Mellifont Abbey was the first Cistercian Abbey in Ireland, known to the Cistercians in Ireland as the ‘Mother House’, a base from where the Cistercians expanded, adding more and more institutions (known as ‘daughter houses’) across Ireland. The name Mellifont comes from the Latin, ‘Fons Mellis’ meaning ‘Fount of Honey’.

The Cistercian Order was founded by St. Bernard of Clairvaux in Burgundy, Central France in 1098. St. Bernard believed that the other monastic orders had become dissolute and undisciplined, and he founded the Cistercians as an austere and hard-working order who focused on a life of prayer. St. Malachy of Armagh, the Irish Saint and friend of St. Bernard, founded Mellifont Abbey in 1142 with a group of Irish and French monks.


The Abbey was extremely successful from it’s earliest stages, and it developed rapidly. Monks from Mellifont were dispatched to found ‘daughter houses’ around Ireland, within just five years of the foundation of Mellifont in 1147 a daughter house had already been established at Bective in County Meath and within twenty years the Cistercians had establishments in Connacht, such as that founded at Boyle, County Roscommon in 1161. It is recorded that at least 21 abbeys were founded by monks from Mellifont.

The Cistercian community in Ireland faced a grave crisis following the Norman Invasions of Ireland in the late twelfth century. Irish established Cistercian institutions such as Mellifont became embroiled in a power-struggle with the Cistercian establishments that came from England following the invasion. The outcome of what became known as ‘The Conspiracy of Mellifont’ led to a dramatic reduction in the powers and number of monks allowed to Mellifont. Despite these restrictions, Mellifont remained one of the richest monastic institutions in Ireland due to it’s huge landholdings of the rich agricultural land of Meath and Louth.

It was probably due to this vast ownership of prime land that Mellifont was one of the first of the Irish monastic sites to be Dissolved in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Mellifont became the private fortified home of Sir Edward Moore, and it was here that the famous Treaty of Mellifont was signed in 1603 that ended the bloody Nine Years War. Later Mellifont played host to William of Orange, who established his headquarters at Mellifont during the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

Of the site itself there isn’t much of the original Abbey left standing today. However excavations have revealed the foundations of many of the buildings, so it is easy to get a good sense of the size and layout of this important Abbey. Mellifont became the standard format for all Cistercian Abbeys in Ireland, and many other monastic orders were influenced by the layout. The cloisters were positioned at the south, and were surrounded by a range of domestic and spiritual buildings, with a cruciform shaped church to the North. The site is certainly worth visiting for its famous Lavabo. This building is in the Romanesque style of architecture, and dates to the early thirteenth century. It is octagonal in shape and served as the ritual washroom, where the monks would wash their hands before entering the refectory for meals. Excavations revealed fragments of lead pipe that brought the water into the central fountain. The interior was decorated with delicate images of plants and birds. A number of fragments of the fine architectural features are on display in the visitor centre.

You’ll find Mellifont about 10km north-west of Drogheda, off the R168 (Drogheda-Collon Road). Guided tours are available from the Office of Public Works from the 30th May to the 28th August. Open daily from 10.00am – 6pm (please note that last entry is at 5pm). Prices are €3 for an adult, €2 for over-60’s, €1 for children/students. For more details please see their website here.

I hope you enjoy this blog, we're trying to cover as many sites as we can across Ireland. If anyone has any suggestions about sites you'd like us to cover please do leave us a comment. If you enjoy information and images of Irish heritage sites then do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ If you'd like to support us then please consider downloading an audioguide to one of Ireland's wonderful heritage sites. They are packed with original music and sound effects and are a great way of experiencing the story of Ireland. They only cost €1.99 and are fun whether you are at the site, or listening from the comfort of your own home. If you enjoy stories of the turbulent medieval period in Ireland try our guide to Viking and Medieval Dublin, visit us at www.abartaaudioguides.com for free previews and to download your free audioguide to the Rock of Dunamase or the free audioguide to the wonderful heritage town of Kells in County Meath

All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com

Within the golf course of Ballymacscanlan House Hotel are two iconic reminders of Co Louth’s ancient past. The large portal tomb (also known as a dolmen), is one of Ireland’s best examples of this type of tomb. It has two large portal stones, each measuring over 2 metres tall, and a back stone supporting a massive capstone that is estimated to weigh over 40 tonnes.

Local folkloric tradition suggests that you will enjoy good luck if you can throw a small pebble behind you and over your head if it lands on top of the capstone.This monument dates to the earlier part of the Neolithic period, and is around 5,000 years old. 

Just a short distance away is a great example of a wedge tomb. This is a later monument than the portal tomb, and was probably constructed towards the end of the Neolithic period or during the Early Bronze Age some time around 2,500 BC.

The wedge tomb at Proleek

Proleek Dolmen is positioned at co-ordinates: 54.035019, -6.364104. The best way to access the site is to park in the carpark of the Ballymacscanlan Hotel (just off the R173) and follow the signs along the path to the site, the walk takes around 10 minutes or so but do look out for low flying golfballs!

I really hope you enjoy our blog. If you'd like to discover more stories about Irish history, archaeology and culture and if you'd like to support us you can download audioguides from my website www.abartaheritage.ie, where we have 25 guides that tell the story of Irish heritage and the majority are absolutely free to download. 

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Do you have any suggestions for great sites to visit? I’d love to hear them, please do leave a comment below or you can contact me at info@abartaaudioguides.com

Monasterboice in County Louth is home to the most spectacular high crosses in Ireland. The name Monasterboice derives from Mainistir Bhuithe (Buithe’s Monastery), as a monastery was thought to have been founded here by St. Buithe in the 6th Century. Over time this monastery flourished and grew in both size and prominence. Archaeologists studying aerial photography of the area, identified three concentric enclosures surrounding the core of the site, with the outer enclosure having a diameter of at least 600m (1968ft) enclosing a massive 24 hectares. Today all that is visible is the very heart of the monastery, with a fine round tower and three high crosses, one of which is arguably the finest high cross in Ireland.

The Round Tower

Monasterboice is still used as a graveyard today, and there are good paths that lead the visitor through the site. As well as the early medieval high crosses and round tower, you can also see the remains of two small stone churches. These probably date to the late medieval period, and probably date to around the fifteenth century. Within one of the churches you can see a small bullaun stone. This stone with a circular hollow may have been used as a rudimentary holy water font during the early days of the monastery, or perhaps used as a large version of a mortar-and-pestle, maybe to grind herbs, ore for metallurgy, or pigments for manuscript illustration. 

The round tower is a fine example, and stands at 28m (approximately 92ft) high. The iconic Irish Round Towers are thought to have been primarily constructed as bell towers as they are known as ‘cloigh teach’ in Irish Gaelic which translates to ‘bell house’. They would have also been visible from miles around, and as such they would have acted like a signpost to weary pilgrims on the route to Monasterboice. The round tower here was said to have housed the monasteries library and other treasures, unfortunately though it is recorded as being burned in 1097.

B&W Image of one of the churches with the tall West Cross on the right

The path through the graveyard to the Round Tower

South Cross (Muiredach’s Cross)

The Eastern Face of the South Cross

The incredible South Cross is arguably the finest example of a high cross in Ireland. It probably dates to the early tenth century, as it is very similar to the West Cross at Clonmacnoise that was dated to c.904–916 AD. Like the Clonmacnoise example, the South Cross at Monasterboice also bears an inscription, asking for ‘a prayer for Muiredach’. It seems likely that this refers to Muiredach who died in 924 AD. He was the abbot of Monasterboice, and the vice-abbot of Armagh. He was also the chief steward of the powerful Southern Uí Néill dynasty, making him an incredibly important and influential figure in both religious and secular Ireland.

Depiction of The Last Judgement

The Western Face of the South Cross

My photographs cannot do the South Cross justice. It simply is one of the most important and visually stunning examples of early medieval sculpture in the world. The centrepiece of the crosshead on the eastern side is an amazing depiction of the Last Judgement. The largest figure in the centre is Christ with a phoenix representing the resurrection or perhaps the Holy Spirit, above him. Directly below you can see souls being weighed. To Jesus's right hand side (the left of the image) you can see the souls that have been saved, and nearest to Jesus you can see David playing his lyre. To the left hand side of Christ (on the right of the image) you can see the damned, the poor souls being driven into hell by a demon baring a trident.

The rest of the  cross is taken up with biblical depictions. For example in this image you can see Moses standing with a staff and drawing water forth from the rock. The crowd of people are the thirsty Israelites. The image is a visual representation of the story in Numbers 20:7–13. 

Moses (standing with staff) draws water from the rock

On the south facing side of the cross you can see this image of a snake eating its own tail while coiling around three human heads. Originally I thought that it could be a reference to the snake in the Garden of Eden, or perhaps some sort of warning of serpents dragging sinners to eternal damnation (to be fair the heads don’t look cheerful, and the poor chap in the middle looks like he was caught with a mouthful of crisps), however I was wrong. Thanks to the author of the excellent blog on Christianity in Early Medieval Ireland http://voxhiberionacum.wordpress.com I now know that the snake eating its own tail represents eternity and eternal life, and the heads are being lifted up towards God rather than plunging down into hell. It’s from John 3:14-15:

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

It’s a representation that can be found at a number of 9–10th century Irish high crosses, like the West Cross at Clonmacnoise for example. 

Depiction of Adam and Eve on the left (note the serpent coiled around the tree) and Cain murdering Abel on the right

Here's a guide to some of the imagery depicted on the eastern face of the cross:

The West Cross 

The Eastern Face of the West Cross

The Western Face of the West Cross

The West Cross is the tallest High Cross in Ireland, standing at a massive 6.5m tall. Thanks to its size, it also has the largest number of figure sculpture panels of any High Cross. Like the South Cross these are also beautifully carved with depictions representing biblical stories from both the Old and New Testaments. You can see a great guide to the depictions on the National Museum of Ireland’s website here. 

Close up of the Western Face of the West Cross

The North Cross

The North Cross

You can find the North Cross within a small fenced area at the very northern boundary of the site, (as you first enter the site turn right and follow the path keeping the wall on your right hand side). It is much plainer than the South and West Crosses, though it is still worth a look as it has some lovely carvings. Next to it you can see an interesting [and rare] sundial, that would have marked the passing of time for the monks of Monasterboice indicating the canonical hours of 9am, 12pm and 3pm. In this small fenced area you can also see some other architectural fragments from the site. 

The Sundial

We took a trip to Monasterboice on a beautiful crisp morning on the 11th January 2014 and found it to be a wonderfully rewarding place to visit. The site is well signposted off the M1, around 8km north-west of Drogheda in County Louth. After your visit I recommend a short 10min drive to Mellifont Abbey, another beautiful site situated very close by. While you’re in the area if you enjoyed the stunning early medieval high crosses why not take a short spin down to Kells in County Meath, where you can find more fantastic examples of early medieval high crosses. We have a FREE audioguide to Kells full of facts, stories, legends and history. To download your free MP3 please visit Abarta Heritage or to download a free audio-visual app for Apple or Android visit here https://www.guidigo.com/A6QzbS7ImVo

This is our first blogpost of 2014. We have so many more of Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites to share with you that I hope to up our output to one or two blogposts a week if possible. I’m planning on tweaking the blog a little so if you have any suggestions of key information you’d like me to include please do drop me a line to info@abartaaudioguides.com or feel free to leave a comment below. I’d really value your input.

As a new addition here is a table with some key information:

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Neil’s company Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+.

If you’d like to support us please consider downloading an audioguide from abartaheritage.ie: they are packed with great facts, information, stories and legends from Ireland’s iconic sites. They are designed to be fun and informative whether you are visiting the sites or from the comfort of your own home, so if you are looking to escape to the Court of Brian Boru the next time you are doing household chores, download one of our guides and let Abarta whisk you off to ancient Ireland!

All images © Neil Jackman/Abarta Heritage

Some Sources and Recommended Reading:

Edwards, N. 2002. The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland. (Routledge, London)

Hamlin, A. and Hughes, K. 1997. The Modern Traveller to the Early Irish Church. (Four Courts Press, Dublin)

Ó Carragáin, T. 2010. Churches in Early Medieval Ireland. (Yale, Singapore).

Ó Cróinín, D. (ed) 2005. A New History of Ireland, Prehistoric and Early Ireland (Oxford University Press, New York).

Carlingford in County Louth is a beautiful atmospheric town that still retains it's medieval character. Carlingford was founded at the beginning of the thirteenth century by Hugh de Lacy (the younger son of the Hugh de Lacy who constructed Trim Castle). He began by constructing a strong castle on an outcrop of rock that overlooked the Lough, and soon afterwards a settlement began to flourish in the shadow of the fortress. The name Carlingford has a number of possible origins, many of which appear to have a blend of the Gaelic Irish Cairlainn meaning bay of the hag, and the Norse Viking Fjord. Carlingford would have been an ideal location for a Viking Longphort or Overwinter Camp, but no evidence has been discovered so far to conclusively prove a Viking settlement.

The town flourished during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and many of the beautiful buildings listed here date to that period.  The town entered a steep decline however throughout the seventeenth century, a turbulent time in Irish history of war, famine and plague. The town was overshadowed by the near neighbours Dundalk and Newry which quickly developed into bustling urban centres, while Carlingford stagnated. However this decline served to protect the historic structures of Carlingford, as there was little development here in comparison to Dundalk, ensuring that today it is a wonderfully atmospheric place to visit. Here are some of the main features of the town (in no particular order).

 King John's Castle

The castle at Carlingford was established by De Lacy in around 1200 AD. It was named after King John who took the Castle in 1210. The castle is essentially a D shaped enclosure with a large curtain wall and projecting towers. It appears to have undergone regular alterations throughout the later medieval period, but by the later part of the sixteenth century it appears that the castle had already become derelict as it was described as being 'in a wretched condition'. The Office of Public Works began conservation works on the castle in the 1950's, and it is currently undergoing more conservation works so there is no access to the castle for the moment.

The Tholsel and Town Wall

The 'Tholsel' is the only surviving medieval gateway into Carlingford, and probably dates from the fifteenth century. Originally this would have been a three storey structure, but it has been modified in the nineteenth century and is now two storey with a modern slate roof. This gateway would have given access to the main street at the Eastern end of the town, with a levy being paid at the gateway before any goods could enter the town. There is very little of the medieval town walls left today, you can find a short section just south east of the Tholsel, and the other is at Back Lane at the north-west end of Carlingford.

Holy Trinity Church

The church of the Holy Trinity is an early nineteenth century Church of Ireland place of worship that has many clues of medieval structures that may have originally been on the site. The pointed doorway on the south wall appears to be from the seventeenth century or perhaps slightly earlier, and the church is attached to a tall three storey crenellated tower that may originally date back to the fifteenth or sixteenth century. The eighteenth and nineteenth century renovations makes the origins of this site a little unclear, but it is still well worth dropping in as the Church was leased to the Carlingford Lough Heritage Trust and is now a visitor centre.

Carlingford Priory

The remains of this Dominican Friary date back to the early fourteenth century. The Dominicans were invited to establish a foundation in Carlingford by the powerful Richard de Burgo. The Friary followed the usual convention of a Dominican establishment, with a cloister, a church, dormitories, a refectory and kitchen and a small mill that would have operated on the stream that runs alongside the site. Today you can still see the nave and chancel church with a fine tower.
The Friary reflects the turbulent times during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century, when raids on such monastic sites were common. The buildings were fortified and battlements were added to make the site more defensive, including a machicolation above the entrance.
The site was dissolved during Henry VIII's reign in 1540, but Dominicans returned to the site in the late seventeenth century.
You can access the interior of the site and explore the nave and chancel church, and the partial remains of the residence block.

The Mint

The Mint is located on the main street a short walk from the Tholsel Gate. It is a fortified townhouse that dates to the fifteenth – sixteenth century.
The name 'The Mint' presumably derives from a 1467 charter that granted Carlingford permission to strike its own coins, however it is more likely that this structure is simply the well built and defended townhouse of one of Carlingford's prosperous merchants during the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century.

One of the great features of this building is the beautfully decorated limestone windows. Each one bears a different design, and perhaps shows a harkening back to pre-Norman Romanesque design that may have been fashionable at this time.

Unfortunately it appears that you cannot access the interior of The Mint.

Taffe's Castle

Taffe's Castle is another good example of a fortified medieval Irish townhouse. As it is positioned close to the harbour front it was probably the home of a wealthy merchant, and is likely to have also served as a well protected warehouse for their goods. The usual layout of a fortified townhouse from this period is to have all the public business conducted on the bottom and lower floors, and the upper floors as the residence. The name is likely to derive from the powerful Taafe Family, who became Earls of Carlingford in the middle of the seventeenth century.

Unfortunately it appears that there is no way to access the interior of Taffe's Castle.

 ________________________________

This is just a very brief overview of a wonderful historic town. Carlingford is certainly worth a trip to enjoy the atmospheric medieval streets and beautiful scenery. Nearby you can visit a number of sensational heritage sites, particularly the fantastic Castleroache.

I hope you enjoy this blog, we're trying to cover as many sites as we can across Ireland. If anyone has any suggestions about sites you'd like us to cover please do leave us a comment. If you enjoy information and images of Irish heritage sites then do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ If you'd like to support us then please consider downloading an audioguide to one of Ireland's wonderful heritage sites. They are packed with original music and sound effects and are a great way of experiencing the story of Ireland. They only cost €1.99 and are fun whether you are at the site or listening from the comfort of your own home. Our latest guide is to Viking and Medieval Dublin, visit us at www.abartaaudioguides.com for free previews and to download your free audioguide to the Rock of Dunamase

All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com 

Like The Rock of Dunamase, Castleroache is positioned high on a rock outcrop that towers over the surrounding landscape. Castleroache is possibly the finest example of Ireland's mid-thirteenth century castles, it is thought to have been constructed by Lady Rohesia de Verdun in 1236 to serve as a bastion of defence for the Anglo-Norman colony in Louth against the Gaelic tribes of Ulster. Lady Rohesia was a formidable woman, and is said to have thrown the castle's architect through one of the tower windows so he could never reveal the castles secrets. 

The castle is nearly triangular in shape with a projecting tower at the north-east angle. It is protected on three sides by the precipitous slope that surrounds it, with the entrance on the eastern side protected by a deep rock-cut ditch. A wooden drawbridge would have led to the interior of the castle through the two massive D-shaped towers. The drawbridge may once have had additional protection from outworks or a barbican gate but no clear above-ground remains of that can be seen today. 

These towers are rounded at the front in the defensive style of the time with a number of arrow loops at varied levels to allow the archers defending the gateway to loose murderous volleys on the attacking enemy. The towers also  have four stories at the rear that would have provided accommodation and living space for the garrison of Castleroache. 

As you can see in the images of the eastern entrance side of the castle, there are a number of rectangular cavities regularly spaced along the wall near the top (the image above gives the best angle to see them). These are 'put-log' holes, and are evidence that once wooden battlements or hoardings, once hung over the side of the castle walls, similar to those that once surrounded the mighty Keep of Trim Castle, in Co. Meath. From these wooden hoardings, defenders would have been able to fire arrows and throw stones down onto anyone attacking the walls, adding to its already formidable defences.

Area of Great Hall

However, like Dublin Castle and Kilkenny Castle, Castleroache seems to have been a keepless castle, so there was no central defensive tower to retreat to had the walls been breached. This appears to have become the defensive fashion of the mid-thirteenth century, and instead of a keep there would have been a large great hall. In the case of Castleroache, the great hall was located on the southern side of the castle (to the left as you enter through the towers).

This castle still strongly exudes a feeling of power and dominance over the landscape today. It has to be one of the most impressive heritage sites I have visited in Ireland, and it is one of those sites that is so massive, so imposing and so breathtaking that pictures cannot do it justice – it is one you must experience for yourself to gain a true impression of its size and grandeur.

To find Castleroache from Dublin, head north on the M1 and exit at Junction 17. Take the first exit off the roundabout following signs for the N53/Castleblaney, continue out on this road until you see a right-hand turn signed for Castleroache and Forkhill, take this turn and follow the road, the site will be on your right hand side up a laneway. Park on road, and please be aware that the site is on farmland, please do not block any gateways and please ensure all gates are closed behind you. Simply walk up the slope through the field to access the castle, there is an interpretation panel on your right hand side when you enter through the gateway.

I hope you enjoy this blog, we're trying to cover as many sites as we can across Ireland. If anyone has any suggestions about sites you'd like us to cover please do leave us a comment. If you enjoy information and images of Irish heritage sites then do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ If you'd like to support us then please consider downloading an audioguide to one of Ireland's wonderful heritage sites. They are packed with original music and sound effects and are a great way of experiencing the story of Ireland. They only cost €1.99 and are fun whether you are at the site, or listening from the comfort of your own home. If you enjoy stories of the turbulent medieval period in Ireland try our guide to Viking and Medieval Dublin, visit us at www.abartaaudioguides.com for free previews and to download your free audioguide to the Rock of Dunamase  or the free audioguide to the wonderful heritage town of Kells in County Meath
All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com