The most beautiful religious buildings Ireland

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.

Without doubt, it is a small wonder; considered the oldest Romanesque church in Ireland still standing (1127-1134), built by Cormac maccarthy, prince bishop of Cashel. The chapel of the chapel is populated with heads and mouth of animals, in a style extremely close to that of Dysert O 'Dea Castle, in the county of Clare (the same artists have worked there?).

The frescoes over 800 years old in the choir, the oldest of its kind in Ireland, are the subject of careful restoration work. You will certainly distinguish some remains of colors, very expensive at the time, including the clear blue that comes from Venice. The pillars are composed of geometrical patterns entirely typical of the Irish Romanesque and without a really apparent order: lodges, stars, broken lines… Facing the choir, a magnificent sculpted tomb may be the tomb of Cormac himself. Take a closer look: delicate ornaments representing interlaced animals and snakes would be Viking style.

Along a river, the mass ruins of the Franciscan monastery of Quin are well preserved, including the square tower. If one considers the important area of the church and the thickness of its walls, this abbey appears to have more served as a fortress than a place of worship: It was built on the foundations of a strong castle at the beginning of the th century. Despite many centuries of persecution, monks lived here until the 1820 th century, the last of them, Father Hogan, was buried in.

It was in Dysart O'Dea that Saint Behind founded a monastic site in the th century. The church and the cross that can be seen nowadays, however, date back to the th or th centuries. Dysert O'Dea was also the site of a major battle in 1318 when O'Brien, Rois kings, took Over Clare de Bunratty, thus preventing the Conquest of Clare by Anglo-Norman.

In the field - which multiply multiply - stands the sobre cross of Dysart O'Dea. On the main face, a bishop holding his lacrosse is surmounted by a very special crucifixion: the face of Christ is perfectly circular, without any representation of hair; it is also dressed with a kind of long tunic tunicate from size; arms cross a straight line on the cross bar of the cross. On the other side, a series of geometric motifs and web, of which, at the bottom, some sort of variation on the relatively common diamond figure. The entire presence of the Church is concentrated in the portal, with the upper bow curved according to a @ face alignment. Beside the ruins of a large round tower.

Ruins of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1154 by monks of Mellifont Abbey (Mellifont Abbey being the first Cistercian abbey to be founded in Ireland in the County of Louth).

This church of the th century would have been built on a church site founded by Saint Patrick.

On the heights of New Ross, the ruins of a beautiful Anglican-style Anglican church built between 1210 and 1220, under the reign of Guillaume le Maréchal. One of the oldest and largest medieval churches in Ireland.

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 €).

This is the exact place where the Virgin Mary was born on the afternoon of August 21, 1879 with Saint Joseph and Saint John the evangelist.

This abbey was founded in the th century by King Cathal O'Conor. It is the only abbey in Ireland founded by a king and is still active.

In the very advanced ruins of the abbey and in the middle of the graves, two altars still carry enigmatic sculptures. On the first, one can see a pietà surrounded by a woman (Marie-Madeleine?) and a man raising the forearm, palms facing us (receiving or showing the stigma).

On the other altar, a series of characters, on the left, perhaps three Christ King. One of them, the open cape on the wound of the right flank (or the Three Mages and Christ King). .

Along the Lough Conn, in a picturesque landscape, you will find the ruins of this Augustinian abbey built in the twelfth century on the site of a church of the century.

9 km from Ballina, on the road to Killala. If the quest for the ruins comes to an obsession, the abbey of Moyne is open to you. To access it, it is necessary to cross the courtyard of a farm and then a field. After a slalom between the cows, we admire the situation at the seaside of this important abbey of the th century, built by the Franciscan with a gray and austere stone…

6,5 km from Ballina, on the road to Killala. On the edge of the Killala Bay estuary, the beautiful subtropical ruins of this th century Franciscan monastery have a few curiosities. In addition to its perfect conservation, the stylish porch is an elegant design. Inside the church, we will notice two angels to the instruments of Passion and a curious monk angel that seems to ring a bell, pulling on a rope that is no other than the tip of a arcade.

On the Bords River, overlooking Donegal Bay, ruins of a Franciscan abbey erected in 1474.

To get to Clonfert from Galway, take the N 6 towards Dublin. Clonfert is indicated in the vicinity of Ballinasloe (60 km from Galway). 563 th century cathedral, which is said to be built on the site of a monastery founded by St. Brendan in. It must be recognized that his porch deserves all the detours and returns to observe it at length. Undoubtedly, this is the most beautiful portal in Ireland. Not that it is monumental, on the contrary, it is its intimate character that keeps the attention. Its pillars, of all human proportions, are symmetrically sculpted with different motifs (web, escutcheons, crossed lines), as well as its arches (gueules wolves, or balls decorated with floral motifs). The most surprising of these is the triangular contour of five heads in niches surmounted, within this triangular form, of faces which arise in the middle of fifteen triangles (the geometric figure in the geometrical figure). There is an example of unique decoration in the Romanesque art.

This th century Dominican abbey in ruins deserves a small hook, at least for the surrounding landscape. It is surrounded by the extension of a tiny coiled sea arm that looks like a river lined with algae…

The only Trinitarien monastery in Ireland, it was founded in 1230. 

The Franciscan Abbey was founded in 1464 by Thomas FitzMorris, seventh Earl of Kildare. The ruins, lost in the middle of the golf course at Adare Manoir, are no longer known.

Like many Catholic churches, St Brigid's Cathedral was rebuilt, rebuilt, destroyed and rebuilt and served as a stable at Cromwell Horses… Recently renovated, she is always standing and has some attractions for architectural lovers. The round tower is the highest That tower in Ireland, but you need to be in shape to climb the wooden ladders. Very nice view of the top of the tower, whose normally pointed top was destroyed by lightning.

In the distance, the ruins of Hore Abbey, the last Cistercian Abbey in Ireland, was founded by the Archbishop of Cashel in 1272. A small path from the Rock of Cashel allows you to go directly.

Abbey in the Celtic brothers'plan founded for the Dominican brothers in 1243 by Archbishop David MacKelly, whose ruins now lie in the city centre.

This chapel is considered the smallest chapel in Ireland and the smaller second in the world!

From Carrick-on-Suir, take the R 697 north for about six kilometers, turn onto Scrogh Bridge and drive for about two kilometers. Park in front of the church and the crosses are in a walled cemetery on the other side of a field. Two crosses, the North Cross (3.13m) and the South Cross (3.90m), found on the monastic site of Kilclispeen, await you there. These are two of Ireland's oldest ringed crosses (^8th and ^9th centuries), made of sandstone and decorated with Celtic symbols. The northern cross features a scene of David and Goliath.

Impressive ruins of a church built at the end of the xiiith century on the site of a former monastery. The Ogham stone, set out in the choir, suggests the presence of a place of worship dating from the Celtic era, around the third or fourth century.

On a hill southeast of downtown, stands a beautiful Catholic cathedral, built between 1859 and 1892, and its 76-metre high spire. The façade is decorated with numerous statues of saints and bishops. The interior of this impressive grey limestone building is dominated by an inverted hull structure.

Dedicated to the patron saint of Kinsale, it is a remarkable church built in the th century, making it one of the oldest in Ireland. It was slightly reworked in the th century and surrounded by an old cemetery. The portal surmounted by a sculpture, now protected, is of a completely elegant nature.