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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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Drogheda

Drogheda, Ireland

Back in the beginning of February, I decided on a cold, foggy Sunday morning to head out of Dublin. Setting out with the car, I thought it might be fun to go for a while, stop, have coffee, and do some sight seeing when I got hungry. So, with that, I got up, showered, dressed, and out the door by 9am. About an hour north of Dublin on the M1 is a town called Drogheda (pronounced Drog-ed-ah).

Drogheda, Ireland

Drogheda is irish for “bridge of the ford” and is located in County Louth along the River Boyne. (You may remember the Boyne Valley has New Grange, Knowth and Dowth, and The Hill of Tara as well as the Hill of Slane, and has been settled for thousands of years.) When it was founded in 1194 by the Normans under Hugh De Lacy (Trim Castle), the town originally spanned 2 separate counties. In 1412 the two “sides” of the town were united and grew together.

Drogheda, Ireland

Drogheda, Ireland

During the Middle Ages, Drogheda became an important fortified town. You can still see one of the remnants of the 7 gates at St. Lawerence’s gate (above) on the top of the high street. Named after the nearby priory of St. Laurence, this gate was built in the 13th Century and is a Barbican style defense gate which is 4 Stories high. It had an inner toll gate, and a portcullis. The toll collection at this gate continued until the 1800s. You can see some of the city walls below – which sit along a street named “feather bed lane” because they used to make feather beds along this way. The picture below shows some interesting arch work – which used to make up part of Lord Singleton’s stables.

Drogheda, Ireland

Drogheda, Ireland

Also in the Middle Ages, in Drogheda, the first Irish Parliaments were held at the commandment of Henry VII. In 1494, they passed a famous law called Poynings law which basically said that Irish Parliament couldn’t pass a law without having first been approved by the English King & council. The Tholsel is the old courthouse built in 1770 replacing the old parliament building, and sits along the main street. (You can see the Tholsel in the bottom right of the picture – it’s the tall clock tower building).

Drogheda, Ireland

In the 1640s, Drogheda was taken over twice during the Irish Confederate Wars. The second was by Oliver Cromwell himself, who had 10,000 men to the Royalist 2300 defenders. Oliver’s army won and massacred the Royalist defenders of the town – beheadding every 10th man – and the remainder we shipped of to Barbados as white “slaves”. The tale is still prominent in local lore because it was so tragic to so many families in the area. After Cromwell left, and the Battle of the Boyne happened (1688 – putting William the Conqueror back on the English Throne) the town again prospered in the 1700s and rebuilt. The Drogheda Port company was founded in 1790 and remains the oldest employer in town. Other points of interest from around the same time are St. Peter’s Catholic Church – which has the preserved severed head of Saint Oliver Plunkett, who was executed in London in 1681, since it was given to them in 1921. (I was there on Sunday and not wanting to be morbid during Sunday services – I skipped this one – though the church is pictured below).

Drogheda, Ireland

The Magdalene Tower (below)- which is the last surviving bell tower from an old Dominican friary from 1224. It was commissioned by Lucas De Netterville, Archbishop, and completed in the 14th century. It was damaged by Cromwell’s Army in 1649.

Drogheda, Ireland

The Highlanes (now a gallery) is the site of the former Franciscan monestary from the 15th century, which was well known for being the main center for higher education (Irish weren’t allowed into Oxford at the time). In 1829, The structure (below) was built to replace it.

Drogheda, Ireland

One other point of interest is the St. Magdalen’s Church built in the 1870’s.

Drogheda, Ireland

View of Town center (main) street:

Drogheda, Ireland

From here, I headed for a quick coffee on the Main Street at Esquires (I was frozen to the bone by now), then over to my next stop – the Old Mellifont Abbey (more on that tomorrow).

Sunday morning Coffee. ESQUIRES Coffee shop. #coffee #esquires #drogheda #drinkup #coffeeshop #oldbuilding #architecture #lovelight #people #morning #PhotoGrid

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Father Ted House – aww go on!

Sometimes, one of the greatest things about living in Europe is that I get to see and experience cultures different than my own. The USA can be very insulated, and with relation to today’s blog post, this means that we make our own Television programs and have our own “cult classics” which we then proceed to export around the world and introduce into the “collective consciousness” of society. There are very few great comedies (or other TV shows) that make it over to our collective memory from outside the USA. It’s just a fact of life that most of our broadcast into the home entertainment coming from “outside” the USA is few and far between. If you want to have something “international” you really have to go hunting for it. Today, I can think of a handful of shows – Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, Keeping up Appearances, Masterpiece Theater – that were on consistently as a child growing up – all of which were made by the BBC – and all of which only were shown only on PBS (not the main larger TV stations). This saddens me because there are so many great writers out there – both in the USA and abroad – which are in the “European” or individual country collective consciousness but which we as Americans simply miss out on.

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One of these programs that never made it to the States is a show that aired in the 1990’s called Father Ted. When I first moved to Ireland, I was told that this was a “must watch” show in order to help fit in. Here in Ireland, it is one of the best comedies (reruns are still on TV) which almost everyone at any age can enjoy. It’s about a couple of Priests (Father Ted, Father Dougal, and Father Jack) who have been exiled to the fictional Craggy Island (off of Ireland’s west coast) because of some questionable incidents. The three priests live together and have a housekeeper named Mrs. Doyle. As the series progresses, “wise” Father Ted takes on the role as the “dad”, Father Dougal (sweet but really quite naieve) takes on the role of the son, Mrs. Doyle takes on the role of the bumbling mom (and excels at physical comedy) who serves Tea (aww go on, go on!) and cleans through it all, and Father Jack as the grumpy drunken relative. The whole thing is quite hilarious as they have adventures (in one episode, Father Ted is asked to host a beauty contest, in another, Father Dougal takes on a milkman who has been “serving” the entire community, and in a third, Father Ted & Father Doyle have to break Father Jack out of the retirement home – to name a couple) and everything goes wacky. The show tackles a certain loveable “Irish” standpoint and also has some questionable (scandalous!) themes that have caused me to laugh near to tears with each passing moment. All told, there were only 25 episodes made, but by far, the culture here loves their Father Ted.

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Out of this TV show and the recession, enter an enterprising American lady. At the top, I posted the opening sequence of the Father Ted show, courtesy of Youtube. As we fly in over the coast of County Claire, you zoom across the fields and then are flown around the house where the entire show is supposed to take place. Well, this house has been owned by a ex Pat American lady and her Irish husband for the last 25 years. They bought the place when they first got married (before the TV show) and once the show became a big hit, began noticing that people would come from all over Ireland to drive by the house and have pictures made with it. One day in the last few years, the American lady was laid off. As the job search continued, she had a great idea – I have a house that people come from all over to see – let’s use it to my advantage. And thus, Tea at Father Ted’s house was born. This lovely lady, from New York state, by appointment (it’s a 3 hour drive from Dublin) invites people into her home (aka Father Ted’s home) and puts on a full spread of “tea” to about 10 – 14 people. There’s tea, homemade cakes and scones, and some fun conversation about all of the people that she gets to meet. While she’s not Mrs. Doyle, she is a lovely, enterprising lady, who has figured out that for 10 Euros a person, and selling some additions (postcards, Tea, scarves, etc that are “related” to the show) she can have a little extra cash in her pocket.

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So, where am I going with this? Simple. For A’s birthday this year, the unmentionable #30, she decided she wanted to go to Father Ted’s for tea. And so it was, one fine Saturday last April, that we found ourselves (2 cars packed full of A’s friends) driving the 3 hours from Dublin, across on the motorway and into the rural county Claire Burren region to visit Father Ted’s house. It was neat to see the house, and to see the inside. The best part was getting to see the American running the place (I was quite amused to realize she was American – and she was rather amused that I could point out some of the items from various episodes and appreciate her efforts and entrepreneurial spirit) and her fine family.

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