebels  on  a 
sudden  encompassed  the  house,  and  (after  the  soldiers' 
powder  was  spent)  took  it  Avith  a  loss  of  some  one  hundred 


116  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

and  twenty  of  their  own  number  (among  which  were 
Owen  M'Mahon  and  another  captain),  and  eleven  of  the 
soldiers,  with  most  of  the  arms.  As  the  Irish  were 
breaking  into  the  house  on  all  sides,  the  troopers  causing 
the  great  gate  to  be  opened,  sallied  out,  and  opening 
themselves  a  way  through  the  body  of  the  rebels,  got  safe 
with  the  rest  of  the  foot  soldiers  sore  wounded  to 
Drogheda."  This  may  be  accepted  as  a  true,  unvarnished 
account  of  this  much  magnified  attack ;  especially  as 
Tichburne  himself,  who  cannot  be  accused  of  partiality 
towards  the  Irish,  and  who  was  Governor  of  Drogheda  at 
the  time  of  its  occurrence,  seems  to  have  been  Carte's 
authority  for  it,  as  appears  from  a  reference  to  a  letter 
written  by  Tichburne  to  Ormond,  but  not  given  in  the 
collection  of  Letters  mentioned  above.  There  is  no 
question  here  of  quarter  given,  or  of  faith  broken ;  no 
cold-blooded  murders,  no  gruesome  picture  of  gory  corpses 
unburied,  nor  of  fiendish  glee  on  the  part  of  rebels  dancing 
round  their  watch-fires  in  presence  of  their  stark  and 
naked  victims  strewn  around  ! ! !  Pity  such  absurdity 
should  be  believed  or  repeated  in  our  time,  when  it  should 
have  been  relegated  to  the  same  lumber-heap  as  the  story 
of  the  ghosts  of  the  Bann  ! 

We  have  yet  another  account  from  a  paper  or  Report 
published  in  London  by  two  parties  who  only  give  their 
initials,  T.  A.  and  P.  G.  It  was  "printed  by  Edward 
Blackmore,  at  the  Angel,  in  Paul's  Churchyard,  in  1642," 
and  is  now  to  be  found  in  the  Contemporary  History  of 
Affairs  in  Ireland,  so  ably  edited  by  Sir  John  Gilbert,  at 
Vol.  I.,  Part  II.,  p.  420.  There  is  a  discrepancy  in  the 
dates,  but  that  is  immaterial,  as  only  one  attack  is  said  to 
have  been  made.  It  tells  us,  "That  on  the  same  day 
(April  30),  three  or  four  hundred  rebels  came  before 
Mellifont,  three  or  four  miles  from  Drogheda,  where  Lord 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  117 

Moore  had  left  on  Tuesday  before  a  garrisoa  of  four- 
score foot  and  about  thirty  horse  ;  the  rebels  plaid  hotly 
upon  them  until  the  horse  were  ready  within  ;  but  as 
soon  as  the  horse  Avere  ready,  they,  with  the  foot,  sallied 
out,  and  killed  about  thirty  of  the  rebels."  This  cannot 
be  far  from  the  truth,  as  it  seems  to  be  free  from  the 
exaggerations  in  which  Tichburne  dealt,  when  recounting 
the  numerical  strength  of  his  and  the  enemy's  forces, 
ascribing  to  the  latter  poltroonery  and  cowardice  in 
action,  and  crediting  them  with  excessively  heavy  losses. 

The  predisposing  cause,  why  the  Ulster  Irish  were 
ready  for  rebellion  was  the  misery  the  native  inhabitants 
endured  since  the  Plantation  of  the  six  forfeited  counties, 
some  thirty  odd  years  before.  Even  the  remnants  of  the 
estates  allowed  them  by  the  Crown  were  filched  from 
them  by  the  greed  and  cunning  of  unscrupulous  Com- 
missioners, who  enriched  themselves  on  the  ruin  of  the 
Irish.  Prendergast  {Gromiuellian  Settlement,  pp.  49-50,) 
thus  describes  the  condition  of  the  old  Irish  nobility  and 
gentry  then : — "  Little  they  (the  Planters,  Avho  got  the 
forfeited  estates)  thought  or  cared  how  the  ancient  owner, 
dispossessed  of  his  lands,  must  grieve  as  he  turned  from 
the  sight  of  the  prosperous  stranger  to  his  pining  family ; 
daughters,  without  prospect  of  preferment  in  marriage ; 
sons,  without  fit  companions,  walking  up  and  down  the 
country  with  their  horses  and  greyhounds,  coshering  on 
the  Irish,  drinking  and  gaming  and  ready  for  any 
rebellion  ;  most  of  his  high-born  friends  wanderino^  in 
poverty  in  France  and  Spain,  or  enlisted  in  their  armies." 
The  immediate  cause  of  the  Rebellion  is  thus  stated: — 
"  A  letter  was  intercepted  coming  from  Scotland  to  one 
Freeman  of  Antrim  giving  an  account  that  a  Covenantincr 
army  was  ready  to  come  to  Ireland  under  General  Lesly, 
to  extirpate  the  Eoman  Catholics  of  Ulster,  and  leave  tb*^ 


118  MELLIFONT   ABBEY. 

Scots  in  possession  of  that  province;  that  resolutions  to 
that  effect  had  been  taken  at  their  private  meetings,  as 
well  as  to  levy  heavy  fines  on  such  as  would  not  appear 
at  their  kirk  for  the  first  and  second  Sunday,  and  on 
failure  the  third,  to  hang  at  their  own  doors  without 
mercy,  such  as  remained  obstinate "  (Carte's  Ormond, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  160).  This  notion  prevailed  universally  amongst 
the  rebels,  and  was  chiefly  insisted  on  by  them  as  one  of 
the  principal  reasons  of  their  taking  up  arms. 

The  Rebellion  broke  out,  then,  on  the  23rd  October, 
1641,  and  the  actors  in  it  were  a  "  tumultuous  rabble  " 
as  Ormond  called  them,  intent  chiefly  on  plundering  and 
driving  off  the  English  settlers,  yet  before  the  end  of  the 
month  the  principal  towns  of  the  North  were  in  their 
hands.  Leland,  a  Protestant  historian,  writes  : — "  That 
in  the  beginning  of  the  insurrection,  it  was  determined  by 
them  that  the  enterprise  should  be  conducted  in  every 
quarter,  with  as  little  bloodshed  as  possible  "  (History  of 
Ireland,  Vol.  III.,  p.  101).  At  p.  1.31,  the  same  historian 
writes: — "The  Lords  Justices  might  have  stamped  out 
the  insurrection  at  once  had  Ormond's  advice  to  levy  a 
large  number  of  troops  been  attended  to  ;  for  the  Irish 
were  then  formidable  only  in  numbers,  and  not  six 
hundred  of  them  had  proper  arms.  But  their  purpose 
was  rather  to  fan  it,  in  order  to  gratify  their  personal 
greed  by  extensive  forfeitures."  Warner,  who  has  been 
so  often  quoted  before,  writes  at  p.  176  of  his  History: — 
"  It  is  evident  from  the  Lords  Justices'  letter  to  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  that  they  hoped  for  an  extermination,  not  of 
the  mere  Irish  only,  but  of  all  the  old  English  families 
who  were  Roman  Catholics."  They  issued  a  most 
truculent  order  to  Ormond  "  to  burn,  kill,  spoil,  waste, 
destroy,  the  rebels,  their  relatives,  houses  and  property." 
One  of  these  Lords  Justices  is  thus  referred  to  by  Carte  : 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  110 

"  He  was  a  man  of  mean  extract,  scarcely  able  to  read 
and  write  .  .  .  plodding,  assiduous,  and  indefatigable, 
greedy  of  gain,  and  eager  to  raise  a  fortune ;  which  it  is 
not  difficult  for  a  man  of  indifferent  parts  to  do,  when  he 
is  not  hampered  with  scruples  about  the  ways  of  getting 
it"  (Ormond,Yo\.J.,ip.  190).  This  same  Lord  Justice, 
with  three  members  of  the  Privy  Council,  was  put  under 
arrest  for  disobedience  to  his  Majesty,  King  Charles,  and 
for  complicity  with  his  enemies,  the  Parliamentarians  of 
England.  The  Lord  Justice  was  deposed  and  imprisoned, 
but  he  retained  his  ill-gotten  property. 

As  has  been  said,  the  rebels  became  masters  of  the 
principal  towns  in  the  North  without  meeting  any  check, 
when  they  attacked  Mellifont.  Lord  Moore  was  then  in 
Drogheda  with  Sir  Henry  Tichburne,  the  Governor,  with 
whose  policy  and  methods  he,  both  before  and  afterwards, 
identified  himself;  and,  as  an  active  agent  of  the  Lords 
Justices,  he  was  specially  odious  to  the  Irish.  During  the 
siege  of  Drogheda,  he  more  than  once,  by  his  alertness 
and  personal  bravery,  saved  the  town  from  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  besiegers.  With  the  exception  of  Lord 
Moore  and  a  few  of  the  older  families,  both  the  Lords 
Justices  themselves  (who  governed  the  country  in  the 
absence  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant),  and  their  ruthless 
instruments  were  men  of  no  fortune ;  or,  were  such  as 
became  enriched  by  the  plunder  of  the  Irish.  Tichburne, 
in  a  letter  to  his  lady,  alludes  to  one  of  the  commissions 
entrusted  to  him  for  execution,  in  which  fiendish  work 
Lord  Moore  was  associated  with  him.  After  his  return 
from  the  burning  of  Dundalk,*  which  he  left  a  smoulder- 
ing heap  of  ruins,  he  describes  the  results  : — "  There  was 
neither   man   nor   beast   to   be   found   in   sixteen  miles, 

*  The  Puritans  admitted  that  Sir  Pheliin  O'Neil  did  not  commence 
Lis  alleged  massacres  until  after  the  sacking  and  burning  of  Dundalk. 


120  MKLLIFOiNT    ABBEY. 

between  the  two  towns  of  Drogheda  and  Dundalk  ;  nor 
on  the  other  side  of  Dundalk,  in  the  County  of  Monaghan, 
Dearer  than  Carrickmacross,  a  strong  pile  twelve  miles 
distant"  (Tichburne's  Siege  of  Drogheda,  ^.  320).  And 
in  tlie  same  page  he  says,  all  this  magnificent  ruin  and 
desolation  were  inflicted  on  the  peasantry  "  without  one 
penny  of  charge  to  the  State,  and  that  for  the  space  of 
seven  months,  all  under  his  command  subsisted  on  the 
spoils"  taken  from  the  unfortunate  people  in  that  district. 
"  The  country  and  fields  about  Dundalk,"  he  says,  "  were 
abounding  in  corn,  which  I  allocated  to  the  several 
companies,  etc."  The  ghosts  of  the  Bann  must  have  been 
glutted  with  vengeance  ! !  ! 

And  now  Lord  Moore's  career  is  drawing  to  a  close. 
After  having  been  engaged  in  many  successful  skirmishes, 
raids,  and  minor  actions,  he  burned  with  a  desire  for  the 
honour  of  measuring  swords  with  the  great  Owen  Roe, 
who  had  defeated  all  the  forces  hitherto  sent  against  him, 
and,  according  to  O'Neil's  Diary,  he  affected  to  despise 
O'Neil.  He  was  therefore  dispatched  with  a  body  of  troops 
to  dislodge  that  consummate  strategist  from  a  position 
occupied  by  him  at  Portlester  Mill,  within  five  miles  of 
Trim.  Borlase  tells  us  that  Lord  Moore  was  killed  in  that 
engagement,  August  7th,  1643,  "through  the  grazing  of 
a  cannon  bullet  which  he  foresaw,  yet  took  not  warning 
enough  to  evade."  The  Author  of  the  Aphorismical  Dis- 
covery, who  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  O'Neil's 
secretary,  gives  another  account  of  his  death.  It  is  right 
to  mention  that  this  author  was  by  no  means  a  monk,  nor 
was  he  a  clergyman  at  all,  as  is  evident  from  his  apology 
in  the  Introduction,  where  he  tells  the  reader  that  he  was 
by  profession  a  "  sworde  carrier,"  and  that  it  was  "  alienat  " 
to  that  profession  to  aspire  to  literary  avocations.  "The 
General"  (O'Neil),  he   writes,  "  not  well   pleased   with   his 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  121 

gunner,  for  he  perceaved  he  shooted  too  high,  and  did 
little  hurte,  the  peace  was  charged,  the  Generall  tooke  a 
perspective  glasse,  and  saw  wheare  my  Lord  Moore  stoode. 
It  being  charged,  the  Generall  did  levell  the  same  against 
Moore,  gave  fire,  his  aime  was  soe  neare  home,  that  he 
hitted  him  a  little  above  his  corpise,  wherupon  all 
dismembred,  presently  fell  dead,  the  trunke  of  his  bodie 
fallinge  downe,  and  some  of  his  members  whisling  in  the 
aire  to  take  possession  by  flight  in  some  other  field,  or 
make  such  speede  to  accompany  his  soul  to  hell  to  be 
assured  for  winter  quarter  next  springe." 

Lord  Moore  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Henry,  who,  when 
Governor  of  Dundalk,  in  1645,  was  more  than  suspected 
of  plotting  with  the  Parliamentarians  to  deliver  up  that 
town  to  Monroe.  He  was  relieved  of  his  charge  by  Ormond, 
who  was  then  Lord  Lieutenant,  and  being  a  minor,  was 
sent  by  him  to  England  (out  of  harm's  way),  to  the  Court, 
where  he  was  kindly  received  by  the  Kiog,  who  ordered 
livery  to  be  granted  him  of  his  father's  lauds  {Carte, 
Vol.  IV.,  p.  154.)  Lady  Alice,  his  mother,  was,  it  appears, 
inveigled  into  a  plot  at  the  same  time  to  deliver  up 
Drogheda  to  the  Scots ;  for  a  wax  impression  of  the  keys 
of  the  gates  having  been  given  her,  she  caused  the  gun- 
smith of  the  troop,  which  Lord  Henry  commanded,  to 
make  false  keys  ;  but,  being  discovered,  her  ladyship,  with 
others,  was  sent  to  Dublin.  There,  on  examination  before 
the  Council,  they  confessed  all.  (Ibid.)  Her  Ladyship's  end 
was  a  tragic  one,  as  we  read  in  Lodge's  Peerage.  "  Lady 
Alice,  younger  daughter  of  Sir  Adam  Loftus,  Viscount 
Elye,  who  broke  her  leg  near  the  fort  (Drogheda)  by  a  fall 
from  her  horse  (occasioned  by  a  sudden  grief  arising  from 
the  first  sight  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Drogheda,  where  her 
dear  lord  lay  buried),  on  Wednesday,  10th  June,  1649, 
and  dying  the  13th  of  a  gangrene,  was  that  night  buried 
by  him  in  the  family  tomb." 


122  MELLIFONT   ABREY. 

There  is  another  entry  at  the  same  place  in  Lodge. 
"  Lieutenant-Colonel  Francis  Moore,  sixth  son  of  the  first 
VivScount  Mellifont,  and  brother  to  Lord  Charles  who  was 
killed  at  Portlester  Mill,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  army 
for  the  reduction  of  Ireland,  and  in  1654<,  had  a  pension 
from  the  then  Government  of  10/-  a  week,  and  five  of  his 
brother  Charles'  children  had  £3  17s.  a  week  in  1G65,  out 
of  the  district  of  Trim"  (Lodge's  Peerage  of  Ireland,  Vol. 
IL,  pp.  99-100).  This  Francis  Moore  had  been  an  officer 
in  the  King's  army,  but  soon  after  the  arrival  in  Ireland 
of  Jones,  the  Parliamentarian  General,  he  went  over  to 
him  and  took  the  Dundalk  troops  with  him.  It  was 
from  Cromwell's  government  he  had  his  pension,  but  the 
pensions  granted  to  Lord  Charles'  children  were  continued 
to  them  after  the  Restoration,  and  Lord  Henry  mentioned 
above,  was  created  Earl  of  Drogheda,  in  1661, — thus 
confirming  the  historic  truism,  that  the  ungrateful  Stuarts 
heaped  favours  on  their  enemies  and  treated  their  best 
and  most  devoted  adherents  with  cold  indifference.  As 
an  illustration  of  this  we  have  the  instance  of  one  of  the 
chief  actors  in  those  troublesome  times,  Sir  John  Clot- 
worthy,  changing  sides  three  times: — first,  fighting  in  the 
King's  name  and  commission  against  the  Ulster  Irish ; 
next,  siding  with  the  Parliamentarians,  his  Majesty's 
deadliest  enemies,  and  going  over  to  England  as  the 
spokesman  of  a  deputation  sent  to  the  Parliament  of 
England  to  protest  against  the  return  of  King  Charles  IL, 
on  rumour  of  peace  and  terms  being  negotiated  between 
them;  again,  on  King  Charles'  arrival  in  England,  hieing 
over  to  tender  his  homages  and  congratulations — and  lo ! 
the  reward  of  his  fidelity  and  loyalty  (?) — he  was  created 
Viscount  Massereene.  It  is  only  one  instance  of  several 
hundreds  that  may  be  cited.  The  i^nfortunate  rebels 
whose  banner  bore  the  legend,  "  Vlvat  Carolus  Rex" — 


MELLIFONT  ABBEY.  123 

'•  Long  live  King  Charles,"  and  who  remained  faithful  to 
him  to  the  last,  were,  by  an  irony  of  fate,  robbed  and 
banished  by  the  Cromwellians,  who  were  put  in  possession 
of  their  estates  and  confirmed  in  them  by  Charles  II.  !  1 ! 

In  the  foregoing  pages,  the  authorities  quoted  are 
Protestants,  and  all,  without  exception,  hostile  to  the 
Irish.  Their  testimony,  nevertheless,  is  favourable  to  the 
rebels,  save  where  the  question  of  religion  crops  up,  then 
their  prejudice  blinds  their  judgment,  and  hurries  them 
into  most  glaring  absurdities.  One  more  fact  about  that 
saddest  page  of  our  history.  Before  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War  in  1G41,  there  were  1,200,000  Irish  Catholics 
in  the  country ;  at  its  close  in  1652,  the  number  had 
fallen  to  700,000,  and  these  were  ordered  under  pain  of 
death  to  transplant  to  Connaught — the  remnant  of  a  broken 
and  plundered  race  !  !  ! 

Henr}^  the  first  Earl  of  Drogheda,  did  not  long  enjoy 
his  honours;  nor  did  his  son  and  successor,  Charles,  who 
was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Henry,  the  third  Earl,  who, 
on  the  eve  of  the  ever-memorable  Battle  of  the  Boyne, 
entertained  a  party,  amongst  whom  was  one  of  King 
William's  highest  officers.  On  the  morrow,  July  the  1st, 
the  booming  of  King  William's  fifty  pieces  of  "dread 
artillery"  echoed  along  the  hills  and  the  valley  of  the 
Boyne,  and  shook  the  old  abbey  walls  to  their  very 
foundations ;  and  on  that  night,  the  oaken  rafters  of 
Mellifont  rang  to  the  cheers  and  toasts  of  the  "glorious, 
pious,  and  immortal  memory"  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  on 
whose  side  Earl  Henry  commanded  that  day  a  regiment 
of  foot.  It  may  be  interesting  to  mention  here,  that  on 
the  morning  of  the  battle,  the  Irish  Catholic  soldiers  wore 
scraps  of  white  paper  on  their  caps — emblematic  of  the 
livery  of  France  ;  the  followers  of  the  Prince  of  Orange 
wore  green  boughs  torn  off  the  trees. 


124  MELLIFONT  ABBEY. 

Charles,  Lord  Moore,  son  of  Henry,  the  third  Earl, 
married  Jane,  heiress  of  Arthur,  Viscount  Ely,  who 
received  as  her  portion  the  suppressed  Abbey  of  Monas- 
terevan,  a  Cistercian  monastery  founded  by  O'Dempsey, 
in  the  12th  century.  It  was  called  Rosglas  by  the  Irish, 
and  the  Valley  of  Roses,  in  the  list  of  monasteries  of  the 
Order  in  Ireland.  When  it  came  into  Earl  Charles' 
possession,  he  changed  the  name  to  Moore  Abbey,  and 
made  it  his  residence.  The  sons  of  this  Lord  Charles, 
Henry  and  Edward,  became  earls  successively,  and  Edward, 
the  fifth  earl,  having  settled  down  permanently  at  Monas- 
terevan,  sold  Mellifont  and  some  of  the  property  in  its 
immediate  vicinity  to  Mr.  Balfour  of  Townley  Hall,  in 
1727. 

The  condition  of  Ireland  at  that  time  was  truly  deplor- 
able. The  Penal  Laws  were  in  full  force  against  the 
unfortunate  Catholics,  who  were  reduced  to  a  state  little 
better  than  slavery.  Dr.  Johnson  wrote  of  them  some 
fifty  years  later: — "The  Irish  are  in  a  most  unnatural 
state ;  for  we  see  there  the  minority  prevailing  over  the 
majority.  There  is  no  such  instance,  even  in  the  ten 
persecutions,  as  that  which  the  Protestants  of  Ireland 
have  exercised  against  the  Catholics.  Did  we  tell  them 
we  conquered,  it  would  be  above  board ;  to  punish  them 
by  confiscations  and  other  penalties  was  monstrous  injus- 
tice" (Boswell,  at  1773). 

With  the  Moore  family  departed  also  the  very  shadow 
of  Mellifont's  diminished  greatness,  and  "  time's  effacing 
finger"  almost  completely  obliterated  what  was  once  a 
gorgeous  national  monument,  which  stood  out  clearly  as 
a  finger-post  on  the  ways  of  time.  Gradually  the  fabric 
fell  into  decay,  the  owl  hooted  on  the  landing  of  the  grand 
stair-case,  and  the  daw  and  martin  flitted  unmolested 
through  the  deserted  halls.     The  gardens  and  walks  and 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  125 

bowers  disappeared  beneath  a  crop  of  tangled  brushwood, 
the  product  of  neglect.  Soon  the  roof  fell  in,  the  walls 
became  seamed  with  many  rents  and  toppled  over  with 
a  crash;  then  Mellifont,  the  "Honey  Fountain,"  the 
Monasthir  Mor,  or  Great  Abbey,  as  it  was  called,  the 
foundation  of  saints  and  kings,  the  abode  of  the  pious  and 
the  learned,  the  house  pre-eminently  of  prayer,  the  asylum 
of  the  poor  and  friendless,  became  a  shapeless  acccumula- 
tion  of  rubbish.  True,  a  mill  was  erected  about  100 
years  ago  close  to  the  site  of  the  church,  and,  no  doubt,  it 
was  told  to  strangers  who  then  visited  the  ruins  by  people 
who  professed  to  know  all  about  monks,  that  it  had  more 
activity  and  exhibited  more  of  the  bustle  of  life  than 
when  the  silent,  slumbering  monks  dwelt  there.  But  a 
mill  in  that  hallowed  spot  was  a  huge  incongruity  and  a 
wanton  disregard  for  all  its  honoured  associations.  In 
1884,  the  few  remaining  ruins  became  vested  in  the  Board 
of  Works,  and  the  excavations  which  revealed  the  plan  of 
the  church,  as  described  in  Chapter  I.,  were  carried  out. 
It  only  remains  to  be  said  that  in  Mr.  Balfour  of  Townley 
Hall,  the  estimable  gentleman  who  now  owns  Mellifont 
and  some  of  the  property  formerly  belonging  to  it,  his 
tenants  have  found  a  liberal  and  generous  benefactor,  who 
enjoys  the  merited  esteem  and  respect  of  all  who  know 
him. 

As  one  ascends  the  hill  over  Mellifont,  and,  pausing  on 
its  summit,  gazes  on  the  lovely  scenery  around  him, 
particularly  along  the  valley  of  the  Boyne,  which  Young 
called  one  of  the  completest  pictures  he  had  ever  seen, 
then  glances  at  the  quiet  valley  beneath  him,  and 
remembers  what  prominent  parts  those  who  once  trod 
that  favoured  spot  played  in  our  country's  chequered 
history,  his  soul  is  filled  with  solemn  thoughts  too  big  for 
utterance.     There,  came  the  firm  and  gentle,  yet  daunt- 


126  MELLIFONT   AUBEV. 

less,  Malachy  side  by  side  with  Oriel's  proud  Chief,  and 
hand  in  hand,  they  knelt  and  prayed  and  consecrated  it 
to  the  living  God  for  ever.  Thereon,  rose  up  the  magnifi- 
cent temple  on  which  neither  cost  nor  labour  was  spared, 
that  it  might  be  worthy  of  Him  Who  deigns  to  dwell  in 
tabernacles  made  by  man ;  and  generation  succeeded 
generation  of  monks,  who  calmly  dwelt  in  that  peaceful 
valley,  which,  by  their  skill  and  enterprise,  they  converted 
into  a  garden  of  delights  and  a  terrestrial  paradise.  The 
bishop  and  the  king  found  there  a  resting-place  when 
life's  weary  struggle  was  over,  and  their  end  was  sweet- 
ened by  the  cheering  hopes  of  a  glorious  immortality. 
The  poor  man  and  the  homeless  found  there  a  welcome 
and  a  shelter,  their  wants  being  liberally  attended  to ;  and 
the  blessings  of  a  free  education  and  of  spiritual  consola- 
tions were  diffused  on  every  side  from  that  centre  of 
learning  and  piety.  The  knight  and  baron  came,  the 
belted  man  of  war  made  his  home  there,  enjoyed  his 
ephemeral  honours,  but  he,  too,  is  gone,  severing  all 
connection  with  it  both  by  name  and  title,  leaving  no 
trace  behind.  The  king  and  the  knight  have  been 
brushed  aside ;  and  the  old  chess-board,  Mellifont,  alone 
remains.  Impressed  vi^ith  these  reflections,  we  take  a 
glance  beyond  the  grave,  and  there,  we  behold  these 
actors  pass  before  the  great,  most  just,  and  supreme 
Judge,  to  receive  the  requital  of  their  deeds,  and  to  each 
is  meted  out  reward  or  punishment  according  to  his 
deserts.  We,  too,  the  spectators,  are  hastening  towards 
that  same  goal ;  our  future  is  indubitably  in  our  own 
hands,  according  as  we  do  or  do  not  now  live  up  to  our 
convictions,  and  the  dictates  of  our  consciences. 

And,  now,  we  cannot  help  asking  ourselves,  what  shall 
Mellifont's  future  be  ?  At  present  it  is  a  blank ;  but, 
shall  the  lamp  of  piety  and  learning  be  rekindled,  and 


MELLIFONT   ABBEY.  127 

the  light  burst  forth  auew  there  as  in  the  days  of  its 
splendour  ?  We  know  not ;  but  we  do  know  that, 
although  God's  ways  are  inscrutable,  His  wisdom  and 
power  are  infinite.  To  Him  be  all  glory  for  ever  and 
ever.     Amen. 


APPENDIX    I. 

LIST    OF    ABBOTS    OF    MELLIFONT. 

Saint    Christian    O'Connarchy,    Founder    and    first    Abbot, 

Bishop  of  Lismore  and  Legate  of  the  Holy  See,  1150. 
Blessed  Malchus,  brother  of  preceding. 
Charles  O'Buacalla,  1177,  made  Bishop  of  Emly. 
Patrick,  term  of  office  not  known. 
Maelisa,  appointed  Bishop  of  Clogher  in  1194. 
Thomas,  1211. 
Carus,  or  Cormac  O'Tarpa,  elected  Bishop  of  Achonry  in  1219, 

resigned  that  See  in  1 226,  returned  to  Mellifont  where  he  died. 
Mathew,  1289. 
Michael,  1293. 
William  M'Buain. 
Hugh  O'Hessain,  resigned  1300. 
Thomas  O'Henghan. 
Radulph,  or  Ralph  O'Hedian. 
Nicholas  of  Lusk,  1325. 
Michael,  1333. 
Roger,  1346. 
Reginald,  1349. 
Hugh,  1357. 

Reginald  Leynagh,  died  15th  August,  1368. 
John  Terrour,  1370. 

[There  is  no  record  of  the  names  of  Abbots  in  this  interval.] 
Roger,  1472. 
John  Logan. 
Henry. 

John  Warren. 
Roger  Boly. 
John  Troy,  1486-1500. 
Thomas  Harvey,  died  20th  March,  1525. 
Richard  Conter,  the  last  regular  Abbot,  pensioned  in  1540. 

As  will  be  observed,  the  line  of  succession  is  incomplete 
between  the  years  1370  and  1472;  and  it  is  impossible  now 
to  fill  in  the  gaps.  The  List  is  taken  from  Ware's  Ccenobia 
Cisierciensia  in  Ilibernia,  and  Dalton's  History  of  Drogheda. 


APPENDIX.  129 

APPENDIX    II. 

THE    CHARTER    OF    NEWRY, 

Copied  and  translated  from  the  Original  in  the  British 
Museum,  from  a  copy  given  by  John  O'Donovan  in  Dublin 
Penny  Journal,  1832-33,  p.  102. 

Maurice  M'Laughlin,  King  of  all  Ireland,  to  all  his  Kings, 
Princes,  Nobles,  Leaders,  Clergy  and  Laity,  and  to  all  and 
each  the  Irish  present  and  to  come,  GREETING. 

Know  ye  that  I,  by  the  unanimous  will  and  common 
consent  of  the  Nobles  of  Ultonia,  Ergallia  (Oriel),  and 
O'Neach  (Iveagh),  to  wit  of  Donchad  O'Carroll,  King  of  all 
Ergallia,  and  of  Murchad  his  son.  King  of  O'Meitb,  and  of  the 
territory  of  Erthur,  of  Conla,  King  of  Ultonia,  of  Donald 
O'Heda,  King  of  O'Neach  (Iveagh),  have  granted  and 
CONFIRMED,  in  honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  St.  Patrick, 
and  St.  Benedict,  the  Father  and  Founder  of  the  Cistercian 
Order,  to  the  monks  serving  God  in  Nyvorcintracta  (Newry) 
as  a  perpetual  and  pure  donation,  the  land  of  O'Cormac, 
whereon  was  founded  the  monastery  of  Athcrathin,  with  its 
lands,  woods,  and  waters,  Eaancratha,  with  its  lands,  woods, 
and  waters,  Crumglean,  with  its  lands,  woods,  and  waters, 
Caselanagan,  with  its  lauds,  woods,  and  waters,  Lisinelle,  with 
its  lands,  woods,  and  waters,  Croa  Druimfornac,  with  its 
lands,  woods,  and  waters,  Letri,  Corcrach,  Fidglassayn,  Tir- 
morgannean,  Connocol,  etc.  These  Lands  with  their  Mills, 
I  have  confirmed  to  the  aforesaid  monks  of  my  own  proper 
'gift,  for  the  health  of  my  soul,  that  I  may  be  partaker 
of  all  the  benefits  of  masses,  hours  {i.e.  vespers  and  matins), 
and  prayers  that  shall  be  offered  in  the  Monastery  itself,  and 
to  the  end  of  time. 

And  because  I  have  founded  the  Monastery  of  Ybar  cin- 
tracta  (Newry),  of  my  own  free  will,  I  have  taken  the  monks 
so  much  under  my  protection,  as  sons  and  domestics  of  the 

I 


130  APPENDIX. 

faith,  that  they  may  be  safe  from  the  molestations  and  incur- 
sions of  all  men. 

I  will  also  that,  as  the  Kings  and  Nobles  of  O'Neach 
(Iveagh),  or  of  Ergallia  (Uriel),  may  wish  to  confer  certain 
lands  on  this  Monastery,  for  the  health  of  their  souls,  they 
may  do  so  in  my  lifetime,  while  they  have  my  free  will  and 
licence,  that  I  may  know  what  and  how  much  of  my  Earthly 
Kingdom,  the  King  of  Heaven  may  possess  for  the  use  of  His 
poor  Monks. 

The  Witnesses  and  Sureties  are: — 

Giolla  MacLiag,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  holding  the  Staff  of 

Jesus  in  his  hand. 
Hugh  O'Killedy,  Bishop  of  Uriel  (Clogher.) 
Muriac  O'Coffay,  Bishop  of  Tirone  (Derry.) 
Melissa  Mac  in  Clerig-cuir,  Bishop  of  Ultonia  (Down.) 
Gilla  Comida  O'Caran,  Bishop  of  Tirconnell  (Raphoe.) 
Eachmarcach   O'Kane,   King   of  Fearnacrinn   and   Kennacta 

(now  Barony  of  Keenaght,  Co.  Londonderry.) 
O'Carriedh,  the  Great;  Chief  of  Clan  Aengusa,  and  Clan  Neil. 
Cumaige  O'Flain,  King  of  O'Turtray  (Antrim.) 
Gilla  Christ  O'Dubhdara,  King  of  Fermanagh. 
Eachmarcach  O'Ffoifylain. 
Maelmocta  MacO'Nelba. 
Aedh  (Hugh)  the  Great  Magennis,  Chief  of   Clan-Aeda,  in 

O'Neach  Uladh  (Iveagh.) 
Dermot  MacCartan,  Chief  of  Kenelfagartay  (Kinelearty.) 
Acholy  MacConlacha,  Gill-na-naemh  O'Lowry,  Chief  of  Kinel 

Temnean. 
Gilla  Odar  Ocasey,  Abbot  of  Dundalethglass  (Downpatrick.) 
Hugh  Maglanha,  Abbot  of  Inniscumscray  (Iniscourcy.) 
Angen,  Abbot  of  Dromoge,  and  many  other  Clerics  and  Laics. 


APPENDIX.  131 

APPENDIX    III. 

INVENTORY    OF    ESTATES    OF    MELLIFONT. 

Richard  Center,  the  last  Abbot  of  Mellifont,  was,  on  the 
23rd  July,  1539,  seized  of  two  messuages,  167  acres  of  arable 
land,    10   of  pasture,    5   of  meadow,   and   5   of  pasture   in 

Glut ,  with  a  salmon  weir;  £13  13s.  4d.  annual  rent, 

arising  from  16  fishing  corraghs  at  Oldbridge,  together  with 
the  tithe-corn  of  the  same,  all  of  the  annual  value,  besides 
reprises,  of  £27  18s.  8d. ;  also  a  messuage  in  Shephouse,  with 
the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises, 
of  £4  17s.  8d.  3  three  messuages,  120  acres  of  arable  land,  20 
of  meadow, — a  fishery,  and  a  boat  for  salmon-fishing  in 
Komalane,  together  with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual 
value,  besides  all  reprises,  of  £15  3s. ;  3  messuages,  2  cottages, 
a  water-mill, — a  fishing- weir,  120  acres  of  arable  land,  3  closes, 
containing  6  acres  of  mountain  in  Schahinge,  together  with 
the  tithe-corn,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,  of 
£12  6s.  8d.;  2  messuages, — 20  acres  of  meadow  and  pasture 
in  Donnore,  together  with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the 
annual  value,  besides  all   reprises,   of    115/4;    2  messuages, 

8  cottages,  46  acres  of  arable  land,  and  2  of  meadow  in  Doo , 

together  with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual  value, 
besides  all  reprises,  of  £5;  4  messuages,  18  cottages,  39  acres 
of  arable  land,  and  3  of  meadow  in  Glassehalyine,  together 
with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all 

the  reprises,  of  £5  18s.  8d. ; 124  acres  of  arable  land, 

and  10  of  meadow  in  Graungethe,  together  with  the  tithe-corn 
thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,  of  £14  19s.  4d.; 
a  messuage  and  cottage,  45  acres  of  arable  land,  and  15  of 

meadow  and  pasture,  in ,  together  with  the  tithe-corn 

thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,  of  £3  8s.  4d,; 
4  messuages,  9  cottages,  64  acres  of  arable  land,  and  4  in 
meadow  in  Balranny,  together  with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of 
the  annual  value  of ,  messuages,  with  19  acres 


132  AI'PKNDIX. 

of  arable  land  ia  Kordoraghe,  together  with  the  tithe-corn 
thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,   of    16/-; 

7  messuages,  10  cottages,    18G    acres    of   arable    land,    8    of 

meadow,  and  40  of  pasture  and  brushwood  in  ,  with 

the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises, 
of  XI 2  3s. ;  a  messuage,  two  cottages,  120  acres  of  arable  land, 
a  fishing-weir,  called  Broraey's  weir,  and  the  fishery  there,  a 

water-mill  in  ,  with    the    tithe-corn    thereof,    of   the 

annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,  of  £16  5s.;  7  messuages, 
one  cottage,  227  acres  of  arable  land,  and  10  of  meadow  in 
Bally fadocke,  together    with    the    tithe-corn    thereof,   of   the 

annual   value,   besides  all  reprises,  of  ;  4  messuages, 

20  acres  of  arable  land,  and  4  of  meadow  in  Kinoyshe, 
together  with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual  value, 
besides  all  reprises,  of  £10  3s.  8d. ;  4  messuages,  46  acres  of 
arable  land,  and  4  of  meadow  in  Kellystone,  with  the  tithe- 
corn  thereof,  besides  all  reprises,  of  the  annual  value  of 
£4  5s.  4d. ;  2  messuages,  3  cottages,  60  acres  of  arable  land, 
6  of  pasture,  and  4  of  meadow  iu  Oracamathane,  together 
with  the  tithe-crown  thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all 

reprises,  of  ;  4  messuages,  8  cottages,  124  acres  of 

arable  land,  a  salmon-weir,  called  Monktone,  a  water-mill  in 
the  town-land  of  Rosmore,  together  with  the  tithe-corn  thereof, 
of  the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,  of ;  3  mes- 
suages, 6  cottages,  126  acres  of  arable  land,  6  of  meadow,  and  6 
of  meadow  in  Gyltone,  together  with'the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of 
the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,  of  £6  4s.  8d;  5  mes- 
suages, 8  cottages,  141  acres  of  arable  land,  the  fourth  part  of 
an  acre  of  meadow,  and  6  of  common  pasture  in  Dromen- 
hatt,  otherwise,  Newton  of  Knockamothane,  together  with  the 
tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,  of 
£8  9s.;  6  messuages,  140  acres  of  arable  land,  4|  of  meadow 

in  Radrenage,  together  with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of 

the  annual  value,  besides  all  reprises,  of  £7  12s.;  3  messuages, 

8  cottages,  120  acres  of  arable  land,  6  of  meadow,  6  of  pasture 
in  Calm,  together  with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual 


APPENDIX.  IS'S 

value,  besides  all  reprises,  of  £6  173. ;  3  messuages,  60  acres  of 
arable  land,  60  of  pasture,  and  4  of  meadow  in  Stareaaghe, 
with  the  tithe-corn  thereof,  of  the  annual  value,  besides  all 
reprises,  of  £o  Ss.  8d.;   the  tithe-corn  of   the   townland  of 

inserathe  and  Balregane,  near  Donnore   and   below  the 

parish  of  Mellifont,  of  the  annual  value  of  £2  ;  the  tithe-corn 
of  the  town  of  Monamore,  of  the  annual  value  of  £2  13s.  4d. ; 

the  rectory  of  Baliestore,  of  the  annual  value  of  ;  and 

the  chapels  of  Grangegeythe  and  Knockamothane,  parcel  of 

the  rectory  of  Mellifont,  of  the  annual  value  of all  the 

said  rectories  being  appropriated  to  the  Abbot  and  his  succes- 
sors, and,  together  with  the  said  lands,  etc.,  are  lying  and 
situated  in  the  Co.  of  Meath.  The  Abbot  was  also  seized  of  a 
small  house  in  the  town  of  Drogheda,  in  the  tenure  of  Thomas 
Tanner,  annual  value  13/4,  and  also  of  another  house  in  the 
tenure  of  Roger  Samon,  of  the  annual  value  of  8/-,  with  2/- 
rent  from  the  Mayor  and  commonalty  of  Drogheda. 

The  above  is  from  the  Monasticon  Hibernicum.  It  by  no 
means  contains  a  full  inventory  of  the  possessions  of  Mellifont 
at  the  time  of  its  suppression,  only  the  property  belonging  to 
it  in  the  County  Meath.  In  the  same  Monasticon  we  read, 
"By  an  inquisition  taken  14th  June,  1612,  the  possessions  of 
this  Abbey  were  found  as  follow  : — The  site,  a  water-mill,  a 
garden,  an  orchard,  a  park  called  Legau  Park,  the  old  orchard 
containing  two  acres,  the  silver  meadow  9  acres,  the  wood 
meadow  10  acres,  and  the  doves'  park;  80  acres  of  underwood; 
Killing  wood,  being  great  timber,  containing  12  acres;  Ardagh, 
20  acres,  being  the  demesne  lands,  and  the  grange  and  town 
of  Tullyallen,  containing  27  messuages  and  260  acres;  Der- 
veragh,  5  messuages  and  213  acres;  Mell,  2  messuages  and  60 
acres;  Ballymear,  alias  Ballyremerry,  2  messuages  and  60 
acres ;  Sheepgrange,  no  tithe,  8  messuages  and  245  acres ; 
Little  Grange,  4  messuages  and  62  acres ;  Beckrath,  2  mes- 
suages and  63  acres;  Cubbage,  4  messuages  and  103  acres; 
Ballygatheran,  no  tithe,  6  messuages  and  132  acres;  Salthouse, 
7  messuages  and  238  acres;  Staleban,   11   messuages  and  160 


134  APPENDIX. 

acres;  Vinspocke,  6  messuages  and  90  acres;  Morragh,  no 
tithes,  11  messuages  and  120  acres;  Ballypatrick,  8  messuages 
and  120  acres;  in  Collon,  a  water-mill  and  23  acres,  <£6  13s.  4f). 
annual  rent  out  of  the  said  town,  and  the  tithes  thereof; 
Bally macskanlan,  a  castle,  no  tithe,  and  120  acres;  Cruerath, 
Ballyraganly  and  Donnore,  in  the  parish  of  Mellifont,  with 
the  tithes  and  altarages,  all  in  this  county"  (Louth).  Here 
follow  the  possessions  belonging  to  the  Abbey  in  the  County 
Meath,  and  which  have  been  given. 


THE    END. 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


THQs.  W^-   &   JN.  KELLY, 

89    LOWER    GARDINER    STREET,    DUBLIN, 

ESTABLISHED    1824. 


Offices— 1  &  2  WESTMORELAND  STREET,  DUBLIN. 
(Next  Bank  of  Irelakd.) 
We  respectfully  solicit  from  the  Hierarchy  and  Clergy  a  con- 
tinuance of  their  valued  patronage  for  the 


imported  by  us  for  the  use  of  the  Altar,  and  which  we  have  for  so 
many  years  supplied  throughout  Ireland,  England,  and  the  Colonies ; 
having  full  confidence  in,  and  every  assurance  of,  its  guaranteed 
purity. 

Annexed  we  give  a  facsimile  of  the  brand  and  impression  of  the 
capsule,  and  beg  to  say  we  do  not  send  out  any  Altar  Wine  in  bottle 
without  using  these  precautions.  The  Rich  Altar  Wine  has  Green 
Capsule,  the  Medium  Altar  Wine  has  Red  Capsule,  and  the  Dry 
Altar  Wine  has  Blue  Capsule. 

Price,        including 

Bottles  and  Carriage, 

21s.  per  doz.     Is.  per 

dozen     allowed     for 


Altar  Wine  bottles, 
wlien  returned  in 
good  condition,  car- 
riage paid. 

FACSIMILE  OF 

BLUE  CAPSULE 

FOR   DRY   ALTAR    WINE. 


FACSIMILE   OF 

GREEN  CAPSULE 

FOR    RICH   ALTAR   WINE. 


FACSIMILE   OF 

RED  CAPSULE 

FOR  MEDIUM  ALTAR  WINE. 


In  other  WINES  we 
hold  a  large  and  well- 
assorted  stock,  to- 
gether with  the  finest 
SPIRITS,  both  Irish 
and  Foreign. 


As  advertinementt 
frequently  appear  which 
are  likely  to  confuse  our 
names  with  those  of  other 
firms,  intending  purchas- 
ers should  make  inquiries 
as  to  the  identity  of  the 
firms  and  addresses  with 
ichom  they  are  dealing. 


THQs    W^-  &   JN.  KELLY, 

89    LOWER    GARDINER    STREET,    DUBLIN. 

Offices— 1  &  2  WESTMORELAND  STREET,  DUBLIN. 

(Next  Bank  of  Ireland.) 

135 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


TODD,  BURHS  &  CO., 

(LIMITED), 

MAET  STEEET,  AND  JERVIS  STEEET, 
DVBLXN, 

AND 

ETJE  PAUL  LE  LOM,  PARIS. 


THE  LARGEST  STOCK  OF 

HIGH  CLASS  DRAPERY  - 


E=-     AND  FURNITURE 


IN   THE   KINGDOM. 


IRISH  MADE   GOODS  OUR  SPECIALITY. 


STRICTLY    MODERATE    PRICES. 

136 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


Messrs.  CLERY  &  CO. 


AVE  completed  extensive  alterations 
in  connection  with  their 


COMPLETE  HOUSE  FURNISHING 
DEPARTMENTS. 


FOUR  NEW  GALLERIES  have  been  added,  and 
the  Furniture,  China  and  Glass,  Carpet,  and  Curtain 
Showrooms  are  now  the  most  extensive  in  Ireland. 

BEDROOM  SUITES  in  all  the  Fashionable  Woods, 
Drawingroom  Suites,  Diningroom  Suites,  Sideboards, 
Overmantels,  Wall  and  Library  Furniture,  French 
and  Italian  Bedsteads,  Axminster  and  Brussels 
Carpets,  Turkey  Carpets,  Parisian  and  Indian  Eugs, 
Silk  Tapestries,  Lace  Curtains. 


A  Magnificent  Stock  at  very  Moderate  Prices. 


COMPLETE  HOUSE  FUMISHERS. 


CLERY  &   CO.,  DUBLIN. 


137 


^5^ 


32   DAME    STREET,    DTJBLITT. 


PATRICK    DONEGAN 

Successor  to  JOHN  DONEGAN 


(The  only  House  of  that  name  in  the  Trade. ) 

Silver  Monstrances          .            '.            '.            .            .  from  £10  to  £80 

Chalices      .            .            .            .            .            .  £3  10s.  to  £50 

Ciboriums  .             .             .             .             .             .  £3  10s.  to  £40 

Pyxes          .             .             .             .             .             .  15s.  to  40s. 

Oil  Stocks  ......  18s.  to  27s. 

Thuribles  and  Boats         .             .             .             .  £10  to  £20 

Altar  Cruets  and  Traj's    .             .             .             .  £5  to  £15 

Altar  Lamps          .             .             .             .             .  £10  to  £50 

Do.    new   designs,    very   richly   chased   and  em- 
bossed with  monograms,  figures  of  saints,  etc.  .  £20  to  £100 

PLATED    ON    WHITE    METAL. 

Plated  Monstrances  (new  approved  silver  gilt  Lunettes)  £4  to  £30 
Cases  for  Lunettes             .             .             .             .  123.  6d.  to  £2  10s. 

Chalices  (silver  cup  and  paten)    .             .             .  £3  to  £8 

Ciboriums  (silver  cup  and  cover)              .             .  £3  to  £8 

Sanctuary  Lamps,  plain  or  chased           .             .  £1  to  £20 

Cruets  and  Trays  (mounted  on  cut  glass)             .  15s.  to  £3  lOa. 

Thuribles  (in  sizes)            ....  15s.  18s.  to  30s. 

Do.           (in  best  quality)           .             .             .  32s.  6d.  to  GOa. 

Boats,  6s.  to  10s. ;  best  quality    .             .             .  15s.  to  20s. 

Paschal  Candlesticks,  all  Brass               .             .             .  £3  lOs.  to  £10 

Do.              do.           in  Wood               .            .            .  £1  to  £3 

Tenebrae  Candlesticks,  all  Brass             .            .            .  £8  to  £20 

Chandeliers  to  light  Churches,  7  to  18  lights    .             .  £10  to  £20 

Coronas  and  Brass  Sanctuary  Lamps  (in  various  designs)  £1  to  £10 

Brass  and  plated  fancy  standing  Lamps             .             .  3s.  to  £5 
Altar  Branches  in  great  variety  of  designs,  3,  5,  7,  9, 

etc.,  lights         .            .            .            .            .            .  £1  to  £10 

New  designs  in  Branches  and  Standing  Lamps. 

ALTAR    CANDLESTICKS. 
Set    of    Six    Altar  Candlesticks   in    Polished    Brass. 

Lacquered  (Gothic  style)         .  .  .  .  £2  to  £40 

In  Roman  and  French  style  .  .  .  £2  to  £30 

Price  Lists  on  Application. 

Candlesticks,  Branches,  etc.,  Re-polished  and  Lacquered  as  new. 

Goods  Repaired,  Re-plated,  and  Gilt  in  best  manner. 

138 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


E.  CLARKE  a  SON, 

SILK    MBBCBES 

AND 


THE    POPULAR   HOUSE 

FOR 

LADIES'    AND    CHILDREN'S 
OUTFITTING. 


EVERY    REQUISITE    STOCKED. 


PRICES    MODERATE. 


1  SHOP  ST.  &  1  WEST  ST., 
DROGHEDA. 

139 


^g  ?!jpr  i?Haje9t5's      ^SW^      ISopal  aetlera  ^oatent. 


PETER  LYONS, 

MANUFACTURER    OF 

PRIZE  MEDAL  BREAD 


AND  CONFECTIONERY, 


OBTAINED 

Bronze  Medal  and  Grand  Diploma  of  Honour  at  Bakers'  and 

Confectioners'  International  Exhibition,  held  in  Koyal 

Agricultural  Hall,  London,  1896 ; 

ALSO    OBTAINED 

Second  Prize  and  2  Diplomas  for  High  Class  Confectionery 

in  open  competition  against  all  Confectioners  in  the 

United  Kingdom,  held  in  London,  1895. 

RSAD    il]\rii.I.V5IS    REPORT. 


REPORT  from  Sir  Charles  A.  Cameron,  M.D.,  D.RH.  (Cambridge), 
F.R.C.S.I.,  M.R.C.P.L,  F.I.C.,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  R.C.S.I., 
Medical  Officer  of  Health  for  Dublin  ;  City  and  County  Analyst. 

"City  Laboratory,  Municipal  Buildings,  Cork  Hill, 
Dublin,  i6th  Jilarch^  1897. 
"  I  have  examined  a  specimen  of  Bread  submitted  to  me  for  that  purpose  by  Mr.  Pete« 
Lyons,  of  Drogheda.  I  found  it  to  be  free  from  adulteration  and  impurity.  It  contained 
in  100  parts  33.15  per  cent  of  water — much  less  than  is  usually  met  with — 0.84  per  cent  of 
Ash,  and  66.0  per  cent  of  Albumen  Starch,  and  it  was  very  white,  and  evidently  made 
from  the  very  best  quality  flour.  It  was  properly  fermented,  uniform  in  texture,  and 
well  baked.  "CHARLES  A.  CAMERON." 


CERTIFICATE    OF   ANALYSIS. 
"Analytical  Laboratory,  ii  &  12  Great  Tower  Street,  London,  E.C., 

28M  November,  1895. 
"  I  hereby  certify  that  I  have  carefully  examined,  both  chemically  and  microscopically, 
specimens  of  the  Cakes  manufactured  by  Mr.  Peter  Lyo.ns,  Drogheda,  and  I  can 
express  a  very  favourable  opinion  as  to  their  wholesome,  digestive,  and  dietetic  properties. 
They  have  been  judiciously  prepared  from  the  choicest  materials,  are  particularly  in- 
Yiting  to  the  taste,  and  have  been  carefully  and  thoroughly  baked. 

"GRANVILLE  H.  SHARPE,  F.C.S.,  Analytical  and  Consulting  Chemist  (late 
Principal  of  the  Liverpool  College  of  Chemistrj-),  Author  of  'Qualitative  and 
Quantitative  Analj'si^,'  late  Lecturer  on  Chemistry  and  Technology  to  the 
'Liverpool  School  of  Science,'  Lecturer  on  Chemical  Technology  to  the  'City 
and  Guilds  of  London  Institute,'  Member  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry, 
late  Consuhing  Chemist  to  the  Mineral  Heater  Trade  Review,  &c.,  Fellow 
of  the  Berlin  Chemical  Society." 


PETER  LYONS, 

MODEL    MACHINE   BAKERY  AND    CONFECTIONERY, 

112  WEST   STSEET,   DROGHEDA. 

uo 


AD  VERTIS  EME  N  TS . 


PLAIN  AND  FANCY  BREAD, 
CHOCOLATE  AND  SWEETS  IN  GREAT  VARIETY, 

—  CAI.I.   TO  — 

W.  T.  SKEFFINGTON'S 

BAKERY   AND   CONFECTIONERY, 
79  and  80  WEST  ST,,  DROGHEDA. 

FEEDING  STUFFS  OF  ALL  DESCRIPTIONS, 

FRESH   FRO]\I   THE   BEST   MILLS, 

AT   LOWEST   PRICES. 

CAN    BE    HAD    ALWAYS    AT 

W.  T.  SKEFFINGTON'S  '"70^*^1?.'"** 

79  &  80  WEST  ST.,  DROGHEDA. 

141 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


MURTAGH'S  MEDICAL  HALL, 

SHOP  STREET,  DROGHEDA. 


ESTABLISHED    1873, 


Accuracy,  Neatness,  and  the  correct 
dispensing  of  Physicians'  Prescrip- 
tions a  Speciality. 


Fancy  Perfumes,  Toilet  Soaps,  Nail 

and  Tooth  Brushes,  and  every  Toilet 

Requisite  kept  in  Stock. 


A  Large  and  Varied  Assortment  of  Foreign 

Mineral  Waters,  including  Hunich,  Janos, 

Apenta,  Rubenes  &  Contrexeville  Waters. 


Night  Bell. 

THOMAS  WHELEHAN,  L.P.S.L, 

Manager. 


142 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


JJXCBLLBNCB   and  jgjCONOMYI 
^ARIBTY   and  ^ALUEM 

These   are   the   Pour  Factors   which   combine  to  make 

LUKE   J.  HEALY'S 

The  Most  Desirable  House  in  the  District  for 

Pure  Drugs, 

Patent  PHedicines^ 
^^  Veterinary  Preparations, 

and  Toilet  Requisites. 

Every  Article  Stocked  is  of  the  Highest  Quality,  and  ia  its  respective 
class,  the  best  obtainable.  All  Drugs  are  of  Purest  Manufacture,  and 
are  Stocked  only  in  such  quantities,  and  at  such  intervals,  as  will 
ensure  them  being  always  Fresh  and  Reliable. 


ARTISTS^   :5^.EQUISITES  and 

PHOTOGRAPHIC   lVtATERIAI.S. 

Everything  New  and  Up-to-Date,  and  the  Latest  Productions  in  these 
Departments  Stocked  as  soon  as  they  appear. 

YOU    HAVE    MISSED   A   GREAT   TREAT! 
If  you  have  never  tried  L.  J.  HEALY'S  Celebrated 

MINERAL  WATERS. 

Ask  for  Ms  Lemonade,  Ginger  Beer,  Soda  Water  and  Ginger  Ale. 


LUKE   J.  HBALY, 

Chemist,  Mineral  Water  Manufacturer  &  Wine  Merchant, 
!l  &  82  West  Street,  Drogheda. 


143 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


J.    MAGEE, 

(Successor  to  E.  M'Donough,) 

113    WEST    STREET,     DROGHEDA. 


Direct  Importer  of  the  following  Eminent 
Shippers'  Sparkling  Wines : — 

POMMERY  &  (JPlENO. 

AYALA  &  CO. 

GIESLER  &  CO. 

&.  H.   MUMM  &  CO. 
CHAELES  HEIDSIECK  &  CO. 


KELLY'S  DRY,  MD  RICH  ALTAR  WINES 
ALWAYS  L\  STOCK. 


PORTS,  SHERRIES,  CLARETS,  Etc.,  Etc. 


J.  JAMESON  <&  SON  WHISKEY, 

10  TO   12   YEARS   OLD. 

144 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


WHITE  HORSE  HOTEL, 

WEST    STREET, 

DROGHEDA. 


(HIS  Old-Established  and  AVell-Managed  Hotel 
occupies  the  most  central  position  in  Drogheda. 
Sanitary  Arrangement  perfect.     Unrivalled  for  its 
Comfort. 


EXCELLENT    CUISINE,    FINE    WINES, 
AND    MODERATE    CHARGES. 


Table  d'Hote  Dinner  supplied  from  One 
to  Two  o'clock,  daily. 


GOOD    SMOKING    &  BILLIARD   ROOMS. 

BATH  EOOMS,  RECENTLY  ERECTED  AT  A  LARGE  OUTLAY. 


POST-HORSES  AND   CARRIAGES   KEPT. 

Moderate  Charges  and  Special  Terms  for  Parties. 


Bus  attends  principal  Trains  from  Dublin  &  Belfast. 

145 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


F.  KELLY 

Invites  attention  to  the  great  value  he  offers  in 
GENTLEMEN'S    AND    YOUTHS' 

TAILORING    AND    OUTFITTING 

(Also  Boys'  Ready-Made  Clothing.) 

CLERICAL  TAILORING  is  one  of  the  most  important 
and  successful  Departments  with  him,  and  perfect  Fitting 
(Guaranteed)  his  Speciality. 

A  large  and  Varied  Stock  of  Clerical  Cloths  always  on  hand. 

Prices  extremely  moderate,  and  Fitting  a  Speciality. 

F.  KELLY  (Successor  to  E.  Clarke  &  Son), 

2  WEST  STREET,  DROGHEDA. 


Established  1846. 


JOHN  CALLAGHAN, 

Uttrt^ant   bailor, 
2    SHOP    STREET,    DROGHEDA. 


CLERICAL  SUITS  A  SPECIALITY. 

146 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


IF  YOU  WANT  A  GOOD  REFKESHING  CUP  OF  TEA 

TRY 

M'QUILLAN'S  Is.  lOd.  BLEND, 

A  PERFECT,  IDEAL  TEA. 
Once  Tasted  always  Bought,  and  never  Forgotten.     Note  Address — 

JAMES  J.  M^QUILLAJff,  31  Shop  St.,  Dro^Iieda. 


PORTS,  SHERRIES,  MARSALAS,  CLARETS,  BURGUNDIES,  &c. 

ALSO 

JOHN  JAMESON'S  FAMOUS  OLD  MALT,  Guaranteed 
Under  Distiller's  Seal,  for  wliich 

JAMES   J.   M'aiTILLAN 

IS  JUSTLY  NOTED. 

31  SHOP  STREET,  DROGHEDA. 


TEA.     (UNEQUALLED  VALUE.) 

We  buy  all  our  Teas  by  comparison,  and  for  cash.     We  are 
therefore  in  a  position  to  give  our  Customers  and  the  Public 
a  better  Tea  for  less  money  than  they  can  buy  elsewhere. 
Prices  1/2,  1/4,  1/6,  1/8,  1/10,  2/-,  &  2/4  per  lb. 

.5  lbs.  sent  post  free  to  any  address. 

Guinness's  XX  Brown  Stout  in  Bottle  and  on  Draught. 

Do.         XXX  Invalid  Stout,  2/4  per  dozen. 
Bass'  Pale  Ale  in  Bottle  and  on  Draught. 
Do.    No.  1  Strong  Ale  (ten  guinea)  in  Bottle. 
Allsopps'  Light  Dinner  Ale,  1/3  per  dozen. 

WINES,  BRANDIES,  JAMAICA  ETJM,  HOLLAND,  OLD  TOM, 
AND  SLOB  aiNS,  LiaUEURS  AND  CORDIALS, 

OF  THE  FINEST  QUALITY  AT  LOWEST  WHOLESALE  PRICE. 

Specialists  in  Jolin  Jameson  &  Sons'  6  year  old  Malt,  24s.  per  gallon. 
Do.  Do.  5  year  old  do.    20s.  per  gallon. 

DUFFY  BROTHERS,  19  WEST  ST.,  DROGHEDA. 

147 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


PUItE    A1.TAR    ^riMK 

OF    THE 

DOMIIVICAIV  FATHERS,  CORPO  SAXTO  COLLEGE, 

1. 1  S  B  O  N. 

Every  process  of  making  from  the  selecting  of  the  grapes  to  the 
filling  of  the  Wine  into  casks  is  superintended  by  the  priests 
themselves. 

PRICE  20/    PER   DOZEN, 

Carriage  paid  to  your  nearest  Railway  Station. 

This  Wine  is  very  much  appreciated  by  a  large  number  of  the 

Clergy.    Certificates  of  analysis  and  samples  free  on  application. 

Is.  per  dozen  allowed  for  empty  Bottles  returned,  carriage  free. 


J.  &  J.  BOYLE,  37  WEST  STREET,  DHOGHEDA. 

AGENTS  FOR  DUBLIN  AND  NORTH  OF  IRELAND, 
ESTABLISHED  1786. 


Telegrams  : 
"ELCOCK  DROGHEDA." 


LUKE    J.    BLCOCK, 

^utttonecr,  Faluet, 
WOOL    AND    SHARE    BROKER, 

148 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


WILLIAM   BANNON, 

20    WEST     STREET,     DROGHEDA, 

Merchant  Tailor,  Clothier  and  Outfitter. 

All  Goods  disposed  of  on  most  moderate  terms. 


READY-MADE    CLOTHING    A    SPECIALTY. 

A   large  Assortment  to  select   from. 


m 


Gents'  Ties,  Shirts,  Braces,  etc.,  always  la  Stock. 
A   TRIAL  RESPECTFULLY  SOLICITED. 


JOHN  J.  KENNY, 

it 


5     SHOP     STREET, 
DROGHEDA. 


HIGH- CLASS 

SANITARY  PLUMBING  AND  GASFITTING. 
I.  F.  BRAXIGA^f,  R.M.P.C, 

House  Furnishing  and  Builders'  Ironmonger,  Plumber, 
Gasfitter,   Coppersmith,   Church   and    House  BeUfitter. 

PUMPS  SUPPLIED  AND  FITTED. 
18     SHOP     STREET,     r>ROGHEDA. 

1   TRIMGATE   STREET,  NAVAN. 
149 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


J.   NOLAN, 

Frxnfer,    Boaksellcr,    SfaHoner,    Neiusagenf, 

Toy  and    Fancy    Goods   Warehouse 
11     LAURENCE     STREET, 

JOHN   COLLINS, 

32   &   33   SHOP   STRSST,   DROGHEDA. 

IRONMONGER.   HOUSE  FURNISHER, 

PLUMBER  &  IMPLEMENT  AGENT. 


ESTABLISHED    123    YEARS. 

BELEEK     GOODS.  - 


Tea  Services,    Vases,    Ornaments,   Crosses,   Fonts,   etc., 
At  Very  Low  Prices. 


PETER  McQuillan, 

iroiiur,    Chandlor   S:    ©il   Jmprtq, 

90    WEST    STREET, 

150 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


THOMAS    LYONS, 

&ROCEE,  BAKER, 

Corn,     Meal,  and   Flour     Merchant, 

54    &    63    TRIMTY    STREET, 

DROGHEDA. 

PATKICK    DEEW, 

YICTUILLEH, 
8   WEST    STREET,    DROaHEDA. 


BEEF    &    MUTTON    OF    BEST    QUALITY, 

A/ways  in  Stock  at  Lowest  Prices. 


WILLIAM      TAAFFE, 

GENERAL    MERCHANT, 
ARDEE. 

ESTABLISHED  1863. 


Drapery. 

Ready-made  Clothing. 
Boots  and  Shoes. 


JBepartments : 


Seeds  and  Manures. 
Timber,  Iron  and  CoaL 
Ironmongery. 


Paints,  Oils  and  Colours. 
Commissioner  for  Affidavits  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Judicature. 

DISTRICT   STAMP    DISTRIBUTOR. 

151 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


IMPERIAL  HOTEL, 

DUNDALK. 

fN   this  long  established  and  popular  Hotel  will  be  found 
Large  and   Airy   Bedrooms,    and   Comfortable   Sitting 

Kooms. 
CHARGES  MODERATE.        BUSSES  ATTEND  ALL  TRAINS. 


The  Proprietor  and  Staff  leave  nothing  undone  to  secure  the  comfort 
of  Visitors. 

PATRICK  O'TOOLE,  Proprietor. 


?P  Wl  IP  'O 


m 


^  a,  ^  ^  4^^  ^ 

Restaurant  and  Dining  Rooms, 

11  (fe  12  EARL  STREET,  DUNDALK, 

CONFECTIONER  and  FANCY  BISCUIT  BAKER. 


Creams,  Jellies,  Blanc-manges,  and  Christening  Cakes. 
Balls,  Suppers,  Pic-Nic,  and  Wedding  Parties,   supplied  on  the  shortest 

notice. 


THE    IRISH    CISTERCIANS; 

PAST   AND    PRESENT. 


Second  Edition  is  in  preparation  for  the  Press,  and  wiU 
soon  be  ready. 


I  Ilustratei. 


Price  Is.  nett;    By  Post,  Is.  2d.  ^  V. 

152 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


THE  IRISH  TOURIST. 

Published  Monthly  during  the   Tourist   Season. 

Full   of   Interesting   and   Useful    Information,    and    Photo- 
graphic Illustrations. 

PRICE    ONE    PENNY. 


VISIT  IRELAND. 

A  Concise,  Descriptive,  and  Illustrated  Guide  to  Ireland. 


THE   BEST   GUIDE   EVER 


OFFERED   FOR 


6d. 


THE  IRISH  GOLFERS'  ANNUAL: 

CONTAINING  : 

Club  Directory,  and  Description  of  Principal  Links, 

Together  with  a  large  amount  of  Information  most 
useful  to  Golfers. 

PRICE    ONE    SHILLING. 


Tlie  F.  W.  GROSSLEY  PUBLISHING  CO.,  LTD., 

24a  Nassau  Street,  Dubi:.in. 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


GREAT  NORTHERNJAILWAY  CO.  (IRELAND). 

ROYAXi  MAZZ.  ROUTS 

liKTWKKN 

NORTH    OF    ZRZ:i.ilNB    &.    EirCI.A.ND    Via    KZNCSTO'Wir 

And  i:XPRZ:SS  service  via  north  "WAT^Js  (DVBX.IN) 

or  GRESSrORE  and  HOI.YHEA.D. 

Direct  service  of  Trains  and  .Steamers  with  every  comfort  and  cron- 
venienee.  Special  Messenger  in  charge  of  Luggage  between  London 
and  Kingstown. 

FASTEST  AND  MOST  DIRECT  SERVICE 

liKTWUK.V 

IRELAND  AND  SCOTLAND  Via  BELFAST,  and  MAIL  SERVICE  TWICE 
EVERY  EVENING,  Via  ARDROSSAN  and  Via  GREENOCK. 

Cheap  Fares  between  Dublin  and  other  Stations  with  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh 

An  Omnibus  runs  from  the  Great  Northern  Railway  Terminus  at 
Belfast  on  arrival  of  the  train  due  at  9.0  p.m.,  and  convej's  Passengers, 
with  their  personal  luggage,  for  the  Ardrossan  Mail  Steamer.  It  also 
conveys  Passengers  from  the  incoming  Steamers  leaving  Donegall  Quay 
at  7.10  a.m.  in  time  for  the  7.30  a.m.  train  from  Belfast  to  Dublin,  etc. 

Dining,  Luncheon  and  Breakfast  Cars  are  run  on  the  principal  trains 
between  Dublin  and  Belfast,  and  also  through  between  Belfast  and 
Kingstown  Pier,  thus  saving  all  transferring  at  Dublin. 

Tourists'  Tickets  are  issued  at  Dublin,  Londonderry,  Belfast, 

and  the  principal  Great  Northern  Stations  : 

To  WARRENPOINT,  for  Rostrevor,  Newcastle,  the  Mourne  Moun- 
tains, and  County  Down  Coast,  including  Hotel  Accommodation. 

„    GREENORE.  for  Carlingford  Lough. 

„  ENNISKILLEN  and  Bundoran,  for  Lough  Erne,  including  Hotel 
Accommodation. 

„  BUNCRANA,  Rosapenna,  Dunfanaghy,  for  the  Donegal  High- 
lands, including  Hotel  Accommodation. 

„    DROGHEDA,  for  the  Valley  of  the  Boyne. 

„    HOWTH,  for  Hill  of  Howth  and  Dublin  Bay. 

„    MALAHIDE,  including  Hotel  Accommodation. 

„    CONNEMARA  and  Killarnev. 

.,    PORTRUSH,  for  the  Giants'" Causeway.      ,.        - 

Circular  Tours  have  also  been  arranged,  emb|&cing  all  places 
of  most  interest  in  the  country,  and  giving  a  succession  of  picturesque 
scenery,  and  the  finest  shooting  and  fishing  in  Ireland. 

The  fares  are  low,  and  reductions  made  when  two  or  more  persons 
travel  together. 

Tourists  travelling  by  the  Great  Northern  Railway  will  find  their 
comfort  and  convenience  studied  in  every  respect. 

Passengers  landing  at  Londonderry  or  Queenstown  from  the  American 
Steamers  can  book  at  greatly  reduced  fares,  to  the  principal  Stations 
in  Ireland,  also  to  Scotland  and  England. 

To  obtain  the  Company's  Time  Tables,  Illustrated  Guides  and 
Programmes,  and  full  information  as  to  the  fares,  routes,  excursion 
arrangements,  etc.,  apply  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  Line.  Amiens 
Street  Terminus,  Dublin.  HENRY  PLEWS, 

Dublin,  1897.  Ge>eral  Manac.ek. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


MAY  ^  4  ?991l 


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