HOLYCROSS ABBEY

The village of Holycross is home to a majestic Benedictine abbey built by the King of Munster, Donal Mòr O'Brien in 1182, then taken over by the Cistercians in the 15th century. The dissolution of the monasteries, wanted by Henry VIII, unfortunately also affects Holycross Abbey in 1536. Still occupied by monks not long ago, Holy Cross Abbey was for a long time one of the main places of pilgrimage in the country, because it holds a precious relic, a fragment of the True Cross given by the Queen of England Isabella of Angouleme around 1233.