Boyle Abbey is the most important Cistercian Abbey in the west of Ireland, and dates from 12/13th Century. Boyle is the 'daughter house' of Mellifont Abbey, the first Cistercian Abbey to be founded in Ireland. 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. 

The cloister area

The first monks arrived at Boyle in 1161, the powerful Lords of Moylurg, the Mac Diarmata (the MacDermotts) granted the lands to the Cistercians and became patrons of the Abbey.

In the nave looking towards the choir

Like all other Cistercian monasteries, Boyle Abbey was centred around a rectangular shaped cloister. The cloister had a covered walkway running around it known as a cloister arcade, but unfortunately nothing remains today of this feature as it was thought to have been destroyed in the Abbey's later history. A large cruciform shaped church was constructed on the northern side of the cloisters. The church is designed in typical Burgundian style with a pointed barrel vault and choir arch. An interesting feature of the church can be seen in the Nave, where you can see distinct differences in the design of the arches on the north side (pointed) and the south side (rounded), also by looking at the capitals on top of the columns that form the arches you can see some wonderful examples of medieval sculpture. These sculptures and designs are thought to have been the work of the Ballintubber Master, who copied some of the late-Romanesque design and decorated the columns with floral motifs, birds, beasts, and human figures. The picture below is one of my favourite depictions from Boyle Abbey, showing a poor dog who appears to be having a bad day of it. He is being bitten on his nose and his backside simultaneously by two other dogs. The poor fella has his tongue lolling out with the sheer bother of it all. 

Boyle Abbey was raided by the Norman Lord William de Burgh in 1202. It was recorded that he spent three days thoroughly ransacking the Abbey and its lands. The Annals of Loch Cé record that 'no structure in the monastery was left without breaking and burning...no part of the buildings of the entire monastery was allowed to the monks and brothers'.  
It was raided again in 1235 when Richard de Burgh launched his invasion of Connacht, and by the fifteenth century the importance of Boyle Abbey had began to wane.

The Abbey was one of the last to be dissolved during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII, it survived the reformation for over forty years until 1584 when the last abbot of Boyle, Glaisne O'Culleanain was executed in Dublin for refusing to renounce his loyalty to Rome. 

Boyle Abbey was then leased to William Usher in 1589, and shortly afterwards it was used as a military barracks by Elizabethan soldiers. Much alterations and damage to the abbey happened at this time, especially to the cloister area where the arcade was demolished. In 1603 it was given to Sir John King and it remained in his family until 1892. It continued to be used as a barracks until the end of the eighteenth century. But despite its long occupation as a military base, the Abbey is still a wonderful example of a Cistercian monastery and is well worth a visit.

The site couldn't be easier to find, simply head to Boyle in County Roscommon and the Abbey is well signposted. It is now under the auspices of the Office of Public Works, and you can enjoy an excellent guided tour that takes you through the fafascinating history of the Abbey. Entry costs €3 per adult, €2 per senior citizen (over 60 years), €1 for a child/student and a family ticket costs €8. For more information and opening times see http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/West/BoyleAbbey/ 

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All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com 

In the early 13th century, the Gaelic Kingdom of Connacht was already weakened by a series of civil wars among the O’Conors, who were its native provincial overkings. In 1235 an Anglo-Norman noble, Richard de Burgo, invaded Connacht with an army of 500 highly trained and well equipped knights and all their foot soldiers and camp followers. The war was relatively short and certainly bloody. Immediately, the conquerers began to build castles and walled towns, as they had done in the south and east of the country, however parts of the west still offered strong resistance to the Anglo-Normans and held out. It was 1262 before the site of Roscommon Castle was chosen and works began in 1269, the site was chosen as it was formerly on the shores of Lough Nen, a large shallow lake that has since disappeared due to hydrological changes over the centuries. The O’Conors had a crannóg on the lake, and by constructing the castle in the heartland of the O’Conor Kingdom, the Anglo-Normans sought to send out a message about who was now the main power in Connacht.

The castle was constructed on the orders of the powerful King Edward I of England, he was a successful military minded King, and he used strategically constructed castles to dominate territories and had used this technique to successfully subdue the Welsh. Roscommon Castle is constructed in a very similar style to those great fortresses in Wales like Harlech, Caernarfon and Conwy.



Roscommon Castle encloses an area of about 45m by 50m and originally would have had a large gateway in the middle of the eastern wall flanked by two large D shaped towers, similar to the entrance to Castleroache in County Louth. The large stone walls also had projecting D shaped towers at each of the four corners, and another smaller gateway led to the west. It is through this gateway that you enter the site today, and as you pass through it you can still see defensive features like murder holes (openings in the ceiling through which the defenders would have poured boiling fat or oil, or threw down large rocks or quicklime to maim and blind the attackers). The castle would have also been surrounded by a moat and possibly by a timber palisade fence giving a strong outer defence.

Like the castle at nearby Rindoon, Roscommon Castle also found itself repeatedly under attack and siege by the O’Conors and their Gaelic allies. It appears that the O’Conors succeeded in taking the castle by around 1340 and they held it for nearly two hundred years. In 1569 the castle was captured by the Tudor Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney. The castle was granted to Sir Nicholas Malby, who spent a vast sum in modernizing and remodelling parts of the castle to make it more of a fashionable Renaissance dwelling rather than a bleak medieval fortress. However Malby also made sure that the defensive features of the castle were well maintained and that was put to the test during the Nine Years War when the castle found itself under siege by Hugh O’Donnell in 1596 and 1599. The castle saw action during the Confederate Wars of the 1640‘s, until Oliver Cromwell’s forces seized Roscommon Castle in 1652 and destroyed the fortifications. A fire in 1690 did massive amounts of damage to the castle and it was left to fall into disrepair through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Roscommon Castle today is free to enter and is a great site to explore. Situated in the grounds of Loughnaneane Park and Playground, it’s very accessible site and fun for children. The castle is down a small lane off Castle Street in Roscommon Town. It is signposted, but the lane is pretty small so easy to miss (we drove straight past it the first time). If you have time I do recommend a visit to Rindoon Deserted Medieval Town as well, it's an amazing site on a nice day. You'll find it between Roscommon and Athlone off the N61, here's our blog article about it http://timetravelireland.blogspot.ie/2013/06/rindoon-deserted-medieval-town-county.html

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Strategically positioned on a peninsular that thrusts out like a finger into Lough Ree, Rindoon is one of Ireland's best preserved deserted medieval towns. The castle at Rindoon is thought to date to 1227 and was constructed by Geoffrey de Marisco. It appears that Geoffrey de Marisco was a villain on a Game of Thrones level of nastiness. He was Justiciar of Ireland between 1215 and 1228, and took full advantage of the young King Henry III by being as corrupt in his dealings in Ireland as possible. He amassed huge swathes of land and a fortune by seizing goods, lands and taxes in the Kings name and then keeping the rewards for himself. He was eventually dismissed from office in 1228. He was even excommunicated for misappropriating funds from the Church (the money was just resting in ye olde account apparently).

However he is most noted for a truly despicable event in 1234. He was a long time friend of William Marshall and his brother Richard, and when William died childless, Richard Marshall was the rightful heir to the vast lands owned by his brother. Richard was denied these lands and exiled, falsely accused of treason and associating with the Kings enemies in France by the Kings councillors in an attempt to amalgamate the huge Marshall inheritance into the Royal coffers. The councillors pressured King Henry III into ordering Geoffrey de Marisco to capture Richard Marshall, and if he succeeded de Marisco would be rewarded with all of the Marshall lands in Ireland.

Marshall and a small number of loyal men were surrounded on the Curragh of Kildare by Walter de Lacey, Lord of Meath, Hugh de Lacey, Earl of Ulster, Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Offaly and a large number of knights and soldiers. De Marisco is said to have advised his old friend Marshall not to surrender and to fight, declaring that he would support him, however as soon as the battle started de Marisco withdrew his men, telling Marshall that he had just remembered that he was newly married to Hugh de Lacey’s sister and so could not possibly fight his brother-in-law. Despite this treachery, Marshall bravely fought on, and is said to have slaughtered six of the knights in a battle that raged for over ten hours. He fought so furiously that the others feared to approach him. They had their foot soldiers maim Marshall’s horse with lances and halberds, in its agony the horse threw Marshall at the feet of his foes, one of his enemies lifted the backplate of his armour and stabbed him in the back. Despite his grevious wounds Marshall survived, until the medical treatment he received (having his wounds probed with a red hot poker) finished him off, and the noble knight died.

De Marisco and his son William were vilified for their treachery, and were not even rewarded for their part in Marshall’s fall, as the King declared that de Marisco was in league with Marshall. The de Mariscos were declared outlaws and became pirates on the Irish sea, regularly raiding shipping to Drogheda and Dublin.

The castle that de Marisco constructed at Rindoon was one of the most important Norman castles in Connacht, and after de Marisco forfeited his lands when he was declared outlaw, the castle became a Royal possession. The castle was in the hands of a 'constable' who was responsible for its maintenence and defence, and records from the time show that money was regularly spent on the castle to bolster its defences and maintain it.

The battered slope added to the walls of the castle

The entrance into the castle

The castle is surrounded by a deep ditch and bank, and the base of the walls are clearly battered to provide protection against undermining and to deflect stones dropped from the battlements above into the front ranks of an attacking army. 
The gateway is well defended with grooves showing where a portcullis would have barred the way, and murder-holes strategically positioned above so the defenders could pour boiling fats and oil down on top of the attackers. 

Unfortunately the interior of the castle is in a dangerous state so access is currently restricted, but hopefully it will be opened to the public soon.

The defences of the castle held strong when the town was raided and sacked by Feilimid Ó Conchobhair in 1236, as he was unable to seize the castle. After Feilimid became King the following year in 1237, a period of peace and prosperity came to Rindoon, however it was not to last. Feilimid's son and heir Aed was far more warlike than his father, and successfully sacked Rindoon twice in 1270, in 1271 and 1272. The raid in 1272 was said to have been so bad that Rindoon was described as being 'levelled'. 

Rindoon Castle was repaired by Geoffrey de Geneville the Justiciar and rich Norman Lord who had inherited Trim Castle in County Meath through marriage. This work was continued by his successor Richard d'Ufford, who spent a fortune repairing the beleaguered town. Rindoon was finally effectively destroyed Ruaidrí Ó Conchobhair captured and burnt the town and seized the castle, while the Anglo-Normans in Ireland were distracted during the invasion of Edward Bruce. There were further small attempts to reconstruct the town, but it was positioned in increasingly hostile territory, and the resurgent Gaelic tribes repeatedly raided the town before it was finally abandoned. Some of the features of the site appear to date to the sixteenth and seventeenth century so it is apparent that activity, albeit on a much more muted scale, continued sporadically at Rindoon.

The remains of a windmill are also visible at Rindoon. The earliest mention of a windmill at Rindoon was recorded in 1273 when 45 shillings was paid to Richard Le Charpentier for steel to construct the mill. A mill also appears in the 1636 maps.

These remains are likely to date to that first half of the seventeenth century. The remains are of a round stone tower three stories tall (probably still at its original height). The tower is set on top of a low mound and surrounded by a ditch, it is thought the mound may well be the remains of the site of the original medieval mill. 

The church at Rindoon

The church appears to be of thirteenth century date. It is a typical nave and chancel church and is positioned on a height overlooking the beautiful Lough Ree. There are a number of other medieval features to discover at Rindoon, like the stone walls that once enclosed the town, and you can still make out the plots where houses and field systems give tantalizing glimpses of everyday medieval life

The defensive walls that surround the town

Rindoon is a fantastic site to visit, and as well as the intriguing history and archaeology, it makes for a lovely walk. It is similar in feeling to the other deserted medieval town I visited in March, at Newtown Jerpoint in Co. Kilkenny. At both of these sites you get this real atmospheric feeling that the medieval past is only covered by a thin veil, that the quiet fields covered with sheep were once vibrant markets, streets and houses thronged with people going about their daily lives. A site well worth a visit!

If you would like to learn more about this incredible place I strongly recommend taking a look at The Rindoon Conservation Plan by the Heritage Council (opens as a PDF). Rindoon is roughly half way between Roscommon Town and Athlone on the N61 and it is well signposted from the road (sat nav co-ordinates N53.54389°  W008.00299°), there is a small area to park your car. The main part of the site is about a 15min walk through fields, the fields are full of livestock (cattle and sheep) so do remember to bring appropriate footwear and please close all gates behind you. 

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

A cow making good use of one of the direction stakes for a good scratch!