Old Mellifont Abbey

February day trip around Drogheda, Part II.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Yesterday, I told you about a brief visit to the town of Drogheda. After I had a coffee to warm up, I decided that it was worth driving the 10 km through the countryside to the Old Mellifont Abbey Ruins. The weather was starting to look more promising, and the fog was starting to burn off the hilltops.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

I was hopeful that the fog would be at the Abbey Ruins still, to make for some interesting photographs. Lucky for me, when I arrived, the visitor center (formerly Ireland’s first youth hostel) was closed, there was only one small family about, and we had the place pretty much to ourselves because of the cold and poor weather. As the day warmed up though – you can see in the pictures that the fog turned to sun and changed the mood entirely.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey was founded in 1142 by St. Malachy and was one of the first Cistercian Monasteries in Ireland. It sits on the river Mattock, which runs cheerfully bubbling through the countryside of green rolling hills. By 1170, the abbey had become an example for other abbeys built in Ireland and France architecturally. It was populated by 100 monks and 300 lay persons at the height of its influence. In 1539, it was closed (Henry the VIII) and taken over becoming a fortified house (the entry gate dating to the 15th century below).

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

In 1690, William of Orange used the fortified house at Mellifont Abbey as his headquarters during the Battle of the Boyne. Sadly, not long after the house went into ruins. There are only a few portions that are visible. You can walk about and see the knee high wall remnants for most of the site. The few higher walls that remain are an octagonal shaped section that dates back to the 13th century called the Lavabo. This is where the monks washed their hands before eating.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Reverse side Lavobo and some of the details like the arches, stonework, and windows:

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

The other sections of interest are the 14th century Chapter house (with Romanesque arches and tiled floor) from about 1220:

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

and the arched wine cellar (upper right hand corner of the picture below):

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

As well as the stone walkway to keep one dry going between buildings:

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Up the hill there’s the walled ruins of a small chapel (center of the picture directly below) which you can find an old celtic cross gravestone.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

You can see a map of the general layout of the abbey pre -becoming ruins here:

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Old Mellifont Abbey dating to the 11th Century AD.

Overall the site is worth a visit just to see the layout, and because it is “free” to visit (not sure about the visitor center). I found out later that the visitor center has a good display of the architectural ruins and artifacts that have been uncovered in the area. I may need to go back to check this out. Otherwise, from here I headed back in time – to the Monasterboice Abbey Ruins – which dated to the viking times (1000 years younger) and was closed with the start of the Mellifont Abbey. More on that tomorrow.

For now, feel free to see more pictures from Mellifont Abbey in my flickr photostream.

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St. Catherine’s Park, Lucan

St . Catherine's Park, Lucan, Ireland.  #lucan #liffeyriver #walk #spring #violet #nature

In April, Aoife and I decided it was the perfect night for a walk. After some discussion about maybe going to Phoenix Park, but I got it in my head that I wanted to go someplace else, because Phoenix Park is so busy and there’s lots of traffic.

St. Catherine's Park near Lucan Ireland

The solution was to come to mind when I was searching for “local” parks. On Google, I learned about the 600,000 Euro investment being made in St. Catherine’s Park (which runs from Lucan to Leixlip) this summer to upgrade the facilities, and decided it might be someplace worth visiting.

St. Catherine's Park near Lucan Ireland

St. Catherine's Park near Lucan Ireland

St. Catherine's Park near Lucan Ireland

Built around an old church and St. Catherine’s Abbey ruins, the park features open walking spaces, a woodland walk, a river walk, some farm animals behind a gate, plenty of open fields (including cricket grounds) and a huge brand new play area for the kids.

St. Catherine's Park near Lucan Ireland

St. Catherine's Park near Lucan Ireland

There is also an amazing array of fields of flowers – in early spring – it was yellow with daffodils and red with tulips. Once those had gone, the fields were violet… with blooming onions and pale lavender flowers. There’s also a section along the river with lots and lots of fragrant natural garlic which was in full white bloom.

St. Catherine's Park near Lucan Ireland

St. Catherine's Park near Lucan Ireland

Add in the few fruit trees, lack of traffic, a decent length walk from Maynooth to Lucan, and the easy access – well, I think I’ll be going back soon to see more than just the River walk and the walk around the open fields.

St. catherine's Park, Lucan

<St. Catherine's Park near Lucan.

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