Abbeys monasteries and convents Leinster

Abbey founded in 1225 by Dominican monks, his official name is Abbey of The Most Holy Trinity, but she took the nickname Black Abbey, the black abbey, because of the color of his monks' dress. After the monasteries were dissolved by Henry VIII of England (between 1538 and 1541), Black Abbey was turned into a court. Left abandoned after the passage of Cromwell in 1650, it was restored in the nineteenth century. The interest of the architecture is limited, apart from a superb arched ceiling of shining wood and two beautiful stained glass windows.

Mellifont Abbey's old-fashioned austerity is not particularly palpable when entering the first Cistercian abbey founded in Ireland: we are so far away from the Cistercian morals of Saint Bernard and Saint Malachy - founders of the abbey - in the heart of this vallon surrounded by birds' songs, miles away from the rumors of the world.

In 1142 Saint Malachy founded Mellifont Abbey with the help of French monks sent by Saint Bernard, abbot of the Cistercian Monastery of Clairvaux. Several other Cistercian abbeys were then established in Ireland. It is difficult today to imagine the grandeur and splendor of Mellifont Abbey whose architecture inspired the continent's abbeys. There are four parts of the "washbasin" (tower of the thirteenth century where monks can toiled) and most of the capitular room whose arcades, invaded by vegetation, spread a beautiful and mysterious light green glow. In front of the washbasin, five arches of the cloistered courtyard recall the monacal demoralization. But these architectural remains cannot transcribe the influence of the monastery until the fifteenth century. The abbey was abandoned when monasteries were dissolved by Henry VIII. It was closed in 1539.

Today, the Abbey has transformed some of its rooms into guest rooms, and operates through its farm and garden (Mellifont Abbey Gardens), both of which are visited.

Tea-room on site. The path slowly slides like to open on a valley. But the descent is lined with a long green carpet, where hundreds of sheep graze and bleat. In the distance, surrounded by a rempart of trees, the lavishly austère ruins of Tintern Abbey, Cistercian Abbey founded around 1200 and christened the name of the Town of Tintern in Wales, are profile. Open-sky arcade, ringed flower of iron, gouffre gouffre of the nave, tower that makes its arm mutilated towards the sky…

Cistercian monastery founded in 1210, one of the largest in Ireland. The central tower and adjacent buildings were added in the th century. Next to the abbey is the castle of Dunbrody and its labyrinth (adult 4 €, child 2 €).