explore

Emo Court House

Emo Court, located near the village of Emo in County Laois, Ireland is a grand home built in the Georgian period. It and the grounds are currently run and managed by the OPW and have free entry. There’s a lovely little cafe on site (we stopped here for lunch) and a little stroll while on the way back from visiting County Cork.

Emo Court, Co. Laois

The same designer of the Customs House in Dublin, Emo Court house was designed by the architect James Gandon in 1790 for John Dawson, the first Earl of Portarlington. Started in the 1790’s, construction on the home was paused when the first Earl died. From there, due to money issues, construction was started and stopped several times before the building was completed in the 1860s. The house was in it’s prime between 1860 – 1900, but when World War I started in in 1914, and in 1918 the Easter Rising and subsequent War of Irish Independence, the Earls of Portarlington vacated the premises to return to England.

The house remained closed up and unoccupied until it was sold in 1920 to the Irish Land Commission. At the time the estate (home and grounds) which extended over nearly 20 square miles, had the land parceled out to to local farmers but the house remained empty. Finally in the 1930’s, the Jesuits bought the house, a portion of the land and opened a religious training school on the site, which lasted until 1969. Major Cholmeley Harrison then bought the property in 1969, restored the house and lived in it as his private residence before turning it over to the Irish Office of Public Works (OPW) in 1994. The home and grounds continue to be managed by the OPW today, and entry is free.

@phoenixrosedsgn Emo Court House and grounds,Co. Laois. #grandhome #georgian #Ireland #tourism #staycation #explore #opw #free ♬ I Wanna Be Rich – Chereh Sputswe

New Life goals: Having a house (and maid?) on fantastic manicured lands like this….Ha!

Emo Court, Co. Laois

Share

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.

Share