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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38999-8.txt b/38999-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..93bdddf --- /dev/null +++ b/38999-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4175 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth, by Anonymous + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth + Its Ruins and Associations, a Guide and Popular History + + +Author: Anonymous + + + +Release Date: February 27, 2012 [eBook #38999] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH*** + + +E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38999-h.htm or 38999-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38999/38999-h/38999-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38999/38999-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/mellifontabbeyco00dubl + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + The original text includes intentional blank spaces. This is + represented by ____ in this text version. + + + + + +[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW. _From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin._] + + +MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH: + +Its Ruins and Associations. +A Guide and Popular History. + + + "A house of prayer, once consecrate + To God's high service--desolate! + A ruin where once stood a shrine! + Bright with the Presence all divine!" + (_W. Chatterton Dix._) + + +Permissu Superiorum. + + + + + + + +Published by +James Duffy & Co., Ltd., Dublin, +for the Cistercians, +Mount St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea. +1897. + +Printed by +Edmund Burke & Co., +61 & 62 Great Strand Street, Dublin. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In the following pages an attempt is made to describe the ruins of +Mellifont as they now appear, and to explain the uses, or probable uses, +that the buildings yet remaining must have served when the monks dwelt +there. Obviously, some important structural alterations were made when +changing the venerable Abbey into a fortified residence; nevertheless the +ruins exhibit, on the whole, the characteristics of the primitive plan and +style in which Mellifont, as well as all the Cistercian monasteries both +in this country and on the Continent, were built. The explanation is +founded on reliable authority, being gleaned from most authentic sources, +such as, _Les Monuments Primitifs de La Règle Cistercienne_, which is a +copy of the Rule drawn up by the Founders of the Order; the _Monasticon +Cisterciense_; _Violet Le Duc_; _Jubainville, Etudes sur l'Etat intérieur +des Abbayes Cisterciennes au XII. et au XIII. siècle_; _Meglinger, Iter +Cisterciense_; _La Vie de Saint Bernard_, by Vacandard, etc. + +As no Records, or Chronicles of Mellifont now exist, the historical part +of the compilation has been derived from different sources, chiefly from +our old Annals--_The Annals of the Four Masters_; those of _Boyle_, of +_St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin_; _Clyn and Dowling's_; and of _Clonmacnois_; +Ware's _Bishops_, etc.; _the Miscellany of the Archæological Society_; +Ussher's _Sylloge_; Morrin's _Calendars of Patent Rolls_, etc. The part +relating to disciplinary subjects was drawn principally from Martène's +_Thesaurus Anecdotorum_, Vol. IV., which contains the Decrees of the +General Chapter of the Cistercian Order, also, from the _Constitutiones et +Privilegia, Menologium_, and the _Fasiculus Sanctorum Ordinis +Cisterciensis_, by Henriquez; _Originum Cisterciensium_, tom. I, +Janauschek; _l'Histoire de La Trappe_, Gaillardin, etc. The vindication of +monks in general, from the aspersions cast on them by their enemies, and +the facts appertaining to the Rebellion of 1641, are borrowed exclusively +from Protestant sources,--Dugdale's _Monasticon Anglicanum_, Tanner's +_Notitia Monastica_, Maitland's _Dark Ages_, Leland's _History of +Ireland_, Temple's _History of the Insurrection_, 1641, Tichborne's +_History of the Siege of Drogheda_, Carte's _Ormond_, etc. + +These by no means exhaust the list of authors consulted and utilised, but +they show how far apart the pieces lay which have been stitched together +to form a consecutive narrative. The compiler has endeavoured to compress +the matter into the smallest possible space in order to make the little +book accessible to all at a moderate price; and he has preferred to allow +others to speak rather than to thrust his own opinions on the reader. +Finally, he has borne in mind throughout, the trite saying, _Magna est +Veritas et prævalebit_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + + THE RUINS 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + + ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT 33 + + + CHAPTER III. + + AN EPITOME OF THE RULE OBSERVED AT MELLIFONT AT ITS + FOUNDATION, AND FOR ABOUT A CENTURY AND A HALF + AFTERWARDS 41 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + MELLIFONT TAKES ROOT AND FOUNDS NEW HOUSES OF THE + ORDER 50 + + + CHAPTER V. + + MELLIFONT CONTINUES TO FLOURISH UNDER SUCCESSIVE + EMINENT SUPERIORS 58 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + MELLIFONT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES 67 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE SUPPRESSION OF MELLIFONT 85 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + MELLIFONT BECOMES THE HOME OF A NOBLE FAMILY--IS + SOLD, AND IS DELIVERED UP TO RUIN AND DECAY 101 + + + APPENDIX. + + I.--LIST OF ABBOTS OF MELLIFONT 128 + + II.--CHARTER OF NEWRY 129 + + III.--INVENTORY OF ESTATES OF MELLIFONT 131 + + + + +List of Illustrations. + + + GENERAL VIEW OF MELLIFONT _Frontispiece_ + + PLAN OF CLAIRVAUX _At_ p. 4 + + PLAN OF MELLIFONT ABBEY 5 + + GATEWAY (PORTER'S LODGE) 15 + + NORTH WINDOW OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 19 + + DOORWAY OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 23 + + INTERIOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 35 + + INTERIOR OF LAVABO (OCTAGON) 43 + + ARCH OF LAVABO (OCTAGON) 47 + + SOUTH WALL OF LECTORIUM 63 + + + + +MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH: + +Its Ruins and Associations. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE RUINS. + + "Look, stranger; where these stones in ruin lie. + Here in the old, grey times a holy thing + Rose up--a cloistered pile; but time swept by + And smote the sanctuary with his reckless wing." + (_From the Swedish, by J. E. D. Bethune._) + + +Of the many historic ruins which dot our country and attest its former +greatness, few attract so much attention, and invite so close a study as +our monastic remains, pre-eminent amongst which are those of the ancient +historic Abbey of Mellifont. In countless pages of our Annals the name +appears. In the records of sieges, battles and insurrections, from the day +on which a colony of St. Bernard's monks from world-famed Clairvaux, came +and settled in its tranquil valley, till having passed through many +vicissitudes, as an abode of piety and wide-spread beneficence, it became +a baronial residence, and finally lost its prestige as the site of a mill, +whose remains contrast incongruously with those of such a precious +memorial. + +And what was Mellifont? It was the first house of the Cistercian Order in +Ireland; founded, endowed and enriched by native princes and saintly +prelates; the mother of saints and scholars; and at one time, the +admiration of our land, as a gem of rare architectural beauty. + +Before going back to the shadowy past, let us endeavour to trace amongst +its ruins the outlines of the ancient buildings, and to explain the +special use and meaning of each in the monastic economy, when white-robed +monks trod its cloisters, and knelt and prayed before the altars in its +church. Each of the Cistercian churches and monasteries was built upon a +uniform plan, with some slight modifications, arising perhaps in all +instances from peculiarities of site and local difficulties. Around the +whole pile of monastic buildings, and girdling an area of some thirty +acres or more, comprising gardens, orchards, meadows, ran a high wall, +called the "Enclosure Wall," which served to isolate the denizens of the +cloister, and prevent as far as possible all ingress of the world. +Entrance within the precincts of the monastery was obtained through a +spacious and lofty gate-house occupied by a trusty Lay-Brother, whose duty +it was to receive visitors, and dispense hospitality to the poor and the +way-farer; thus he formed a connecting link between his brethren within +and the world without, from which they were cut off. Extending on either +side of this gate-house, or "Porter's Lodge," as it was known in monastic +language, was a range of buildings for the exclusive use of strangers of +every grade. There were the Hospice proper, an infirmary for the sick +poor, with stabling also, in the immediate vicinity, for the horses of +travellers:-- + + "Whoever passed, be it baron or squire, + Was free to call at the abbey and stay; + No guerdon or gift for his lodging pay, + Though he tarried a week with its holy choir." + +The old tower which is passed as one approaches the ruins of Mellifont, +was the "Porter's Lodge," and right under it ran the avenue which led to +the abbey, but which was converted into a mill-race when Mellifont had +reached its last stage of degradation. The present road-way was +constructed in order to give access to the mill. The remains of old walls +can still be traced stretching on both sides of the tower, and prove its +ancient purpose in connection with Cistercian usage, as described above. +Some gate-houses of Continental monasteries, which have till now subsisted +intact from the eleventh or twelfth century, bear a striking resemblance +to this one at Mellifont. That of Aiguebelle, in particular, near Grignan, +in the Department of Drôme, France, most closely resembles it. + +There can be no doubt that a pile of buildings once occupied and enclosed +the whole space from the old gateway to the church, forming a rectangle, +of which the church was the fourth side. The precise purposes these +buildings served at Mellifont can now be only conjectured; for, in +different monasteries, local wants determined in a great measure the +allocation of this site to uses which varied with the circumstances of +each community. That is not, however, to be understood of what are called +the "Regular Places;" for these were held to be indispensable, and +occupied almost the same position in every monastery. The intervening +space here between the gate-house and the church is now covered over with +the debris of ancient buildings, which local tradition says once occupied +the side of the hill on which, and about where, a few modern cottages now +stand. + +Approaching nearer to the ruins, a modern mill obtrudes itself upon the +scene, and one cannot help wishing it transported beyond the plane of his +observation.[1] + +[Illustration: PLAN OF CLAIRVAUX BY DOMMILLEY 1708 + + 1. Entrance. + 2. Abbot's House. + 3. Guest House. + 4. Stables. + 5. Church. + 6. Sacristy. + 7. Cell for Books (Common Box). + 8. Stairs leading to Dormitory. + 9. The Chapter-House. + 10. Parlour. + 11. Former Novitiate. + 12. Cloisters. + 13. Stairs to Dormitory. + 14. Calefactory. + 15. Refectory. + 16. Kitchen. + 17. Lavabo (Octagon). + 18. Cemetery. + 19. St. Bernard's Cell. + 20. The Prior's Chambers. + 21. Chapel of the Counts of Flanders. + 22. Scriptoria. + 23. Lesser Cloister. + 24. Hall for Theses. + 25. Theological School. + 26. Infirmary. + 27. Common Room of the Infirm. + 28. Novitiate. + 29. Abbots' Council Chamber. + 30. Garden.] + +[Illustration: MELLIFONT ABBEY GROUND PLAN] + +Arrived at what is now the entrance gate, the visitor beholds in front of +him the four remaining sides of what was once an octagonal building, and +somewhat nearer on his left, a small roofless edifice. These are commonly, +but erroneously, called the "Baptistery" and "St. Bernard's Chapel." Their +true purposes shall be explained further on. Immediately at his feet now, +extend the sites of the church, and of the once magnificent cloisters. Of +these latter not a trace remains, except a mere outline on the green +sward, and a few squares of concrete to indicate the position once +occupied by them. The plan of the church extends to right and left: the +western portion of the nave running towards the river (see Plan), and the +entire length is dotted at intervals with blocks which mark the sites of +the piers. These concrete blocks were laid by order of Sir Thomas Deane, +under whose direction the excavations were made here some few years ago. +The length of the nave cannot now be ascertained with certainty, but +judging from the position occupied by some very old walls at the +south-western side, it may be roughly stated to have been 120 feet; while +54 feet 6 inches was the width of the whole church, including the aisles. +These latter were each 10 feet wide. The nave had seven bays, and like all +Cistercian churches, it was divided into two parts by the Rood-loft and +Choir-screen, which stood about midway. This Rood-loft served a twofold +purpose; on it was a lectern, where the Lessons of the night-offices were +read by the monks in rotation, and thereon the Abbot announced the Gospel +proper to each festival, chanting or reading it, according as the office +was sung or merely recited, after which, with crosier in hand, he gave his +solemn benediction. It answered, too, as a partition between the choir of +the monks and the stalls of the Lay Brethren; the former on the +eastern, the latter on the western side of it. This Choir-screen formed a +sort of reredos to the two altars, which were invariably found in this +position in the churches of the Order. On these altars were offered up +daily Masses for living and deceased benefactors--a practice which +continues in the Order and which dates back to the foundation of the +Cistercian Institute. Further west was a tribune or gallery, where guests +and the dependants of the monastery assisted at Divine Service, Office and +Mass. Inside the Rood-loft, was the Choir proper, which extended thence to +the Chancel, or "Presbytery Step," as it is called in monastic parlance. A +small space was provided between the Choir and the Chancel, in order to +allow a passage to those who proceeded from the Sacristy to the High Altar +within the Chancel. Two rows of stalls ran down on each side the length of +the nave. These stalls were generally of carved oak, and were artistically +finished. The outer rows were for the novices, and the backs of their +stalls formed the desks used by the professed monks, whereon they rested +the ponderous tomes containing the sacred psalmody. During the High Mass +the stalls next the Chancel were used, and the place of honour, that is, +the first stall on the Epistle, or south side, was given to the Abbot. The +Prior, as second superior, occupied the first on the opposite, or Gospel +side. The other monks according to seniority occupied the stalls on either +side. On the other hand, at Matins and at all the offices, except that in +connection with High Mass, the Abbot's and Prior's stalls were farthest +from the Chancel, and next the Rood-loft, and the order of the monks was +reversed. In token of his jurisdiction the Abbot's crosier was fixed at +his stall. The Cistercian monks call this Rood-loft the "_Jubé_," from the +first word spoken by the reader when he asks the blessing before +commencing the Lessons. The whole nave here at Mellifont seems to have +been paved with beautiful tiles; a few of which may yet be seen in their +position near the great pier on the north side. At the intersection of the +transept with the nave, is the space called the "Crossing," or "Lantern." +Over this rose the bell-tower, which was supported on solid piers, from +two of which sprang the Chancel arch, and from the two others, that of the +nave. These piers were formed of clustered columns, but their remains +(about five feet high), vary both in dimensions and in style, manifesting, +thereby, the partial renovation that took place from time to time. The +material of which the whole building was constructed is a buff-coloured +sandstone not found in the vicinity of Mellifont, but brought, it is said, +from Kells, some twenty miles away; a thing not very difficult, seeing +that the river is so convenient. Some, again, are of opinion that the +stone was brought from Normandy; which seems to be improbable. + +The total length of the transepts is 116 feet; the width 54 feet. The +northern one is some four feet longer than the southern. They seem to have +had aisles, an unusual arrangement in churches of the Order. In the +northern transept were six chapels, the piscinas of which are still to be +seen in the piers adjoining. The number of these piscinas cannot fail to +strike one as something very singular. Their presence is accounted for in +this way. At the date of the foundation of Mellifont and for centuries +later, it was the custom for priests of the Order to wash their hands at +the foot of the altar before commencing Mass, the server pouring water on +his hands, which he dried with a towel that had been previously laid on +the altar. The water used was then cast into the piscina. It was also the +custom with them, at that time, to descend from the altar when they had +consumed the Sacred Species out of the chalice and to wash their fingers +over the piscina. + +This northern transept seems to have been a favourite spot for interments; +for during the excavations numerous skulls were found there. At Clairvaux, +the corresponding site was strewn with the graves of bishops, who selected +it as the place wherein to rest after life's weary struggle. No record or +memorial of these survives, or of any of the dead interred at Mellifont, +to point out the occupant of a single grave. In the northern wall of this +transept is a beautiful door-way with jambs of clustered columns. Hard by, +the wall was pierced to make a loop-hole when Mellifont was transformed +into a fortress. On one side of the door-way are the remains of what must +once have been a superb chapel; on the opposite side are a few steps of a +spiral stair-case, formed in the thickness of the wall, which led up to +the tower, as is to be seen at Graignamanagh, Co. Kilkenny, and other +houses of the order in Ireland. The level of the floor here is some five +or six feet lower than the adjacent road-way which was raised by the +accumulated rubbish of former buildings that extended along the hill-side +where the cottages now stand. + +The southern transept may have had its six altars also. The aisle seems to +have been built up, and when the alterations which took place in the whole +fabric in the fifteenth century were made, a large portion of this +transept would appear to have been allocated to the uses of a sacristy. No +trace of a sacristy remains elsewhere, and this would be a very convenient +place to utilise as one. The remains of some walls lead us to suppose such +an arrangement probable. In Cistercian monasteries, a stair-case in this +transept near the cloister led thence to the dormitory, but no remains of +such a stairs have been discovered at Mellifont. When Sir Thomas Deane +had the earth and rubbish, or, as he calls it, the "grassy mound," +removed, he discovered the foundations of two semi-circular chapels in +each transept, in a line with the site occupied by the High, or principal +Altar. (See the dotted lines in the Ground Plan). Describing them, Sir +Thomas writes: "Within the circuit of the external walls are the +foundations of an earlier church which indicate four semicircular chapels, +and two square ones between. Of this church we have no distinct record, +but the bases of semi-detached pillars would indicate the date given for +the erection of Mellifont." These four semi-circular chapels in line with +the High Altar, formed an exact counterpart of the church of Clairvaux +which was erected in 1135, and which by St. Bernard's express wish, served +St. Malachy as the model for Mellifont. + +The chancel terminated in a square end, and was 42 feet deep by 26 feet +wide. It was raised about six inches over the floor of the nave, and a +slab of limestone extended the entire width with which the tiled pavement +was flush. Almost in the centre of the chancel, that is to say, nearly +midway between the two piers, are two sockets sunk in sandstone blocks. +What uses they served cannot be affirmed with certainty. However, it may +be conjectured that they served to receive the supports on which a violet +curtain was suspended during Lent, screening the "Sanctuary." This curtain +spanned the space from pier to pier. The custom is still preserved in the +Order. Here on this central spot, a lectern was placed, at which the +sub-deacon at Solemn Masses sang the Epistle. Here, too, the celebrant of +the Community Mass on Sundays blessed the water with which he sprinkled +the brethren, who presented themselves two by two before him. It was here, +also, that the Abbot blessed the candles, ashes, and palms, on +Candlemas-day, Ash Wednesday, and Palm Sunday respectively. This was +called the "Presbytery Step," and the whole space within the chancel, the +"Sanctuary." + +The basis on which the High Altar was built still remains. It is distant +some few feet from the eastern wall, in order to allow a passage for the +monks, who on Sundays and Festivals received Holy Communion at this altar, +after which they walked around it in single file, and passing on by the +Gospel, or northern corner, returned to their stalls in the nave. The +basis is ten feet long by three and one half feet wide. On the Epistle, or +southern side, are the piscina surrounded with a dog-tooth moulding, and +the remains of the sedilia or stalls, which were occupied by the +celebrant, deacon, and sub-deacon at High Mass. Under these sedilia a tomb +was discovered during the excavations. A skull and some bones, together +with a gold ring, were raised from their resting-place; the bones were +replaced and covered with the slab of concrete now seen at this spot, but +the ring was sold by a workman and could never be recovered. No +inscription or tradition identifies the occupant of the hallowed grave. +Could it have been that of the famous Dervorgilla? She was certainly +buried at Mellifont, but unfortunately, we do not know the spot where her +remains were laid when "life's fitful fever" was over; or it may have been +the resting-place of Thomas O'Connor, or of Luke Netterville, both, +successively, Archbishops of Armagh; for they, also, were buried at +Mellifont. + +On the opposite, or Gospel side, is an arched recess having an ornamental +moulding around it. This would seem to have been the Founder's tomb, or +rather, the remains of it. In the Cistercian Constitutions no special +place was allotted for the tombs of Founders, and only the indefinite +permission was given, that they, kings and queens, bishops and such like +exalted dignitaries, might be buried within the churches of the Order. A +general custom, however, prevailed in Ireland of appropriating to the +Founder's tomb a space in the northern wall of the chancel, and directly +at right angles with the High Altar. Others, besides Founders, were buried +on the north side in the chancel. Thus, in the Annals of St. Mary's Abbey, +Dublin, we are told that Felix O'Ruadan, who had been a great benefactor +to that house, was buried in the chancel of the abbey church, on the north +side. And Felix O'Dullany, the first Abbot of Jerpoint, and afterwards +Bishop of Ossory, was interred on the north side of the High Altar, at +Jerpoint. + +The door on this side of the chancel is a puzzle, as in no other church of +the Order is one found in this position. There is no evidence of a +building having adjoined with which this door communicated, so that its +use is unknown. Quite close to this door there is a shallow recess in the +wall, which may have been a provision for the Abbot's throne, when he +officiated pontifically, as that is the site usually occupied by it. Some +five or six feet high of the chancel walls is all that is left standing; +and, though not up to the window level, what remains of the cut stone and +water-tabling gives an idea of the beauty of the whole, and what a loss we +have sustained by its destruction. + +In the original church, that is, the one erected in St. Malachy's time, +there were ten altars we are told, but on the ground plan seven only are +shown. Two more at least were in front of the Rood-loft or _Jubé_, and the +remaining one very probably was in one of the aisles. The church of +Mellifont was remarkable, not so much for its vast dimensions, as for its +architectural beauty; yet, in this it was surpassed by St. Mary's Abbey, +Dublin. Sir Thomas Deane writes: "From the fragments of the church which +remain, it is easy to trace the vicissitudes the building underwent. I +have great doubt that any portions of the structure above ground are those +of the earliest church erected on the site, or date as far back as 1157, +which is given as the year of its consecration.... The details of the +piers (the older ones) are in my opinion a century or more later in date. +They still indicate a foreign type, and the arrangements and obvious plan +show that the transepts as well as the nave had aisles.... Portions of the +piers discovered are of the fifteenth century, other parts of the church +of the fourteenth.... A second portion dates probably from 1260, another +from 1370, and another from 1460. I am not prepared to follow from the +history of the Abbey the causes of such restorations; but it is certain +that rebuildings of portions of the church occurred from time to time, and +that violence or decay was the cause." Neither to violence nor to decay +can the alterations be attributed, which the church underwent at the three +periods mentioned by Sir Thomas, but rather to the practice then common to +the whole Order, chiefly in the monasteries of Great Britain and Ireland, +of adopting the advancing changes in the Gothic style, and to the laudable +efforts of the monks to make the House of God worthy of Him as far as art +and skill could be made subservient to that purpose. Thus in the Annals of +Fountains and Furness, there are abundant proofs of this constant change +going on in those monasteries even down to the date of their suppression. +One Abbot considered the eastern window too low and narrow, and had it +enlarged; another thought the tower rested on too slender a basis, and he +built substantial piers and flanked them on the outside with buttresses, +and so with others. + +To better understand the surroundings, it will be necessary to bear in +mind the general plan on which all Cistercian monasteries were built. On +this subject there is a good deal of misapprehension, even on the part of +those who seem to have given close attention to the matter. The church and +buildings necessary for large communities were so arranged as to form a +square, thereby combining simplicity with economy. It is said that the +monks borrowed this idea from the form of a Roman villa. The church formed +the first or northern side (for in temperate and cold climates the other +buildings, as they lay to the south, were sheltered by the church.) The +sacristy, chapter-house, and other halls were on the east; the +calefactory, refectory, and kitchen on the south; and the _Domus +Conversorum_ completed the square on the west. Within this square were the +cloisters, always contiguous to the main buildings, and forming a +communication with all the parts of the monastery. They were a sort of +covered ambulatory, whose roof rested on the one side against the main +buildings, and on the other was supported by open ornamental arcades, +which, however, in these climates were glazed. The cloisters were often +vaulted in richly moulded stonework, and were fitted up with benches for +reading, chiefly on the side adjoining the church. The space or +quadrilateral area enclosed by them was called the Cloister-Garth, in the +centre of which a statue or handsome fountain stood. + +The cloisters were generally entered from the church by the south aisle, +at the point where it adjoins the transept; but here, at Mellifont, the +entrance was direct from the south transept itself. This a glance at the +ground-plan will show; though it may have been otherwise in the primitive +church; for, when it underwent alterations, the transepts were widened by +the addition of an aisle to each; and, the cloister being thus encroached +on, a change was necessary in it also. + +Adjoining the transept, and at right angles with the cloister, on the +left, was a narrow hall or cell which contained books, chiefly the Sacred +Scriptures, and the writings of the Fathers. This cell, which had no +window, was called the "Armarium Commune," or "Common Box;" for its +contents were common to all the monks. Its situation was convenient to the +reading-cloister, which lay along the south wall of the church. In this +cell the monks were provided with an abundant supply of good books, but +treatises on the Canon and Civil Laws were forbidden to be kept in it: the +Prior was charged with the custody of these. Behind this cell, and +communicating only with the church, the Sacristy was placed; but, as +before observed, there is no trace of one here. Some writers on monastic +ruins, confidently assure their readers that this cell was a prison, and +that it was called the "Lantern;" casting upon the monks all +responsibility for the name, and supposing them to have formed it on the +_lucus a non lucendo_ principle, seeing the cell was dark. The error was +all their own; for the Lantern, as has been already shown, was in the +tower over the crossing of the church; and the true use of this cell has +just been stated above. + +Here (at Mellifont), in close proximity to the transept, is the ruined +two-storied building we saw as we approached, and which, from its present +striking appearance, must have been one of the most beautiful within the +ancient abbey's precincts. This is commonly, but erroneously, known as +"St. Bernard's Chapel." Why it was reputed to have been a chapel, must be +from the close resemblance it bears to one. It was, in reality, the +Chapter-house. That it was, is quite evident to anyone who has studied the +plans of Cistercian monasteries: (_a_), from the position it occupies, and +(_b_), from the internal arrangement and decorations such as are found in +other like edifices of the Order in Ireland. A stone bench ran around the +inside of the building, and which, when covered with a rush mat, served as +a seat for the monks. In Graignamanagh Abbey, Co. Kilkenny, the ancient +Chapter-house still remains, closely resembling this one at Mellifont, +both in style and ornamentation, as well as in dimensions. The historic +Chapter-house of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, which was unearthed a few years +ago, exhibited in every detail a striking resemblance to this also. That +at Graignamanagh was remarkable for its beauty. At the entrance to it from +the cloister, was a magnificent arched door-way, containing within it +three smaller arches of blue marble, beautifully carved. A grand central +column, called by the inhabitants of the district, the "Marble Tree," +supported the roof. It stood eight feet high from base to capital, whence +the branches spread to meet the corresponding ribs on the groined roof. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY (PORTER'S LODGE.) See page 2. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +Sir William Wilde describes the Chapter-house at Mellifont, as he saw it +in 1850. He says: "It must have been one of the most elegant and highly +embellished structures of the Norman or Early English pointed style in +Ireland." He calls it a Crypt; for it was overlaid, and surrounded up to a +high level by heaps of rubbish. He goes on to say: "It has a groined roof +underneath another building evidently used for domestic purposes, and was +probably part of the Abbot's apartments. The upper room, which contains a +chimney, must have been a pleasant, cheerful abode, and its windows +commanded a charming prospect down the valley, with a view of the distant +hills peeping up from the south-west. The building is 30 feet long, by 19 +feet wide. There are no remains of mullions or tracery of the east window. +At present, there are two lights on each side; but upon a careful +examination of the masonry both within and without the building, it is, we +think, apparent that in the original plan, the upper window on each side +alone existed, the others being evidently subsequent innovations. The +original windows[2] are still beautiful, deeply set, and, though their +stone mullions are rather massive, each forms, with the tracery at the +top, a very elegant figure. The internal pilasters, which form an +architrave for the northern window, spring from grotesque heads, +elaborately carved, and which appear as if pressed down by the +superincumbent weight. A fillet of dog's-tooth moulding surrounds the +internal sash. A projecting moulding courses round the wall, about two +feet from the ground, which, while it dips down to admit the splayed sill +of the upper or original windows, continues unbroken by the lower ones, an +additional proof that the latter did not exist in the original plan of the +building. Three sets of short clustered columns, four feet high, one in +the centre, and one in each angle, spring from this course, and terminate +in elaborately carved floral capitals, which differ slightly one from the +other. The centre rod of this cluster descends as far as the floor. From +these spring the ribs, which form the groining of the roof.... The grand +architectural feature, and most elaborate piece of carving, was the +door-way, formed of a cluster of columns, very deeply revealed on the +inside, but apparently plain on the outside.... Nearly the whole of the +western end has fallen, so that nothing but the foundations of this very +splendid door-way now remain. A figure of it has, however, been preserved +in Wright's _Louthiana_ (reproduced here),[3] published in 1755, where we +read that it was 'all of blue marble, richly ornamented and gilt,' but +'which,' the author adds, 'I was informed was sold and going to be taken +to pieces when I was there.' All the pillars and carved stone work of this +building were at one time painted in the most brilliant colours, the +capitals light blue, the pillars themselves red; portions of this paint +still remain in the curves and amongst the foliage." + +The Chapter-house[4] is little changed since Sir William Wilde penned the +foregoing, and time seems to have dealt leniently with this magnificent +ruin. One of the windows has had its mullions restored under the Board of +Works; a number of curious objects--capitals, corbels, and portions of +arches and cut stone, flooring tiles, etc., has been collected there, and +a gate to guard them has been erected by Mr. Balfour, the owner of the +ruins and surrounding property. It is very dubious that the upper story +ever served as a part of the Abbot's lodgings, as these are generally +found further east. This room may have been the muniment room. It has two +port-holes remaining, relics of the days when Mellifont was turned into a +fortified castle, and the cry of fierce, contending men was heard on this +hallowed spot, over the graves of the sainted dead. In the first volume of +_The Dublin Penny Journal_, there are very interesting articles from the +pen of a Mr. Armstrong, a native of the locality. He tells us that this +Chapter-house was converted into a banqueting-hall by the Moore family, +and that in his time (1832), it was used as a pig-sty. + +[Illustration: NORTH WINDOW OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 17. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +Another account of the fate of the beautiful arched door-way of blue +marble is, that it was lost at a game of piquet, and the lucky winner, +whose name, unfortunately, has not been handed down to us, had it removed +to his mansion, and set up as a chimney-piece. The floor of the +Chapter-house is now laid with some of the tiles which were found in the +church during the excavations, in order to preserve them from destruction +or appropriation by "relic-hunters." Abbots, generally, chose the +Chapter-house of their abbeys for their burial place; but, as no grave was +found here, when the rubbish was removed, during the excavations, we may +conclude that the Abbots of Mellifont were buried either in the church, or +in the cemetery with their monks. + +The glazed tiles and their manufacture were a specialty with the old +Cistercians, in these countries. Similar tiles are seldom met with amongst +the ruins of other churches. Here at Mellifont, those found are red and +blue, and the vast majority have the legend _Ave Maria_ inscribed on them; +others are impressed with a Fleur de lis, a cock, or some typical device. +It is well known, that specimens of tiles found at Fountains, in +Yorkshire, bear a close resemblance to these. There, the motto of that +monastery was impressed on the tiles discovered--"_Benedicite fontes +Domino_,"--"Ye fountains bless the Lord." No doubt, here, too, some bore +the motto of Mellifont, if only they could be found. + +A very pertinent question arises now: how could this small building give +sitting accommodation, not only to one hundred and fifty monks, which this +monastery is said to have had, but even to a third of that number? It +seems impossible. It may be that, on becoming numerous, they used as +Chapter-house some other building no longer standing. At Graignamanagh, +the monks, finding their Chapter-house too small, converted the eastern +window of it into a door, and built a large and spacious hall, as a new +Chapter-house, the old one serving as an ante-chamber to it. No such +addition had been made here; for the window remains intact. + +What a change has come over this grand old Chapter-house since it saw its +Abbot, who ranked as a peer of the realm, walk up its centre with solemn +and stately tread, and mount the steps which led to his seat, on the east; +and the grave assemblage of white-robed monks enter in silence, and take +their places on either side, while one of them sang at the Lectern, the +Martyrology, and a chapter of St. Benedict's Rule! From this custom of +having a _chapter_ of the Rule sung there every morning, this apartment +derives its name. In the interval, between the singing of the Martyrology +and the chapter of St. Benedict's Rule, one of the priests gave out +certain prayers, to which all responded. These prayers were chiefly +petitions to the Lord, that He would deign to bless and guard them during +the coming day; for the hour of chapter, or of the assembling of the +Brethren, was generally about 6 A.M.. The Abbot then explained the chapter +which had been sung, dwelt on the obligations incumbent on his hearers, by +their profession, to observe the teaching which St. Benedict inculcated by +his Rule; then called for the public self-accusations of breaches of +monastic discipline (external faults only), and imposed penances +commensurate with each transgression. The Chapter-house was the hall +wherein were held the deliberations or councils relative to the +administration of temporalities, and here novices were elected or rejected +by secret ballot. + +On leaving the Chapter-house one finds himself again on the site of the +eastern walk or alley of the Cloister, as it is called, and proceeding +along it southward, one sees a wall some seven or eight feet high without +door or window of any sort. It is doubtful that this was portion of the +ancient building; for then Mellifont would not have followed the general +plan of all the houses of the Order. That it was not one of the original +buildings is probable, both because the masonry is more modern, and the +remains of an old building running at right angles with it were found when +the excavations were made a few years ago in the potato garden, at the +rere of this wall. That old structure measured about fourteen feet wide. +It is shown on the ground plan. In the plan of Clairvaux, of which +Mellifont is said to have been a counterpart, a long narrow hall ran off +the Cloister here, parallel with the Chapter-house. It was called the +"Auditorium" or "Parlour." It was there that each choir monk's share in +the manual labour was assigned him every day by the Prior. There, too, +confessions were heard, and the monks might speak to the Prior or Abbot on +necessary matters; for the adjoining Cloister was a place of strict +silence. As at Clairvaux, the novitiate was placed further south where the +novices were trained in their duties by a learned and experienced monk, +who, according to St. Benedict, "would know how to gain souls to God." + +Over the buildings on the ground story, that is, over the Sacristy, +Chapter-house, Parlour, and Novitiate, was the Dormitory, which was +entered by a stair-case, in the south-eastern angle of the transept, on +one side, and by another stairs at the junction of the east and south +walks of the Cloister. When the monastery at Mellifont was changed and +remodelled after Clairvaux (for this latter underwent a substantial change +in 1175), the monks may have used the old Parlour as a passage leading to +other buildings which covered that plot of ground beyond the +Chapter-house, now a potato garden. In the plan of Clairvaux, all the +space in that direction is covered with buildings. (See plan of +Clairvaux.) In the general view of Mellifont, given in frontispiece, the +plot whereon these buildings stood is that where the man is seen tilling +the garden. But if one ascend the hill, keeping close to the ruins, it +will be evident how suitable a place it was for building on, and the +remains of walls peep up here and there over the surface. The level at +that spot is, indeed, much higher than in the Cloister, or Chapter-house, +but that is partially caused by the debris of ruined buildings which has +accumulated there. + +[Illustration: DOORWAY OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 18. _A. Scott & Son, +Architects, Drogheda._] + +At the extreme end of this eastern walk of the Cloister and at right +angles with it, are the remains of what was once a spacious building. It +had a fire-place at the eastern end, and a door which led out into another +building that formerly adjoined it. It is 96 feet long by 36 feet wide. No +idea can be formed now as to its original use. In some monasteries of the +fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, chiefly the more considerable ones, +there was a spacious room or hall located as this was, and furnished with +benches and writing-desks, where the monks studied and wrote. It was +called the "Lectorium" or Reading room. It must not, however, be +confounded with the Scriptorium, which was the official quarters of the +copyist. It is well to remark here that the plot of ground lying north of +this building was not dug up during the excavations, but only skimmed over +in order to trace the course of some walls which at intervals appeared +above the surface; but, even this slight investigation was sufficient to +reveal the outlines of numerous buildings that once extended in that +direction and covered that whole area. Again comparing the site with +Clairvaux, we find that the Infirmary and its surroundings would lie in +that direction. + +At the extreme end of the eastern walk of the Cloister where it joins the +southern one, are the remains of a stairs, which formerly led up to the +Dormitory from this part of the monastery, as at Clairvaux. Near it is +what is commonly called a vault, an arched chamber measuring sixteen feet +by fourteen. It has a chimney, and it would seem to have had a narrow +window also on the outer or southern end. Here is where the Calefactory +stood in almost all the old Cistercian monasteries. This Calefactory was +heated by a stove, at which the monks warmed themselves after their long +vigils in winter; but their stay there was restricted to one quarter of an +hour. Pope Eugenius III., when a monk at Clairvaux, under St. Bernard, had +charge of the stove there, as was commemorated by an inscription over the +door of the Calefactory. A son of the King of France discharged the same +lowly office afterwards at Clairvaux, as the Annals of the Order testify. + +Adjoining this vault is a covered passage, having an entrance into the +next building, which runs parallel with it. Its purpose cannot now be +known. It may be that the vault or Calefactory had been converted in later +times into a store-room for necessaries which were brought thence by this +covered way into the Refectory, which is the next building. The Refectory +measures 48 feet by 24. A few coarse flags remain in their original +position, from which it may be inferred that the whole floor was once +formed of them. In its western wall was the turnstile, through which the +food was served from the kitchen that adjoined the Refectory on that side. + +Now, we come to the great puzzle, the remains of the octagon building, +which was commonly called the Baptistery. Sir William Wilde, who saw it as +it was in 1848, calls it the oldest and by far the most interesting +architectural remains in the whole place; and he goes on to describe +it:[5] "This octagonal structure, of which only four sides remain, +consists of a colonnade or series of circular-headed arches, of the Roman +or Saxon character, enclosing a space of 29 feet in the clear, and +supporting a wall which must have been, when perfect, about 30 feet high. +Each external face measures 12 feet in length, and was plastered or +covered with composition to the height of 10 feet, where a projecting band +separates it from the less elaborate masonry above. The arches[6] are +carved in sandstone, and spring from foliage-ornamented capitals, to the +short supporting pillars, the shaft of each of which measures 3 feet 5 +inches. The chord of each arch above the capitals is 4 feet 3 inches. Some +slight difference is observable in the shape and arrangement of the +foliage of the capitals, and upon one of the remaining half arches were +beautifully carved two birds; but some Goth has lately succeeded in +hammering away as much of the relieved part of each, as it was possible. +The arches were evidently open, and some slight variety exists in their +mouldings. Internally a stone finger-course encircled the wall, at about +six inches higher than that on the outside. In the angles between the +arches there are remains of fluted pilasters at the height of the +string-course, from which spring groins of apparently the same curve as +the external arches, and which, meeting in the centre, must have formed +more or less of a pendant, which, no doubt, heightened the beauty and +architectural effect. Like the pillars and stone carvings in the +Chapter-house, this building was also painted red and blue, and the track +of the paint is still visible in several places. The upper story, which +was lighted by a window on each side of the octagon, bears no +architectural embellishment which is now visible." He then adds, how +Archdall, in his _Monasticon_, asserted that a cistern was placed on the +upper story, whence water was conveyed by pipes to the different parts of +the monastery; but shows how such an arrangement would have been +impossible, on account of the weakness of the walls, and the position of +the windows. + +This building was known, in monastic terminology, as the "Lavabo." A +fountain of water issued in jets from a central column, and fell into a +basin, in which the monks washed their hands, before entering the +Refectory for their meals. It is quite easy, from the construction of the +roof, to imagine a number of branches springing from the capital of the +column, and meeting the ribs of the groined roof, in the same manner, as +the "Marble Tree," in the Chapter-house of Graignamanagh. Drains in +connection with this building were discovered when the excavations were +made, and Sir Thomas Deane is of opinion, that it was surrounded on the +outside by a wooden verandah, or shed. Certainly, in the plan of +Clairvaux, a low building is shown, adjoining the Lavabo, at its east and +west ends; but no use is assigned it. Very probably it was the Lavatory. +Petrie thinks the Lavabo may have been built as far back as 1165, but that +can hardly be held; for Clairvaux had not been remodelled till 1175, and +it had no such ornamental structure in the time of St. Bernard. He +remarks, too, that fragments of bricks were discovered in the building, +and says they were never employed earlier in any other building in +Ireland. It is now certain, that it was the monks of Mellifont who first +manufactured bricks in this country. This Lavabo was not isolated or +detached from the Cloister, but, as at Clairvaux, a door led from one into +the other, opposite the entrance into the Refectory; and, since the +excavations, portions of the door-way are visible. Some small shafts and +their bases remain. Even at the present day, in one of the most recently +constructed monasteries of the Order (near Tilburg, Holland), what might +be termed a semi-octagonal Lavabo, having its fountain and basin, has been +built. It answers the same purpose as those in ancient times. + +By keeping the Lavabo before one's mind, one can form an idea of the +Cloister itself; which, consisting of arcades, closely resembled this in +every detail, except that these were glazed, and in all probability its +walks had a lean-to roof. The site of the east walk of the Cloister is +easily traced, and the places occupied by the piers being now concreted, +mark their positions. This eastern walk was 21 feet 6 inches wide. The +opposite, or western one, was some 19 feet 6 inches; that on the south, 14 +feet; and the north one, adjoining the church, and which was usually the +Reading-Cloister, may also have been 14 feet. Thus, we would have an +enclosed space or Garth, 100 feet square. + +Beside the Refectory lay the Kitchen, which was a small building, and +around it are the ruins of smaller structures, which may have been +store-rooms in connection with it. Under the Kitchen ran a copious stream +of water which carried off all the refuse. It is remarkable that at +Clairvaux similar remains are found in exactly the same position +relatively to the Kitchen there. With the Cistercians, the Kitchen was +always square; with the Benedictines, it was round. To the rere of the +Kitchen, and almost directly opposite the covered passage, is the old well +which was covered over for a long time, but was discovered, and re-opened +in 1832. Near it a portion of the old wall fell in, but the masonry, owing +to the singularly cohesive character of the mortar, holds together despite +the action of the elements. + +Of the western walk of the Cloister no trace remains, and only a tottering +wall of the _Domus Conversorum_, which once adjoined it, is standing. +There is no trace either of the northern walk, though this was the most +important of all. There the monks read and copied, in cells called +"carrols," which were placed near the windows. When not employed in +chanting the Masses and Offices in the church, or busied with domestic +concerns, or working in the fields, the monks passed all their intervals +here occupied with study. The Abbot had a chair here also; and, from a +raised pulpit opposite it, one of the monks read aloud every evening, the +lecture before Compline, at which the whole community assisted. + +Turning westward and approaching the River Mattock, we enter, at the left, +an enclosed space, bounded by the river on one side, and by the remains of +the outer wall of the _Domus Conversorum_ on the other, we find ourselves +in a potato garden, which, on close observation, appears strewn with +pieces of bones. This was "God's Acre" at Mellifont, the cemetery of the +monks. Some forty or fifty years ago, a Scotchman, who then rented the +mill and a farm adjoining it, perceiving that the clay of this old +cemetery was particularly rich and loamy, dug a spit off it a foot deep or +more, and carted it out on his fields for top-dressing. Amongst the stuff +so carted were human bones of all kinds, skulls, etc.!!! This was done in +a Christian land, and no protesting voice was raised against the horrid +profanation!! The cemetery is shown in the general view at the extreme +left, where the plot of ground appears laid out in ridges and surrounded +by a wall. + +The River Mattock flows peacefully still by the old abbey as it did over +seven centuries ago, when its course being first arrested, it was +harnessed and compelled to take its share in many useful and profitable +industries. One old solitary yew tree casts its shadow on its water and +bears it company amid the surrounding ruin and desolation--sad and +sympathising witnesses of Mellifont's fallen greatness. No bridge now +spans the river here, though formerly it was probably arched over, and the +slopes upon the Meath side were laid out in terraces and gardens. The +present mill was built over one hundred years ago, together with some +out-offices; the latter, being situated almost midway in the nave of the +church, were removed when the excavations were made. The mill has not been +worked during the last thirty years. When Mr. Armstrong wrote his +interesting papers on Mellifont, in the _Dublin Penny Journal_, 1832-33, a +few cabins nestled under the shadow of the old ruins. + +The last building that deserves notice is the small ruined edifice on the +hill, which, after the suppression of the monastery, was used as a +Protestant place of worship. Sir William Wilde was of opinion that it +dates from the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The western gable which +rises in the centre into a double belfry contains a pointed door-way, and +above, but not immediately over this, is a double round-arched window. One +small narrow light occupies the eastern gable. At a few paces in front of +this building there stood, at the time Sir William examined it, two very +plain and very ancient crosses, one having a heart engraven on it +encircled by a crown of thorns, and the other having a fleur de lis on the +arm. The latter cross has disappeared, but the former can still be seen +prostrate on the ground, in that half of the old cemetery beyond the +road-way, that is, on the side to the south. After the suppression, this +was used as a Protestant burial-ground, though the presence of Catholic +emblems would go to prove that it was once Catholic. Of late years the +interments here have been but few. We are nowhere told, nor does any +tradition still linger to indicate the former use of this ancient +building, but it is most probable, that it was the church in which the +tenants and dependants of the Abbey assisted at Mass and other religious +functions--in a word, that it was the parish church of Mellifont, which +was _served by the monks_. This seems to be the most likely explanation; +for the law of "Enclosure," that law of the Church which debarred females +from entering within the monastic enclosure, ("_Septa monasterii_" as it +is called), was in full force at the Dissolution of monasteries, as +appears from the Decrees of the General Chapters of the Order about that +time, and also from the Episcopal Registers of some of the English +dioceses which have lately been published. In these latter are found +reports of the bishops, who, either officially or by delegation, visited +some monasteries and adverted to the law of enclosure as an important +point of monastic discipline. This old structure, then, would have been +constructed purposely outside the wall for the use of the tenants. Such a +chapel is still to be seen outside the enclosure at Bordesley Abbey, an +old Cistercian monastery in Worcestershire, of which we are expressly +told, that it was the place in which the monks, tenants, domestics, etc., +attended Mass. Another purpose may be assigned to this old chapel at +Mellifont, as that attached to the College, or Seminary, which once +flourished there. The surrounding hill is locally and traditionally known +as College-Hill, and the old road which passes over it and leads to +Townley Hall, is called the College Road. + +Little more remains to be said of the ruins or of the site itself. +Standing on this hill and looking into the valley beneath, we are struck +by its singular natural features. It would seem as if the waters of the +Mattock had been suddenly dammed up, and that the pent-up waters, +bursting their barriers, hollowed out this sheltered little valley, after +the angry element had cleared away the rocks and other obstructions; and +having swept it clear of the rubbish, made it a fit and proper place +whereon to rear a temple to the true God, in which praise and sacrifice +might for ever be offered to Him. No buildings seem to have been +constructed on the Meath side, as no traces of them remain. In this, +Mellifont differed from Clairvaux, whose buildings filled the valley and +spread out wings high up the hills on either side of the River Aube. + +Just due south from where we have been standing, on the hill, and distant +about a few hundred yards, the Guide will show a singular earth-work, +shaped like a moat, and having an elevated mound in the centre. From the +presence here of old conduits built with masonry, there can be no doubt +that this was a reservoir to contain a copious supply of water which +flowed from wells on the hill. Lower down than this moat, that is, at the +rere of the Chapter-house, lies buried beneath some feet of soil the +Abbot's house, where Mellifont's puissant rulers received their guests, +and whose hospitable board was honoured by the presence of kings and +bishops, as well as chiefs and warriors bold in all their pomp and +panoply. It is doubtful that any vestige of the enclosure wall remains, +nor can it be conjectured even, what, or how much, space it embraced. As +we ponder over the scene, Keats' words find an echo in our hearts:-- + + "How changed, alas! from that revered abode + Graced by proud majesty in ancient days, + Where monks recluse those sacred pavements trod, + And taught the unlettered world its Maker's praise." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT. + + "Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer + Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice + Rise like a fountain for me night and day, + For what are men better than sheep and goats, + That nourish a blind life within the brain, + If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer + Both for themselves and those who call them friend? + For so the whole round earth is every way + Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." + (_Lord Tennyson._) + + +At the time that Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen Harding were laying +the foundation of the Cistercian Order, in the dense forest of Cistercium, +or Citeaux, whence the Order derives its name, or to be more precise, in +1098, a lovely little boy eight years old, with golden hair and dove-like +eyes, and with nobility of birth stamped in every lineament of his +features, was playing in his father's chateau at Fontaines, near Dijon, in +France. This child of predilection was the great St. Bernard, who is +justly styled the Propagator of that Order which was then in a struggling +condition. It has become a proverb, "that the child is father of the man," +and a very clever writer exclaims--"Blessed is the man whose infancy has +been watched over, kindled, and penetrated by the eyes of a tender and +holy mother." It was St. Bernard's singular privilege to have such a +mother, one who sedulously watched over his youthful days, and inspired +him with a love of all virtues. Hence we are told, that even in early +childhood, he evinced a love of piety that was remarkable, and that he +constituted his mother the grand model which he was bound to copy. He +considered it the summit of his ambition to do all things like his +mother--to pray like her, to give alms and visit the sick poor like her; +for this noble lady was wont to go along the roads unattended, carrying +medicine and nourishment to the indigent. He distinguished himself at the +public school where he received his education, and returned to the +paternal mansion where he soon after experienced his first great sorrow in +the death of his loving mother. He was now approaching manhood, and he +must needs select a state of life befitting his high birth. At that time, +only two professions were worthy of the consideration of young +noblemen--the Church or the Army. With Bernard's distinguished talents, a +bright and rosy future presented itself before his youthful imagination, +and then the eloquent persuasions of his relatives, who promised him their +powerful patronage, were not wanting to arouse his ambition; but, the +image of his saintly mother dispelled all dreams of promotion, and her +pious instructions, which sank deep into his young heart, acted as potent +antidotes against the allurements of worldly pomp and short-lived honours. +After much reflection he made up his mind to renounce all honours, and to +become a monk. By his irresistible pleadings he gained over his four +brothers, with other relatives and friends, to the number of thirty, and +at their head, presented himself at the gate of the Abbey of Citeaux, +where St. Stephen Harding joyfully admitted them. Two years later we find +him leaving that monastery as the Abbot of a new colony, on his way to +found Clairvaux, being then in his twenty-fifth year. Here, his light +could no longer remain hidden, but burst forth into a luminous flame +whose splendour aroused and powerfully influenced the whole Christian +world. The Bishop of Chalons, in whose diocese Clairvaux was situated, was +the first to discover the transcendent abilities and eloquence of the +youthful Abbot. At his request, St. Bernard consented to deliver a course +of sermons in the churches of his diocese, which were productive of +incalculable good, and spread the fame of the zealous preacher. Priests as +well as laymen, attached themselves to him and accompanied him to +Clairvaux on his return from those missions. One of the Saint's +biographers cries out--"How many learned men, how many nobles and great +ones of this earth, how many philosophers have passed from the schools or +academies of the world to Clairvaux to give themselves up to the +meditation of heavenly things and the practice of a divine morality." His +fame reached even to Ireland, and we are told that in this country the +little children were wont to ask for the badge of the Crusaders which the +Saint distributed. In a word, his voice was the most authoritative in +Europe. Kings and princes dreaded him, and accepted him as arbitrator in +their quarrels. Even Popes themselves sought his counsel. In his lifetime, +his own disciple, Bernard of Pisa, occupied the Chair of Peter, as +Eugenius III. It may be truthfully said, that St. Bernard reformed Europe +and infused a new spirit into the monastic orders. Even Luther does not +hesitate to place him in the forefront of all monks who lived in his time; +of him he writes: "Melius nec vixit nec scripsit quis in universo coetu +monachorum." + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 18. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +Whilst the Church in France was reaping the benefit of the holy Abbot's +preaching and example, a zealous Irish prelate was actively and +successfully engaged in eradicating vice which sprang up in this country, +as a consequence of the long-protracted wars with the Danes, and the +demoralising effects of intercourse with that people. Nevertheless, +Ireland had then its saints and scholars, and the ancient seats of +learning, such as Armagh, Bangor, Lismore, Clonard, and Clonmacnoise were +once more inhabited by numerous communities. This saintly prelate was St. +Malachy, who, being on his way to Rome, heard of the sanctity of the great +St. Bernard, and would fain pay him a visit. This visit would St. Malachy +have gladly prolonged; for then and there sprang up a mutual affection, +which, writes our own Tom Moore, "reflects credit on both." St. Malachy +was so enamoured with what he witnessed at Clairvaux, and particularly +with the wise discourses of the learned Abbot, that he determined to +become one of his disciples. Innocent II., who then ruled the flock of +Christ, on the Saint seeking his permission to retire to Clairvaux, would +not hearken to his request, but giving him many marks of his esteem, +appointed him his Legate in Ireland, and commanded him to return thither. +If St. Malachy might not live at Clairvaux in the midst of the fervent men +whom he there beheld earnestly intent in the great work of mortification +and expiation, he resolved, at least, to have a colony of them near him in +his own country, that by their prayers and example, they might promote +God's glory, and in a measure, repeat the glorious traditions of the +ancient monastic ages in Ireland. In furtherance of this happy project, he +singled out four of his travelling companions, whom he gave in charge to +St. Bernard, with these words: "I most earnestly conjure you to retain +these disciples, and instruct them in all the duties and observances of +the religious profession, that, hereafter they may be able to teach us." +On receiving an assurance of a hearty compliance from St. Bernard, he +took cordial leave of his friend and returned to Ireland. Not long after +he sent more of his disciples to join those whom he had already left at +Clairvaux, and on their arrival, St. Bernard wrote as follows: "The +Brothers who have come from a distant land, your letter and the staff you +sent me, have afforded me much consolation in the midst of the many +anxieties and cares that harass me.... Meanwhile, according to the wisdom +bestowed on you by the Almighty, select and prepare a place for their +reception, which shall be secluded from the tumults of the world, and +after the model of those localities which you have seen amongst us." The +place selected by St. Malachy as the site of the future monastery, was the +sequestered valley watered by the River Mattock, situated about three and +one half miles from Drogheda, Co. Louth, and much resembling Clairvaux, +which, too, was located in a valley, shut in by little hills on all sides. +Donogh O'Carroll, Prince of Oriel, the lord of the territory, freely +granted the site to God and SS. Peter and Paul, munificently endowed the +monastery with many broad acres, and supplied wood and stone for the +erection of the buildings. This grant was made in either 1140 or 1141. The +charter of endowment by O'Carroll has not been found. + +It would appear from another letter of St. Bernard to St. Malachy, that he +had sent some monks from Clairvaux to make preparations for those who were +to immediately follow, and that already their number was augmented at +Mellifont by the accession of new members from the surrounding district, +who had joined them on their appearance in that locality. In this same +letter St. Bernard writes: "We send back to you your dearly-beloved son +and ours, Christian, as fully instructed as was possible in those rules +which regard our Order, hoping, moreover, that he will henceforth prove +solicitous for their observance." This Christian is commonly supposed to +have been archdeacon of the diocese of Down. He was certainly first Abbot +of Mellifont, and his name shall turn up in connection with important +national events later on. With Christian came a certain Brother Robert, a +Frenchman, a skilful architect, who constructed the monastery after the +model of Clairvaux. + +That these were the pioneers of the Cistercian Order in Ireland cannot for +one moment be doubted, both from the very important fact, that the Abbot +of Mellifont took precedence of all the Abbots of his Order in this +country, and also, because it is an historical fact, that St. Mary's +Abbey, Dublin, the other claimant for priority, did not exchange the +Benedictine for the Cistercian Rule till, at earliest, 1148, when the +Abbot of Savigni in France, with the thirty houses of his Order +(Benedictine) subject to his jurisdiction, were admitted into the +Cistercian family by Pope Eugenius III., who presided at the General +Chapter of the Cistercians that year. St. Mary's was founded from +Buildewas, in Shropshire, and this latter was subject to Savigni. + +Various reasons are assigned for the adoption by these ancient monks of +the name Mellifont, which signifies "The Honey Fountain." Some are of +opinion it had a spiritual signification, and had reference to the +abundance of blessings which would flow, and be diffused over the whole +country from this centre, through the unceasing and fervent intercessory +prayer of its holy inmates; for next to their own sanctification, their +neighbour's wants claimed and received their practical sympathy. Like +divine charity it gushed forth from hearts totally devoted to God's +service and interests, and this zeal would be halting and incomplete did +it not embrace the spiritual and temporal concerns of their fellow +mortals. Others derive the name from a limpid spring which supplied the +monks with a copious, unfailing stream of sweet water, which had its +source in Mellifont Park about one quarter of a mile distant, and which +was conducted by pipes through the various parts of the monastery. This +seems a very plausible account, and as the spring rose at a high level, it +had sufficient pressure to obviate the necessity of a cistern as was +erroneously supposed in connection with the Lavabo. + +It was customary with the old Irish Cistercians to give their monasteries +symbolical names at their foundation, and these names often denoted some +local feature or peculiarity. Thus, Newry was called of the "Green Wood," +from the abundance of yew trees around the monastery there; Corcomroe, Co. +Clare, was known under the title of the "Fertile Rock;" Baltinglas, Co. +Wicklow, as the "Valley of Salvation," etc. + +It is said that the "Honey Fountain" had its source in Mellifont Park, but +it seems that few of the present generation living in the vicinity of +Mellifont know or appreciate its virtues. In the Ordnance Survey, it is +stated that it rose in Mellifont Park, which was formerly a wood, and that +to the north of the well, a few trees still remained at the time of the +Survey, when the farm belonged to a Mr. James Curran. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +AN EPITOME OF THE RULE OBSERVED AT MELLIFONT AT ITS FOUNDATION AND FOR +ABOUT A CENTURY AND A HALF AFTERWARDS. + + "Here man more purely lives; less oft doth fall; + More promptly rises; walks with stricter heed; + More safely rests; dies happier; is freed + Earlier from cleansing fires; and gains withal + A brighter crown." + (_Saint Bernard._) + + +In the foregoing verses St. Bernard summarises the manifold advantages +accruing from the profession and practice of the rule which he and his +fellow abbots drew up for their followers. In that age of chivalry and +wide extremes, men's minds were profoundly moved by the world-wide +reputation and discourses of an outspoken, fearless monk, who confirmed +his words by incontestable and stupendous miracles. Then, it was nothing +unusual to see the impious sinner of yesterday become a meek repentant +suppliant for admission into some monastery to-day, where he could expiate +and atone for his former grievous excesses. The innocent, also, sought the +shelter of the cloister from the contaminating influences of a corrupt and +corrupting world; and in the spirit of sacrifice presented themselves as +victims to God's outraged justice. At that same period, that is, about the +middle of the twelfth century, there was witnessed an unwonted movement +towards monasticism in its regenerated condition, as the Church Annals +abundantly testify. This happy tendency was mainly due to St. Bernard's +influence and popularity, and was well illustrated by the saying of the +historian: "The whole world became Cistercian." + +In essaying to reform St. Benedict's Rule, the first Fathers of the +Cistercian Order sought only to restore its primitive simplicity and +austerity, but they, nevertheless, added some wise provisions which +established their reform on a firm basis, and which the experience of ages +proved to be indispensable. First of all, it was ordained, that all houses +of the Order should be united under one central controlling power, and +that all the Superiors should meet annually for deliberation on matters +appertaining to the maintenance of discipline and the correction of +abuses. This assembly was called the General Chapter, over which the Abbot +of Citeaux presided as recognised head of the Order. Till then, no such +institution existed, and an Abbot General, as we may call him, had it in +his power, from incapacity or any other cause, to disorganise a whole +Order. Under the General Chapter such a catastrophe was impossible. +Besides this wise enactment, St. Stephen drew up what he called the "Chart +of Charity," by which it was ordained that the abbot of a monastery who +had filiations (that is, offshoots or houses founded directly from that +monastery) subject to him, should visit them annually either in person or +by proxy, and minutely inquire into their spiritual, disciplinary, and +financial condition. The abbots of those filiations were bound to return +the visit during the year; but they did so in quality of guest and not as +"Visitor," the official title of the Abbot of the Parent House; or, +"Immediate Father," as he is called. Thus the bands of discipline were +kept tightly drawn, and harmony, with uniformity of observance, was +maintained throughout the entire Order. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF LAVABO (OCTAGON.) See p. 26. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +The denizens of the Cloister at that time consisted of two great classes, +who, indeed, enjoyed alike all the advantages of the state, but differed +in their functions and employments. One was busied with the cares of +Martha, the other was admitted to the privilege of Mary. The former were +employed chiefly in domestic duties, and various trades, and were +entrusted with the charge of the granges or outlying farms. These were the +Lay Brothers. Frequently their ranks were augmented by the noble and the +learned, who, unnoticed and unknown till their holy death, guided the +plough, delved the soil, or tended the sheep and oxen in the glades of the +forest. The other class resided in the monastery and devoted their time to +the chanting of the Divine Office, alternating with study in the Cloister +and manual labour in the fields and gardens. These were the choir monks. +Their dress was white. By vigorous toil and strict economy, these good old +monks wrested a competency from their farms, and freely shared their +substance with the needy and the stranger. They exhibited to an astonished +world a practical refutation of its corrupt maxims and habits. Thus by +their very lives, they preached most efficaciously; for by their contempt +of worldly honours and pleasures they gave proof abundant of the faith +that enlightened them to recognise the sublimity of the Gospel truths; of +the hope that sustained them to courageously endure temporal privations +for the sake of future rewards; and of the charity that prompted them to +liken themselves to Jesus Christ, their Master, who, being rich, became +poor for their sakes. Some may be inclined to consider all this as the +effect of monkish extravagance, weak-mindedness, and folly; but modern +investigation, instituted and carried to a successful issue by honest +Protestant writers, has brushed aside such calumnies as hackneyed +catch-words, and has proved that beneath the monk's cowl, there were found +hearts as warm and minds as broad as in any state or grade of society. It +must also be remembered, that for centuries the monks were the teachers +who moulded and fashioned the youth of the upper and middle classes. + +Two o'clock A.M. was the usual hour for rising, when the monks, obedient +to the Sacristan's signal, rising from their straw pallets and slipping on +their sandals (for they slept fully dressed, as the poorer classes of the +time are said to have done,) they left the Dormitory by the stairs that +led down to the southern transept, and proceeding noiselessly, they +reached the Choir where they immediately renewed the oblation of +themselves to God. Then the Office of Matins was commenced, and it with +Lauds occupied about one hour. On solemn festivals the monks rose at +midnight, and the Office lasted over three hours; for then the whole of it +was sung. Matins and Lauds over, they proceeded to the Reading-cloister to +study the Psalms, or Sacred Scripture, or the Fathers: some prolonged +their devotions in the church, where with clean, uplifted hands, they +became powerful mediators between God and His creatures; too many of whom, +alas, ignore their personal obligations. At that time, too, the priests +might celebrate their Masses, as the ancient Rule gave them liberty to +select that hour if they felt so inclined. We do not know how many priests +were amongst the Religious at Mellifont soon after its establishment, but +they must have numbered about twenty, since there were ten altars in the +church. And judging by the number of priests in other monasteries of the +Order at that period, this figure is not too high. We know that in 1147, +there were fifty priests at least at Pontigny, one of the four first +houses of the Order. About five o'clock the monks assembled in Choir for +Prime, after which they went to Chapter, where the Martyrology and portion +of the Rule were sung, as has been already explained. Chapter over, they +entered the Auditorium, where they took off and hung up their cowls, and +each went thence to the manual labour assigned him by the Prior. In +winter, nearly all went out to work in the fields, grubbing up brushwood +and burning it, and so preparing the ground for cultivation. After some +hours spent in labour, they returned to the monastery where they had time +for reading; they then went to Choir for Tierce and High Mass. During +winter the Mass was sung before going out to work. In summer they dined at +11.30, after which an hour was allowed for repose, and None being sung +they resumed their labour in the fields. In winter, dinner was at +half-past two; the evening was spent in study and in chanting the Offices +of Vespers and Compline, and at seven they retired to rest. In summer the +hour for repose was eight o'clock. The Office of Completorium or Compline +always closed the exercises of the day, and all passed before the Abbot, +from whom they received holy water as they left the church. Each went +straight to his simple couch where sweet repose awaited him after his day +of toil and penitential works. His frugal vegetable fare, without +seasoning or condiment, barely sufficed for the wants of nature, and even +this was sparingly doled out to him; for during the winter exercises, that +is, from the 14th of September to Easter, he got only one refection daily +except on Sundays, when he always got two. Wine, though allowed in small +quantities at meals in countries where it was the common drink, was not +permitted here, but in its stead, the monks used beer of their own +brewing. Their raiment consisted of a white woollen tunic of coarse +material and a strip of black cloth over the shoulders, and reaching to +below the knees, gathered in at the waist with a leathern girdle. Over +these, when not employed in manual labour, was worn the long white garment +with wide sleeves, called the cowl. The tunic was the ordinary dress of +peasantry in the twelfth century, and was retained by the reformers of St. +Benedict's Rule, partly because it was the prescribed dress of the monks, +and partly as an incentive to humility; a mark of the perfect equality +which reigned in monasteries, and which removed all distinction of class. + +[Illustration: ARCH OF LAVABO (OCTAGON.) See p. 26. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +Such was the ordinary routine of life led at Mellifont, but then certain +officials filled important offices which necessarily brought them in +constant contact with the outer world. Such, for instance, was the +Cellarer, who had charge under the Abbot of the temporalities of the +monastery, and catered for all the wants of the community. Some were +deputed to wait on the guests and strangers, while others cared the sick +poor in the hospice with all charity and tenderness. For the maintenance +of the sick poor large tracts of land or revenues arising from +house-property were very often bequeathed by pious people, and the monks +were then their almoners; but, with or without such a provision from +outside, the monks did maintain these establishments from their own +resources. + +The Abbot entertained the guests of the monastery at his own table, +dispensing to them such frugal fare as was in keeping with the Rule; for +meat was not allowed to be served, except to the sick. He had his kitchen +and dining-hall apart, but in every other respect, he shared in all the +exercises with his brethren. Though he occupied the place of honour and of +pre-eminence in the monastery, yet he was constantly reminded in the +Rule, that he must not lord it over his monks, but must cherish them as a +tender parent. His object in all his ordinances should be to promote the +welfare of the flock entrusted to him, for which he should render an +account on the last day. + +From this relation of the manner of life at Mellifont, we see that it was +in strict conformity with St. Bernard's definition of the Cistercian +Institute, when he writes: "Our Order is humility, peace, and joy in the +Holy Ghost. Our Order is silence, fasting, prayer, and labour, and above +all, to hold the more excellent way, which is charity." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +MELLIFONT TAKES ROOT AND FOUNDS NEW HOUSES OF THE ORDER. + + "Even thus of old + Our ancestors, within the still domain + Of vast Cathedral or Conventual church, + Their vigils kept; where tapers day and night + On the dim altars burned continually, + In token that the House was evermore + Watching to God. Religious men were they: + Nor would their reason tutored to aspire + Above this transitory world, allow + That there should pass a moment of the year + When in their land the Almighty's service ceased." + (_Wordsworth._) + + +The history of Mellifont may be justly said to reflect the concurrent +history of Ireland. It is so intimately connected and interwoven with that +of our country, that they touch at many points, and we can collect matter +for both as we travel back along the stream of time and observe the +footprints on the sands, where saint, and king, chieftain, bishop, and +holy monk, have left their impress and disappeared, to be succeeded later +on by the baron and his armed retainers. How different the Ireland of +to-day from the Ireland that Christian, the first Abbot of Mellifont, +beheld when he and his companions settled down in the little valley, in +the land of the O'Carroll! How many changes have passed over it since, +leaving it the poorest country in Europe, though one of the richest in +natural resources! But these considerations appertain to the politician; +they do not lie within the scope of the present writer. Next to building +their church and monastery, the first care of the monks on their immediate +arrival at Mellifont, was to prepare the soil for tillage; for, judging +from the nature of the surroundings, it must have been overrun with dense +brushwood, unbroken, save at distant intervals, by patches of green sward. +Most houses of the Order in Ireland had to contend with similar conditions +at their foundation; of Dunbrody, Co. Wexford, we are expressly told, that +the monk sent by the Abbot of Buildewas to examine the site of the future +monastery, found on it only _a solitary oak surrounded by a swamp_. But +these old monks were adepts in the reclamation of waste lands, and soon +the hills rang with the instruments of husbandry. Pleasant gardens and +fertile meadows rewarded their toil, and their example gave a stimulus to +agriculture, which, till then, was neglected by a pastoral people. At the +same time, they manufactured bricks in the locality, and employed them in +their buildings. Then rumour on her many wings flew far and near, and +spread the fame of the new-comers to that remote valley, and soon the +monastery was crowded with visitors intent on seeing the strangers and +observing closely their manner of life. The sight pleased them. The ways +of these monks accorded with the traditions handed down of the inhabitants +of the ancient monasteries, before the depredations of the Danes, and the +hearts of a highly imaginative race, with quick spiritual instincts, were +attracted towards St. Bernard's children. Immediately began an influx of +postulants for the Cistercian habit, and every day brought more, till the +stalls in the Choir were filled, and Abbot Christian's heart overflowed +with gladness. In consultation with St. Malachy, Abbot Christian decided +on founding another monastery, as his own could no longer contain the now +greatly-increased community. A new colony was sent forth from it, and thus +in two years from the foundation of Mellifont, was established "Bective on +the Boyne." Some say that Newry, which was endowed by Maurice M'Loughlin, +King of Ireland, at St. Malachy's earnest entreaty, was the first +filiation of Mellifont. The charter of its (Newry) foundation happily has +come down to us, but it bears no date. However, O'Donovan, who translated +it into English from the Latin original in MS. in the British Museum, says +it was written in 1160. As it is the only extant charter granted to a +monastery by a native king before the Invasion, a copy of the translation +is given in the Appendix. + +Under the patronage, then, of St. Malachy and the native princes, and by +the skill, industry, and piety of its inmates, Mellifont rose and +prospered, and merited an exalted place in popular esteem. The monastery +was in course of construction, and their new church nearing completion, +when a heavy trial befell the monks in the death of their unfailing +friend, wise counsellor, and loved father, St. Malachy, which took place +at Clairvaux, in the arms of St. Bernard, A.D. 1148. St. Bernard delivered +a most pathetic discourse over the remains of his friend, and wrote a +consoling letter to the Irish Cistercians, condoling with them on the loss +they and the whole Irish Church had sustained on the death of St. Malachy. +He, later on, wrote his life, and willed, that as they tenderly loved each +other in life, so in death they should not be separated. Their tombs were +side by side in the church of Clairvaux, till their relics, enshrined in +magnificent altars, with many costly lamps burning before them, were +scattered at the French Revolution, and the rich shrines were smashed and +plundered. Portions of their bodies were, however, preserved by the good, +pious people of the locality, and their heads are now preserved with +honour in the cathedral of Troyes, France. The writers of the Cistercian +Order claim St. Malachy as having belonged to them; for, they say that +being previously a Benedictine, he received the Cistercian habit from St. +Bernard during one of his visits to Clairvaux. They add that St. Bernard +exchanged cowls with him, and that he wore St. Malachy's ever after on +solemn festivals. The Saint's life is so well known that it needs no +further notice here. Before his death, he saw three houses founded from +Mellifont, namely, Bective, Newry, and Boyle. + +Two years after St. Malachy's death, that is, in 1150, the monks of +Mellifont experienced another serious loss when their venerated Abbot, +Christian, was appointed Bishop of Lismore, and Legate of the Holy See in +Ireland, by Pope Eugenius III., who had been his fellow-novice in +Clairvaux. Christian's brother, Malchus, was elected to the abbatial +office in his stead. Malchus proved himself a very worthy superior, and +Mellifont continued on her prosperous course, so much so, that in 1151, or +nine years from its own establishment, it could reckon as many as six +important filiations, namely, Bective, Newry, Boyle, Athlone, Baltinglas, +and Manister, or Manisternenay, Co. Limerick. + +In 1152, St. Bernard passed to his reward, after having founded 160 houses +of his Order, having edified Christendom by the splendour of his virtues, +and astonished it by his rare natural gifts, which elevated him far above +all his contemporaries. From the moment that he accepted the pastoral +staff as Abbot of Clairvaux, till his death, that is, during the space of +forty years, he was the figurehead of his Order in whom its whole history +was merged during that long period. In fact, he became so identified with +the Order to which he belonged, that it was often called from him, +Bernardine; or, of Claraval, from his famous monastery; and it was in a +great measure owing to his influence, and in grateful acknowledgment of +the splendid services which he rendered the Church in critical times, that +Sovereign Pontiffs heaped so many favours on it. He was the fearless and +successful champion of the oppressed in all grades of society, and all +looked up to him as their guide and instructor. And yet this paragon of +wisdom, this stern judge of the evil-doer, was remarkable for his +naturalness and affectionate disposition. On the occasion of his brother +Gerard's death, he attempted to preach a continuation of his discourses on +the Canticle of Canticles, but his affection for his brother overcame him, +and after giving vent to his grief, he delivered a most touching panegyric +on his beloved Gerard. To the last moment of his life he entertained a +most vivid recollection of his mother, and cherished the tenderest +affection towards her memory. It may be doubted, that any child of the +Church ever defended her cause with such loyalty and success. One stands +amazed on reading what the Rev. Mr. King writes in his _Church History of +Ireland_, where he taxes St. Bernard with superstition, because the Saint +relates in his Life of St. Malachy, how that holy man wrought certain +miracles. So evident were St. Bernard's own miracles, that Luden, a German +Protestant historian, calls them "incontestable." 'Twere supreme folly to +accuse a man of St. Bernard's endowments and culture, of the weakness that +admits or harbours superstition, which generally flows from ignorance, or +incapacity to sift matters, and to test them in their general or +particular bearings. On the whole, Protestant writers speak and write +approvingly of him. + +In that year (1152), a Synod was held at Mell, which, according to Ussher, +is identical with Mellifont, though now a suburb of Drogheda is known by +that name. Other Irish writers say that this Synod was held at Kells. At +it Christian, then Bishop of Lismore and Legate of the Holy See, presided. +In the _Annals of the Four Masters_ it is related, that a "Synod was +convened at Drogheda, by the bishops of Ireland, with the successor of +Patrick, and the Cardinal, John Paparo," etc. O'Donovan, quoting Colgan, +tells us that Mellifont was known as the "Monastery at Drogheda." + +In this same year occurred the elopement of Dervorgilla, wife of Tiernan +O'Rourke, Prince of Brefny, with Dermod M'Murchad, King of Leinster. She +is styled the Helen of Erin, as it is commonly supposed that her flight +with Dermod occasioned the English Invasion. When O'Rourke heard of her +departure, he was "marvellously troubled and in great choler, but more +grieved for the shame of the fact than for sorrow or hurt, and, therefore, +was fully determined to be avenged." It is mentioned in the _Annals of +Clonmacnois_ that O'Rourke had treated her harshly some time previous, and +that her brother M'Laughlin connived at her conduct. Dervorgilla (which +means in Irish, The True Pledge), was forty-four years of age at the time, +whilst O'Rourke (who was blind of one eye) and M'Murchad, were each of +them sixty-two years old. O'Rourke was the most strenuous opponent of the +English at the Invasion, and was treacherously slain by a nephew of +Maurice Fitzgerald at the Hill of Ward, near Athboy, in 1172. He was +decapitated, and his head hung over the gates of Dublin for some time. It +was afterwards sent to King Henry, in England. + +From 1152 to 1157 the monks attracted no attention worth chronicling; for +during these five years they passed by unnoticed in our Annals. It is, +however, certain that they were busily engaged in the completion of their +church and in making preparations for its solemn consecration. And what a +day of rejoicing that memorable day of the consecration was, when +Mellifont beheld the highest and holiest in Church and State assembled to +do her honour! This ceremony far eclipsed any that had been witnessed +before that in Ireland. What commotion and bustle filled the abbey, the +valley, and the surrounding hills! A constantly increasing crowd came +thronging to behold a sight which gladdened their hearts and aroused their +piety and admiration. For, there stood the Ard Righ (High King) of Erin, +surrounded by his princes and nobles in all the pride and pageantry of +state, the Primate Gelasius, and Christian, the Papal Legate, with +seventeen other bishops, and almost all the abbots and priests in Ireland. +Then the solemn rite was performed, and many precious offerings were made +to the monks and to their church--gold and lands, cattle, and sacred +vessels, and ornaments for the altars, were bestowed with a generosity +worthy of the princely donors. O'Melaghlin gave seven-score cows and +three-score ounces of gold to God and the clergy, for the good of his +soul. He granted them, also, a townland, called Finnabhair-na-ninghean, a +piece of land, according to O'Donovan, which lies on the south side of the +Boyne, opposite the mouth of the Mattock, in the parish of Donore, Co. +Meath. O'Carroll gave sixty ounces of gold, and the faithless but now +repentant Dervorgilla presented a gold chalice for the High Altar, and +cloths for the other nine altars of the church. + +Mellifont looked charming on that propitious occasion, and presented a +truly delightful picture, with its beautiful church and abbey buildings +glistening in the sun in all the purity and freshness of the white, or +nearly white, sandstone of which they were composed. Yet, beautiful as +were the material buildings, far more so were those stones of the +spiritual edifice, the meek and prayerful cenobites, who were gathered +there to adore and serve their God in spirit and in truth. From that +valley there arose a pleasing incense to the Lord--the prayers, and hymns, +and canticles, which unceasingly resounded in that church from hearts +truly devoted to God's worship, and dead to the world and themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +MELLIFONT CONTINUES TO FLOURISH UNDER SUCCESSIVE EMINENT SUPERIORS. + + "This is no common spot of earth, + No place for idle words or mirth; + Here streamed the taper's mystic light; + Here flashed the waving censers bright; + Awhile the Church's ancient song + Lingered the stately aisles along, + And high mysterious words were said + Which brought to men the living Bread." + (_W. Chatterton Dix._) + + +After the consecration of their church the monks settled down to their +ordinary quiet way. The erection of the monastic buildings had hitherto +kept them occupied; now that these were completed, they devoted their +attention to the improvement of their farms, which they tilled with their +own hands, and to the embellishment of their immediate surroundings. Even +at this early period of her history, Mellifont was a hive of industry +where all the trades flourished and many important arts were encouraged. +At that time hired labour was sparingly employed by the monks; for they +themselves bore a share in the work of the artisans as well as in the +ordinary drudgery of tillage. Labour placed all on a footing of equality +whilst it gave vigour to the body by healthy exercise in the open air. +Perhaps, this healthy exercise was one of the secrets of the longevity for +which the monks were remarkable. Regularity of life continued for years +contributes to a state of health which dispenses with physicians. Wherever +monks settled down they immediately erected mills for grinding corn, for +preparing and finishing the fabrics of which their garments were made, +etc. St. Benedict enjoined on his monks the necessity of practising all +the trades and arts within the walls of the monastery, so that they need +never leave their enclosure for the purpose, or under the pretext, of +having their work done by externs. + +Eleven years passed without Mellifont receiving any notice from our native +chroniclers, and then at the year 1168, it is recorded, that Prince Donogh +O'Carroll, the Founder, died and was buried in the church there. Ware +tells us that his tomb and those of other remarkable personages had been +in the church. As it was an almost general custom in Ireland, that the +Founders of religious houses were interred on the north, or Gospel side of +the High Altar, so it may be justly inferred that he was buried within the +chancel, and that the recess on the north side is where his monument was +erected. Thus, King Charles O'Connor's tomb occupies the same place in +Knockmoy Abbey, Co. Galway, of which he was Founder. So, too, in Corcomroe +Abbey, Co. Clare, the tomb of Conor O'Brien, King of Thomond, grandson of +the Founder of that abbey, is still to be seen in a niche in the wall on +the north side of the High Altar. No doubt they were buried under the +pavement. The ancient Statutes of the Order permitted kings and bishops to +be buried in the churches, but assigned no particular part as proper to +them. + +In 1170, a monk named Auliv, who had been expelled[7] from Mellifont, +instigated Manus, the King of Ulster, to commit an "unknown and attrocious +crime," as the _Annals of the Four Masters_ call it; that is, to banish +the monks whom St. Malachy brought to Saul, Co. Down, and to deprive them +of everything they were possessed of. Instances of wicked men deceitfully +entering monasteries, at that time and at other periods of monastic +history, are given, but invariably the guilty party is severely censured, +and it is related that his fellow-monks rid themselves of him. St. Bernard +himself was deceived by his secretary, Nicholas, who afterwards left the +Order. "He went out from us," said the Saint, "but he did not belong to +us." + +The Order was spreading rapidly in Ireland, and the filiations from +Mellifont in their turn sent out new filiations, till most of the +picturesque valleys in this country sheltered and nurtured thriving +establishments; so much so, that O'Daly tells us "there were twenty-five +grand Cistercian abbeys in Ireland at the Invasion." But then a new era +dawned on this unhappy nation, and might usurped the place of right, cruel +unending strife and fierce jealousies were imported into the country, and +it became one vast battle-field. Ireland would have assimilated the two +contending races, but their amalgamation would have been detrimental to +English interests in this kingdom, and hence by statute, by bribe, by all +means available, the representatives of that Crown only too successfully +kept the feuds alive. Fain would they have made the Church an instrument +for the furtherance of these ulterior purposes, but, whilst she stood firm +as an integral part of Peter's Rock, neither English bribes nor English +wiles could subjugate her. True, Englishmen were appointed to the richest +benefices within the Pale to which the English kings had the right of +presentation, and these strove, with as much zeal as the knight or baron, +to extend the boundaries of the shire-lands. But the Irish prelates, by +their disinterestedness, and their personal and episcopal virtues, saved +the Church from the degradation that imperilled her. We shall see the +result of this policy as we proceed. + +Judging, by analogy, from the progress of society in other countries, and +from the relative number of monasteries founded in them and in Ireland +before the Invasion, it may be conjectured that the monastic system in all +its branches would have produced in this country the same fruits in +agriculture, in learning, and in the arts, as are attributed to it in the +history of other nations; and, in a special manner, it would have helped, +by the unity of government enforced in Religious Orders, to bind together +the discordant elements of society. Quite different, however, was it in +Ireland; for the sphere of action of each monastery was cramped, and +confined within a certain radius, beyond which its influences were not +felt, nor regarded otherwise than in a hostile spirit, or at best as an +object of suspicion. + +In 1172, the Abbot of Mellifont was sent to Rome on an embassy by King +Roderic O'Connor. We are not told its nature. + +In 1177, Charles O'Buacalla, then Abbot of this monastery, was elected +Bishop of Emly, where he died within a month after his consecration. In +1182, King Henry II. granted to the Abbot and community of Mellifont a +confirmation of their possessions, and three years later, King John, at +that time styled Lord of Ireland, renewed the confirmation while he was +residing at Castleknock, during his brief visit to this country, in 1185, +the thirty-second year of his father's reign. A copy of the Charter may be +seen in the Miscellany of the Archæological Society, Vol. I., page 158. +The original, which is one of the earliest of the Anglo-Irish documents +that have come down to us, is preserved in Trinity College, Dublin. By +this Charter King John confirmed to the monks of Mellifont the "donation +and concession" which his father made to them. By it he confirmed to the +monks "the site and ambit of the abbey, with all its appurtenances, +namely, the grange of Kulibudi (not on the Ordnance map), and Munigatinn +(Monkenewtown), with its appurtenances, the granges of Mell and Drogheda +(in Irish Droichet-atha, that is, bridge of the ford) and their +appurtenances, and Rathmolan (Rathmullen) and Finnaur (Femor), with their +appurtenances, the grange of Teachlenni (Stalleen), and the grange of +Rossnarrigh (Rossnaree), with their appurtenances, the townland of Culen +(Cullen) and its appurtenances, the grange of Cnogva (Knowth), the grange +of Kelkalma (not known now), with their appurtenances, Tuelacnacornari +(not known), and Callan (Collon), with their appurtenances, and the grange +of Finna (____) with its appurtenances." He also confirms the grants of +two carucates of land made to the monks by Hugh de Lacy, viz., of Croghan +and Ballybregan (?), and also one carucate of land given by Robert of +Flanders, called Crevoda, now Creewood, two miles west of Mellifont. + +[Illustration: SOUTH WALL OF LECTORIUM. _From Photo by W. Lawrence, +Dublin._] + +In 1186, St. Christian O'Connarchy, or Connery, who had been the first +Abbot of Mellifont and afterwards Bishop of Lismore and Legate of the +Holy See, died, and was buried at O'Dorney, Co. Kerry, a monastery of his +Order, which was founded in 1154, from Manister-Nenay. He had resigned all +his dignities six years before, in order the better to prepare himself for +a happy death. He was enrolled in the Calendar of the Saints of the +Cistercian Order, and his festival was kept in England in pre-Reformation +times, on the 18th March. In the eulogy of him in the Cistercian Menology +it is said, "that he was remarkable for his sanctity and wonderful +miracles, and that next to St. Malachy, he was regarded by the Irish +nation as one of its principal patrons," even down to the time that that +was written, A.D. 1630. An Irish gentleman who visited Italy in 1858, +wrote from Venice to a friend, that he had seen amongst the fresco +paintings which covered the wall of the beautiful church of Chiaravalla, +the first Cistercian monastery founded in Italy, a painting of St. +Malachy; also one entitled, "_S. Christianus Archieps. in Hibernia +Cisterciensis_"--"St. Christian, a Cistercian monk, and Archbishop in +Ireland." The error in ranking him as Archbishop probably arose from his +having succeeded St. Malachy as Legate. It was in his Legatine capacity +that he presided at several Synods, chiefly the memorable one convened by +King Henry at Cashel, in 1172. + +About the same time, there died at Mellifont, a holy monk named Malchus, +who is said to have been St. Christian's brother and successor in the +abbatial office, as has been related above. Ussher, quoting St. Bernard, +positively asserts that he was St. Christian's brother. And Sequin, who, +in 1580, compiled a Catalogue of the Saints of the Cistercian Order, +mentions Malchus in that honoured roll, and styles him "a true contemner +of the world, a great lover of God, and a pattern and model of all +virtues to the whole Order." He says, "he was one of St. Malachy's +disciples in whose footsteps he faithfully followed, and that he was +renowned for his sanctity and learning, as well as for the many miracles +he wrought." His feast was kept on the 28th of June. + +In 1189, Rudolph, or Ralph Feltham, Abbot of Furness, died and was buried +here. And in the same year, died Murrogh O'Carroll, cousin of the Founder, +near whom he was interred. + +In 1190, Pope Clement III. issued a Bull addressed to the General Chapter +of the Cistercian Order, dated July 6th of that year, enrolling St. +Malachy in the Calendar of Saints, and appointing the 3rd of November for +his festival. + +At that same General Chapter, it was decreed that the Irish Abbots be +dispensed from attending the General Chapter annually, and it was decided +that they should be present every third year; and a few years later, the +Abbot of Mellifont was charged to select three of their number who should +repair thither every year. + +In 1193, Dervorgilla died at the monastery of Mellifont. The _Annals of +the Four Masters_ and other Annals simply relate the fact of her having +died there in the 85th year of her age, without alluding to the place of +her sepulture. + +In that year, also, portions of the Relics of St. Malachy were brought to +Mellifont and were distributed to the other houses of the Order in +Ireland. Several of our Annals say that the Saint's body was brought over +from Clairvaux, but that is obviously a mistake; for until the French +Revolution, the bodies of St. Malachy and St. Bernard occupied two +magnificent altar-tombs of red marble within the chancel, at Clairvaux. A +charter, dated 1273, is still extant, whereby Robert Bruce, the rival of +John Baliol for the Scottish Crown, conveys his land of Osticroft to the +Abbot of Clairvaux for the maintenance of a lamp before St. Malachy's tomb +in that church. And the General Chapter of the Order held in 1323, when +raising the Saint's festival to a higher rank, expressly mentioned that +his body "rested" at Clairvaux. Meglinger, a German Cistercian monk, who +visited Clairvaux in 1667, and wrote a description of that famous abbey as +he beheld it, says that he was shown the heads of Saints Malachy and +Bernard, which were preserved in silver cases. He also mentions the superb +altar-tombs of the two Saints. Later on, the two celebrated Benedictine +monks, Dom Martène and Dom Durand, when in quest of MSS., called at +Clairvaux, and were shown the tombs and heads of the Saints. It is +scarcely necessary to remark that this respect and veneration were +entertained for the tombs only because they contained the bodies of the +holy men. + +In 1194, Abbot Moelisa, who then governed Mellifont, was made Bishop of +Clogher. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MELLIFONT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. + + "But I must needs confess + That 'tis a thing impossible to frame + Conceptions equal to the soul's desires; + And the most difficult of tasks to keep + Heights which the soul is competent to gain." + (_Wordsworth._) + + +Sixty years of uninterrupted prosperity have passed over Mellifont, during +which period it has been honoured by princes and people alike, and even +the English Kings have marked their esteem for it by heaping fresh favours +on it. It was still flourishing in 1201, when Thomas O'Connor, Archbishop +of Armagh, whom the Annals of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, style "a noble and +worthy man," chose it as his burial-place, and was buried there with great +honour. He was brother to Roderick O'Connor, King of Connaught. It was at +his instance that Joceline wrote his Life of St. Patrick. + +In 1203, King John "of his own fee" granted a new charter confirming that +given by his father some years before, and also giving the monks free +customs, together with the fishery on both sides of the Boyne. + +In 1206, Benedict and Gerald, monks of Mellifont, were deputed by Eugene, +Archbishop of Armagh, to wait on the King and to tender him, on the +Archbishop's behalf, three hundred marks of silver and three of gold for +restitution of the lands and liberties belonging to that See. It was the +King's custom to appropriate the revenues of the vacant bishoprics, and on +the confirmation by the Pope of the bishop-elect, he issued a writ of +restitution of the temporalities, or episcopal possessions and rights. The +King, in order to keep the temporalities the longer, often refused his +"_congé d'elire_," without which an election was invalid by the civil law. +Soon after the Invasion, King Henry II. held in his possession, pending +the appointment of new prelates, one archbishopric, five bishoprics, and +three abbeys, here in Ireland. + +In 1211, Thomas was Abbot, and seven years later, Carus, or Cormac +O'Tarpa, Abbot, and presumably immediate successor to Thomas, was made +Bishop of Achonry, which See he resigned in 1226, and returned to +Mellifont, where he died that same year, and was buried there. Some +two-and-one-half miles north of Mellifont, and one-half mile east of +Collon, between that village and Tinure, there is a crossing of the roads +still popularly known as "Tarpa's Cross." Local tradition has it that this +Cormac O'Tarpa, when Abbot, was wont to walk daily from the monastery to +this spot. + +About that time, or in 1221, Mellifont, from some unrecorded cause, fell +from its first fervour, but only for a very brief period; for the remedy +applied effected a thorough reform. In the Statutes of the Order for that +year, the General Chapter authorised the Abbot of Clairvaux to set things +right by bringing in monks from other monasteries, and so, as it were, +infuse new and healthier blood into the monastic life there. As no further +mention is made of the matter, the trouble, whatever its nature was, must +have been permanently removed. + +In 1227, Luke Netterville, Archbishop of Armagh, was buried here. It was +he who, three years previous, founded the Dominican monastery in Drogheda, +of which, now, only the Magdalen Tower remains. And in that year (1227), +Gerald, a monk of Mellifont, was elected Bishop of Dromore. + +In 1229, the King granted to the Abbot and Community of Mellifont a +Tuesday market in their town of Collon. + +In 1233, the General Chapter authorised all the Abbots of the Order to +have the Word of God preached on Sundays and festivals, to their servants +and retainers, in some suitable place. And in 1238, the King gave a new +confirmation to the monks of Mellifont. + +In 1248, the General Chapter granted permission to the English and Irish +Abbots of the Order, to hold deliberations on important local matters in +their respective countries. The Abbots of Mellifont, of St. Mary's Abbey, +Dublin, and of Duiske, Co. Kilkenny, were empowered to convoke all the +other Irish Abbots of the Order for consultation; the assembly thus +somewhat partaking of the nature of a Provincial Chapter. + +In 1250, no Englishman would be admitted to profession at Mellifont. In +1269, David O'Brogan, who had been a monk of this house, and afterwards +Bishop of Clogher, was buried here. In 1272, Hore Abbey, near Cashel, was +founded from Mellifont. In 1275, the General Chapter decreed that in the +admission of novices into the Order there should be no question of +nationality. + +Hitherto, the Cistercians confined themselves, in discharging the offices +of their sacred ministry, to their guests, servants, and the sick poor in +the hospitals at their gates; but now, the altered circumstances of the +times demand a change in their usages and impose fresh burdens on them, +for which they get no credit. The new Orders of St. Francis and St. +Dominic had settled down in this country, and were attracting a large +percentage of the young men, who, till then, entered the ranks of the Lay +Brethren, and managed the granges, or outlying farms, under the Cellarer. +In consequence, therefore, of the insufficiency of their numbers to work +the farms profitably, it was found necessary to lease these granges to +tenants, and hence the origin of many villages and towns that, in several +instances, arose on the site of the granges. The chapel attached to the +grange (for every grange had its chapel for the use of the Brothers in +charge) was converted into a parish church for the new population that +clustered around it. Of this church the monks became the pastors, except +when it lay at too great distance to be served from the monastery; in +which case, the monks employed secular priests. They built schools also, +where the children of the tenants and dependants received _gratuitously_ +from the monks themselves, an education similar to that at present +imparted in our primary schools. + +Though the study of Sacred Scripture, Theology, and Canon Law was +encouraged in the Order from its foundation; yet it was not until 1245 +that studies were fully organised by drawing up a curriculum that should +be obligatory. In that year it was ordained by the General Chapter that in +every Province there should be a central monastery to which the monks +should repair to read the prescribed course of studies under members of +the Order, who had graduated at some university. We are not told which of +the Irish monasteries was selected as the House of Studies; but, in 1281, +the General Chapter decided and decreed that in all the larger abbeys such +Houses of Studies should be established. + +There is an entry in the Annals of St. Mary's Abbey, at the year 1281, +giving the price of cattle at that time. As it is interesting it is given +here: viz., twenty shillings each for a horse, a cow, or a bullock. + +In 1306, Mellifont first experienced the baleful effects of racial +jealousies and bickerings; for the monks could not, or would not, agree to +elect an Abbot; and during their dissensions, the King seized the +possessions of the monastery. We are not informed how matters terminated +on that occasion. + +In 1316, the General Chapter ordered that the English, Welsh, and Irish +Abbots should send some of their monks, in proportion to the number in +their respective monasteries, to the University of Oxford, to be educated +there. A few years previous, the Earl of Cornwall endowed at Oxford the +College of St. Bernard (now St. John's), for the Cistercians. How far the +Irish monks availed of this college cannot be known; probably those within +the Pale did largely benefit by it. One who obtained an unenviable +notoriety by his intemperate invectives against the Mendicant Orders, was +educated there--Henry Crump, an Englishman, and monk of the Abbey of +Baltinglas. But it is very dubious that the "_mere_ Irish" ventured to +cross its threshold. They would abstain from doing so from prudential +motives. + +The fourteenth century was ushered in by the repetition of feuds between +the Anglo-Irish and the Irish; and, as it grew older, the former fought +amongst themselves, with Irish auxiliaries on both sides. It may be here +remarked, as a curious historical fact, that it was the Irish who fought +the battles for the English Crown in Ireland; it was they, too, who +retained their country subject to that dominion, according to Sir John +Davis (_Discoverie_, p. 639); for no army ever came out of England from +the time of King John, except the expeditionary army of Richard II. The +few forces subsequently sent over, until the twenty-ninth year of Queen +Elizabeth, were to quell the rebellions of the English settlers. + +The most disastrous calamity in Ireland in this century, next to the great +plague of 1348, or the "Black Death," as it was called, was Bruce's +invasion in 1315. Friar Clyn tells us in his Annals, that Bruce and his +followers "went through all the country, burning, slaying, depredating, +spoiling towns and castles, and even churches, as they went and as they +returned." As a result the country was visited by a dreadful famine, and, +moreover, the Pope, writing to the Archbishops of Dublin and Cashel in +1317, alludes to scandals, murders, conflagrations, sacrileges, and +rapine, as following from that invasion. Though Bruce failed in his object +to overthrow the English power in Ireland, yet he so far succeeded, that +he weakened it considerably. + +In the year 1316 (according to Ussher), O'Neill addressed his famous +Remonstrance to Pope John XXII., in which, amongst other complaints, he +remarked, that the religious communities were prohibited by the law from +admitting anyone not an Englishman into monasteries within the Pale. In +response to this, the Pope sent two Cardinals to investigate the matter, +and also wrote a letter to King Edward II., exhorting him to adopt +merciful measures towards the Irish. The letter had not much effect, and +the cruelties and injustice continued; but, about twenty years later, +there was exhibited an unprecedented tendency on the part of the +Anglo-Irish and the Irish towards incorporation. The Irish people clung to +the great Geraldine family with a romantic affection which that chivalrous +race fully reciprocated. So, too, did they lean towards the rivals of the +Geraldines, the Ormondes, and to other Anglo-Irish barons, who, likewise, +had adopted Irish customs and sirnames. English power in this country had +grown to be regarded as merely nominal, and the administration of the law +and the office of Lord Deputy could no longer be committed to one or other +of the two principal families (the Geraldine or Ormonde), to whom the +Deputyship had been usually entrusted. To preclude the danger of these +haughty noblemen attempting to arrogate the state of the independent +native chieftains, and to firmly establish the English power, a +Parliament, which assembled at Nottingham, in the seventeenth of Edward +III. (1343), enacted laws for the reformation of the Irish Government. A +few months previous to the sitting of this Parliament, Sir Ralph Ufford +had been sent over as Lord Deputy, to stamp out this incipient spirit of +independence, and to impede the fusion of the two races. This nobleman, by +rigid and cruel measures, executed the nefarious intentions of the English +Parliament. He appropriated the goods of others, plundered, without +discrimination, the clergy, the laity, the rich and the poor; assigning +the public welfare as a pretext. He broke down the pride of the Earl of +Desmond, and for a while seized his estates; but, on Ufford's recall to +England and the appointment of Sir Walter Bermingham as his successor, +Desmond was restored to royal favour. Gradually the old animus was +revived, and old dormant jealousies between the two races were awakened, +until, in the year 1376, the "Statute of Kilkenny" threw the whole nation +into a state of commotion and chaos, and aroused a fierce hatred between +the Anglo-Irish and the later arrivals from England, who were styled by +that Act, "the English born in England." The latter despised the former +and called them "Irish Dogg;" the Anglo-Irish retorted, giving them the +name of "English Hobbe," or churl. These bickerings were reprobated by +the said Statute, which, at the same time, banned the whole race of the +native Irish. Sir John Davis writes of it: "It was manifest from these +laws that those who had the government of Ireland under the Crown of +England intended to make a perpetual separation between the English +settled in Ireland and the native Irish, in the expectation that the +English should in the end root out the Irish." And another Englishman +writes of this Statute: "Imagination can scarcely devise an extremity of +antipathy, hatred, and revenge, to which this code of aggravation was not +calculated to provoke both nations" (Plowden, _Historical Review of the +State of Ireland_.) The foregoing summary of the condition of affairs in +Ireland in the fourteenth century has been given, in order to illustrate +and explain the bald historical facts handed down to us having reference +to Mellifont during the same period. + +It will be remembered that in the year 1316, O'Neil complained to the Pope +that Irishmen were by law excluded from entering monasteries within the +Pale; accordingly, we read that in 1322, the monks of Mellifont, amongst +whom the English element then prevailed, would admit no man to profession +there who had not previously sworn that he was not an Irishman. Cox, who +derives his information from some old document in the Tower of London, +tells us that in 1323, the General Chapter of the Order strongly denounced +this pernicious practice, but there is no such decree, nor is there any +allusion to it in Martène at that date. That spirit seems to have been +gratifying to King Edward II.; for, in 1324, he complained to the Pope of +the violation of the law of exclusion, and Nicholas of Lusk, who was then +Abbot, was superseded; very likely, was summarily deposed, for the +infraction of it. + +At that very time, some of the other Cistercian monasteries under the +protection of the native chieftains, and totally composed of Irishmen, +were in a most prosperous condition, and merited the genuine esteem of +princes and people. Thus, the Abbey of Assaroe, or Ballyshannon, under the +fostering care of the Princes of Tyrconel, attained celebrity by the +regularity of its monks and the learning and sanctity of its Abbots, three +of whom were made Bishops at no distant intervals. Of Boyle Abbey, Co. +Roscommon, the same can also be said; for it throve and flourished without +royal favour or charter. On the other hand, Mellifont had a plethora of +charters, for which the monks there must have paid dearly. But, surrounded +as it was by covetous and not over-scrupulous neighbours in lawless times, +such safeguards were decidedly necessary. So, in 1329, Edward III. granted +them a confirmation of all former privileges, together with the right of +free warren in all their manors; and again in 1348, he gave them a fresh +confirmation, with the right to erect a prison in any of their lands in +the Co. Meath, and also the power to erect a pillory and gallows in their +town of Collon. The Abbot then, as a temporal lord over his own manors, +had power of life and death over his vassals therein; but he never +exercised the authority so vested in him by condemning anyone to death, +nay, even, he refrained from adjudicating on civil matters, as is seen by +dispensations granted by Popes to Irish Cistercian Abbots freeing them +from the obligation of acting as Justices. + +It is recorded that in 1329, in the battle in which the Louth men killed +their new Earl, John Birmingham, "there fell Caech O'Carroll, that famous +tympanist and harper, so pre-eminent that he was a phoenix in his art, and +with him fell about twenty tympanists who were his scholars. He was +called Caech O'Carroll because his eyes were not straight, but squinted; +and if he was not the first inventor of chord music, yet of all his +predecessors and contemporaries, he was the corrector, the teacher, and +director." + +How it fared with Mellifont during the fearful pestilence that ravaged all +Europe in 1348, is not related. Friar Clyn, the Franciscan Annalist, wrote +of it:--"That pestilence deprived of human inhabitants, villages and +cities, and castles and towns, so that there was scarcely found a man to +dwell therein." The mortality in the religious houses was very great, and +in some instances, only a few monks were left out of large and numerous +communities. It is said that in these countries the religious Orders never +recovered from the loss of the best and most learned of their members who +were then swept away. + +In 1351, Abbot Reginald was charged, as if it were a crime, and found +guilty, of having within two years collected of his own money, and from +the Abbots of Boyle, Knockmoy, Bective, and Cashel, and of having remitted +the sum of 664 florins to the Abbot of Clairvaux, while war was being +waged between England and France. But there was no treason or treasonable +intent in that; for the money was to defray the current expenses of the +Order, and was levied off every monastery in proportion to the resources +of each. Richard, Coeur de Lion, Alexander II. of Scotland, and Bela IV. +of Hungary had, in their day, contributed largely to this fund. + +In 1358, the Abbot of Mellifont made good his claim to three weirs upon +the Boyne, at Rosnaree, Knowth, and Staleen; but, in 1366, he was indicted +at Trim, for erecting an unlawful weir at Oldbridge, when the Jury found +against him, and he was ordered to reduce the weir to a certain breadth +and space, and he, himself, was sentenced to a term of imprisonment; but, +on his paying a fine of £10 to Roland de Shalesford, the sheriff of the +Co. Meath, this sentence was commuted. Ten years later, John Terrour, +successor to this Abbot, was sued for obstructing the King's passage of +the Boyne. + +In the years 1373 and 1377, the Abbot was summoned to attend Parliaments +held at Dublin and Castledermot respectively. In the former Parliament, +one hundred shillings were ordered to be levied from him, as his portion +of the subsidy granted to the Lord Justice, William de Windesore, by the +same Parliament. In 1380, the King gave a special mandate that no _mere_ +Irishman should be admitted to profession in this abbey. In 1381 and 1382, +the Abbot attended Parliaments held in Dublin, and in 1400, the King +granted a royal confirmation of all the land, manors, and liberties, +bestowed on the abbey by former charters; and in 1402, he pardoned the +Abbot and monks for their having admitted Irishmen to profession. However, +they were mulcted in the sum of £50. In 1415, Leynagh Bermingham, William +Davison, and John D'Alton were committed to the custody of the Abbot to be +kept by him as hostages for the allegiance of their respective fathers. In +1424, the Abbot, with the Archbishop of Armagh and Nicholas Taaffe, was +appointed Justice and Conservator of the Peace for the Co. Louth. + +The allusions to Mellifont during the remainder of this century are very +few and uninteresting. Whether, or not, it shared the fate of many other +Irish monasteries at that time and had no regular Abbot, but one who was +called Abbot _in commendam_, is not known; but the presumption is that it +had not a regular Abbot. These Abbots _in commendam_ were not monks, or +members of any Religious Order; but secular clerics, not necessarily in +Holy Orders. Sometimes, especially when the abuse had reached its greatest +height in the fifteenth century, they were even laymen; nevertheless, they +enjoyed the revenues of the abbeys committed to them, with the style and +title of Abbots, but exercised no spiritual jurisdiction in their abbeys. +This latter was confided to regular Priors who were selected by their own +Religious superiors. When laymen held the abbeys _in commendam_ they +commonly resided in them with their wives, families, retinues, servants, +etc., to the distraction and interference with the monks in their regular +observances, and finally, to the complete subversion of discipline. At +that very time this pernicious practice had brought the whole Order to the +brink of ruin; for we find the General Chapter on several occasions +deploring the injuries inflicted on religion, and lamenting the havoc +wrought by it, and they decided to send three of their number to Rome to +implore the Pope's protection against the growing evil. Still, it +survived, more or less, in these countries till the Reformation. Scotland +suffered more from it, apparently, than Ireland did, as can be seen from +the lists furnished by Brady in his _Episcopal Succession_. + +In 1476, the Abbot of Mellifont complained, that "owing to oppressions and +extortions within the County of Louth and Uriell, his monastery was +greatly indebted and impoverished." Certain it is, that for some time +previous, it had fallen from its former regularity and fervour; but, +through the zeal and tact of Abbot Roger who then governed it, it regained +its wonted prominence amongst the most observant monasteries. In 1479, +this same Roger having set forth to the King that he had "Jurisdiction +Ecclesiastical of all persons within his lands, as well secular as +ecclesiastical, the King, out of his love to the Cistercian Order, +granted to the Abbot and his successors, the _Jus de excommunicatis +capiendis_, and episcopal jurisdiction," (Stat. Roll. 19 Ed. IV., c. 5.) +The former privilege refers to the concession made to the Church by the +first clause of the Statute of Kilkenny, and which had been confirmed by +subsequent Parliaments for centuries after its first enactment. Under the +heading--"The Church to be free--Writ _De Excommunicato capiendo_," the +clause proceeds to ordain, "that Holy Church shall have all her franchises +without injury, ... and if any (which God forbid) do to the contrary, and +be excommunicated by the Ordinary of the place for that cause, so that +satisfaction be not made to God and Holy Church by the party so +excommunicated within a month after such excommunication, that then, after +certificate thereupon being made by the said Ordinary into the Chancery, a +writ shall be directed to the Sheriff, Mayor, Seneschal of the franchise, +or other officers of the King, to take his body, and to keep him in prison +without bail, until due satisfaction be made to God and Holy Church, etc." +By episcopal jurisdiction is here meant the civil rights and privileges +appertaining to the episcopal office, and enjoyed at that time by bishops +over their subjects, lay and clerical. And as to the spiritual, +quasi-episcopal jurisdiction--the Abbots of the Order had that as well as +exemption in relation to their own monks from the very foundation of the +Order; but by a Decree dated 28th September 1487, Pope Innocent VIII. +granted to all Cistercian Abbots quasi-episcopal jurisdiction over their +tenants, vassals, subjects, and servants. By this Decree, the Pope "took +all the Abbots, Abbesses, Monks and Nuns of the Order under his special +protection, together with all their goods, vassals, subjects, and +servants, and exempted and freed the same from _all jurisdiction, +superiority, correction, visitation_, subjection and power of Archbishops, +Bishops and their Vicars, etc., ... and subjected them immediately to +himself and the Holy See." This Decree is given in full in the _Privilegia +Ordinis Cisterciensis_, p. 179. + +That the Abbots of the Order exercised that privilege in this country +cannot be doubted. We read an instance of it in the _Triumphalia_, so ably +edited by the late Father Denis Murphy, S.J., where, even after the +Council of Trent and so recently as 1621, a certain secular priest, who +had been appointed by the Abbot of Holy Cross to the pastoral charge of +the parish attached to that abbey and of one or more outlying parishes +subject to the same Abbot, denied after some time, that he had his +faculties from the said Abbot, but rather from the Archbishop, or his +Vicar. The controversy lasted long, but finally, it was decided in the +Abbot's favour, and Dr. Kearney, then Archbishop of Cashel, acknowledged +the Abbot's title. And again, in the _Spicelegium Ossoriense_ there is a +letter from Dr. O'Reilly, Archbishop of Armagh, written to the Propaganda +in 1633, in which he complained that the Cistercians claimed the privilege +of "_Visitation, Correction, Summoning to Synods, Approbation to hear +confessions, together with entire and absolute episcopal jurisdiction_." +And a further proof in favour of the practice is found in the fact that +laymen who acquired the suppressed monasteries of the Order claimed and +exercised that same privilege. Thus, in 1622, Archbishop Ussher in a +Report of Bective parish said it belonged to Bartholomew Dillon, Esq. of +Riverstown, his Majesty's farmer of the impropriate property. "This church +belongeth to the Abbey of Bectiffe, in the possession of the said Mr. +Dillon, who pretendeth to have an exemption from the Lord Bishop's +jurisdiction, and doth prove wills and grant administrations." And in +1744, Harris writes of Newry, where once was a Cistercian Abbey also: "A +mitred Abbot formerly possessed the lordships of Newry and Mourne, and +exercised therein Episcopal Jurisdiction, which after the dissolution of +the Abbey was done by the temporal proprietor, and at the present Robert +Needham, Esq., to whom the town and manor belong, enjoys an exempt +Jurisdiction within the said manors, and the seal of his court is a Mitred +Abbot in his Albe sitting in a chair, and supported by two yew trees with +this inscription: '_Sigillum exemptæ Jurisdictionis de Viride Ligno alias +Newry et Mourne_.'" Which in English means, the seal of the Exempt +Jurisdiction of Newry and Mourne. Verily! this savours of Popery; for, it +was from the Pope the monks received their exemption. A modern example of +this Papal concession, exercised in the Anglican Church, is to be found in +the case of the Dean of Westminster who is immediately under the +jurisdiction of her Gracious Majesty the Queen, and consequently exempt +from that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is as successor to the Abbot +of Westminster that he claims and is allowed that privilege of exemption; +for the Abbot was immediately subject to the Pope in pre-Reformation +times. + +The Abbot of Mellifont was implicated in the rebellion of Lambert Simnel; +for in 1488, he received pardon from the King for his offences in that +connection. The close of the fifteenth century found Mellifont recovering +and maintaining its old prestige amongst the Religious Orders of this +country, and with the dawning of a new century, it had regained its former +level, from which a host of circumstances had conspired to drag it down +and to degrade it. These circumstances have been already detailed and need +not be here repeated. + +In civil matters, Ireland in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, +presented the same, or nearly the same, condition as she did more than +three centuries before, when the English first landed on her shores. The +Pale was literally bounded by the Liffey and the Boyne, and the old feuds, +the long-protracted wars between the Anglo-Irish and the natives still +subsisted. The regular administration of the law was limited to the four +counties adjoining the capital, called the "Four Obedient Counties." It +seems incontestable that religion was in a flourishing condition in this +country during the period; for an unwonted activity and fervour animated +both clergy and people, as can be inferred from the number of religious +houses established; the frequency of Synods held denoting zeal and +regularity on the part of the prelates convening them; and the common +practice, so much then in vogue, of visiting, through a spirit of penance +and devotion, the Holy Places at home and in far-off countries. Our Annals +prove this to demonstration. But, it must be borne in mind that the spirit +of exclusion was still in full force amongst the Anglo-Irish clergy, and +no Irishman was eligible for benefices within the Pale. Learning, which is +ever the handmaid of true piety, found its home as in ancient times +amongst the two classes of the clergy, the secular and regular. The number +of learned works published at that time clearly proves it. Amongst the +many eminent men who then adorned the Church in Ireland, Maurice O'Fihely, +Archbishop of Tuam, ranks foremost. His biographers, for he had many, +inform us, that he "was eminent for his extraordinary knowledge in +Divinity, Logic, Philosophy, and Metaphysics," that he published a +Dictionary of the Holy Scriptures, and was styled by his contemporaries at +home and abroad, "The Flower of the World." He had been a Franciscan +Friar before his promotion to the See of Tuam, but did not long survive +his appointment. + +Now, capital has been made by some writers out of a description of the +Church in Ireland taken from the State Papers, Part III., Vol. II., pp. +15, 16. If it reflected a true picture, a Reformation would indeed have +been needed, but not the kind introduced by Henry VIII., nurtured by +Edward VI., and propagated with fire and sword by Elizabeth. The Report +states: "Some sayeth, that the prelates of the Church and the clergy is +much the cause of all the mysse order of the land, for there is no +archbyshop, ne bysshop, abbot, ne prior, parson ne vicar, ne any other +person of the church, high or lowe, greate or smalle, Englysh or Irishe, +that usythe to preach the worde of Godde, saveing the poor fryers +beggars."... "Some sayeth"--Who were these "Some," or what was their +assertion worth? Were they parties who benefited by the disturbance of the +old order of things at the Suppression, and so suspected of having been +partial, and eager to seek any and every palliation for the State Church +as by law established. Now every student of Irish history, as contained in +our Annals, knows that that anonymous statement is unwarranted by fact. It +will suffice to take two instances, as we find them recorded in Dowling's +_Annals_ about this time, to show the fallacy of the accusation of +wholesale neglect of preaching the Word of God. Of Nicholas Maguire, +Bishop of Leighlin, 1490-1512, Dowling (Protestant Chancellor of Leighlin) +writes: "When he was Prebendary of Ullard, he preached and delivered great +learning with no less reverence, being in favour with the King and +nobility of Leinster, who, together with the Dean and Chapter, elected him +Bishop of Leighlin." And of Maurice Deoran, or Doran, who a few years +later succeeded him in Leighlin, Dowling again writes: "He was a most +eloquent preacher." It cannot be denied that at that time some Church +dignitaries affected the airs and magnificence of worldly magnates, nor +that they gave scandal to their flocks by their absenteeism. Other abuses, +no doubt, existed, but the watchful providence of God had made provision +for their removal through His authorised ministers. But, alas! a new +condition of affairs shall soon arise. The most powerful political engine +ever fabricated for the extension of the English power in Ireland shall be +introduced, one which shall eventually break up the tribe lands, +annihilate the sway of the ancient chieftains, and reduce their +impoverished descendants to the condition of serfs and menials. And this +shall be called reforming the Church! Even in this revolution, Mellifont +shall play her part, and become revolutionized and misappropriated. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SUPPRESSION OF MELLIFONT. + + "No more shall Charity with sparkling eyes, + And smiles of welcome, wide unfold the door, + Where pity listening still to nature's cries, + Befriends the wretched and relieves the poor." + (_Keats._) + + +The Religious Orders, which succeed each other in the Catholic Church, are +subject to laws similar to those that govern the productions of nature. +They grow from feeble and imperceptible seeds, increase, flourish, and +bear fruit; then decrease, fade, and fall to the ground. But they have +produced a fruit, which contains within it the germs of a new seed-time, +and which bursts forth vigorously from the decaying sheath to reproduce +its never-failing kind. This work of reproduction and subsequent expansion +is aided, directed, and encouraged by him, to whom is divinely committed +the government of the Church; and when pseudo, self-styled reformers essay +the difficult task, their true character is unmasked in the inevitable +ruin and desolation which follow, instead of the order and rehabilitation +which were promised. Bluff King Hal, or the Merrie Monarch, as Henry VIII. +was familiarly and affectionately called by his loving subjects in the +beginning of his reign, was in need of money to squander on his passions +and pleasures. In his newly assumed character, therefore, of Head of the +Church in his dominions (which, by Act of Parliament, he made it high +treason to deny), he suppressed the lesser monasteries whose annual income +did not exceed £200. This was done, forsooth, in the interests of +religion!!! The proceeds of the confiscation were soon dissipated, and the +wily Cromwell, whom the King had appointed his _Vicar General_, suggested +the suppression and appropriation to the King's uses, of all the +monasteries within the realm. Again it is his zeal for the promotion of +God's glory that is pleaded as his motive for the nefarious deed. Three +years before, when addressing the Houses of Parliament in behalf of the +measure for the suppression of the lesser monasteries, he publicly gave +thanks to God, that in the large communities "religion is right well kept +and observed." And yet, what a metamorphosis in such a short space! All +had now fallen away, and had inexplicably sunk into all manner of +iniquity! Spelman, in his _History of Sacrilege_, tells the mode adopted +by this model Reformer to carry his motion for investing in the Crown the +property of all the Religious Orders. "The King sent for the Commons," he +tells us, "and informed them he would have the Bill pass, or take off some +of their heads." This they knew to be no empty threat; and pass the Bill +they did on that memorable day of May 13, 1539. The Lords, as a body, +voted for it; partly through a feeling of jealousy towards the Churchmen, +who enjoyed no inconsiderable share of the monarch's confidence and +favour, and so they rejoiced at whatever promised to destroy this good +understanding between them; and partly through cupidity, for they hoped +for a share in the booty. The Bishops at that juncture are blamed for +their weakness in complying with so unjust a proceeding; but they were +divided in their councils; some considering it the less of two evils to +sacrifice the Religious houses, in the hope that the misunderstanding +between the King and the Pope would be soon adjusted and the monks +restored, yielded to the King; others, unworthy of their office, as it +must be admitted, worldly men, courtly prelates, who dreaded the King's +displeasure, obsequiously obeyed his mandate. + +Besides his greed for gold, the King had another potent motive for +suppressing the monasteries, one that gave a zest to this disgraceful act: +he wanted the further to spite the Pope by inflicting such an unheard-of +injury on religion. Other motives, too, were not wanting, such as state +policy, so the King alleged, and the want of constant affection towards +his person on the part of the Religious, particularly in his new capacity. +This, Lord Herbert (who was no friend of the monks) admits in his Life of +the King. His Lordship writes: "The monks were looked upon as a body of +reserve for the Pope, and always ready to appear in his quarrels." +Perhaps, their opposition to the King's assumption of spiritual power +precipitated matters. At all events, one of them, zealous for God's law, +had the courage to reproach him to his face in a sermon preached at +Greenwich before the King's marriage with Anne Boleyn. This fearless +champion of justice, this intrepid son of St. Francis, thus addressed the +dissolute monarch:--"I am that Micheas, O King, whom you will hate because +I must tell you truly that this marriage is unlawful; and I know that I +shall eat the bread of affliction and drink the water of sorrow; yet, +because our Lord has put it in my mouth, I must speak it." And when he and +another faithful brother friar were brought before the King's council, who +rebuked them, and declared them deserving of being shut up in a sack, and +thrown into the Thames, for the boldness of their language in the matter +of the King's marriage, his companion smiling said: "Threaten these things +to the rich and dainty persons, who are clothed in purple, and fare +deliciously, and have their chiefest hope in this world; for we esteem +them not, but are joyful, that, for the discharge of our duty we are +driven hence; and, with thanks to God, we know the way to heaven to be as +ready by water as by land." (Stowe, _Church Chronicle_.) + +It was not, then, for dissoluteness of morals, nor for illiteracy, nor for +backwardness in preaching the Word of God, nor yet for being drones in +society, that the monks were turned from their peaceful homes. The true +cause was, that the King knew, and his criminal advisers also knew, that +the monasteries were as impregnable fortresses, which in defence of truth +and justice, would hold out firm against seductive bribes, and the most +appalling threats; hence they must be swept away under plea of general +corruption of morals, etc., and their properties held up as a bait to draw +over proselytes to the new order of things. The historian, Lingard, +writing of the attitude of the monks towards the King's supremacy in +spiritual matters, says: "Secluded from the world, the Religious felt +fewer temptations to sacrifice their consciences to the commands of their +Sovereign, and seemed more eager to court the crown than to flee the pains +of martyrdom." + +Here, in Ireland, one of the King's advisers counselled him to suppress +some of the monasteries, and to convert them into residences for young +noblemen, who would promote and defend the King's interests. Patrick +Finglas, created by Henry VIII. Chief Baron of the King's Exchequer, and +afterwards Lord Chief Justice, wrote a book entitled: "A Breviate of the +getting of Ireland and of the decay of the same," in which he recommends +the suppression of the monasteries bordering on the Pale, "because they +were giving more aid and supportacion to the Irish than to the King." "Let +the Abbeys," he goes on to say, "be given to young lords, knights, and +gentlemen out of England, which shall dwell upon the same." This advice +seemed good to the King, and it was literally carried out, but to far +greater extent than this astute lawyer had anticipated. + +Mellifont, in common with the other Religious establishments in Ireland +within grasp of the King (for in Ulster, they were free from molestation +under O'Neil and O'Donnell), must have heard with dismay the rumours +afloat about a general suppression, and grief and consternation must have +filled the hearts of the monks. Was it possible, they asked, that the +King, whose person they respected, whose laws they obeyed, would drive +them forth, wanderers over the world, which many of them had renounced in +early youth; and now, without adequate provision, were they, in their +declining years, to perish by the roadside? Were their beautiful church, +their loved cloister, their shady groves, no more to shelter them, and +were they to sever connection with a spot endeared to them by so many holy +associations? Yes, it is true, alas! for the Abbot of St. Mary's, Dublin, +being nearer authentic sources of information, has heard it and has sent +word, that sentence is passed on all, and their doom has sounded; for the +following Royal Commission was forwarded to the Deputy, with peremptory +orders to have it executed forthwith:-- + +Royal Commission directed to John Allen, Chancellor; George, Archbishop of +Dublin; William Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; Robert Cowley, Master of the +Rolls; and Thomas Cusacke, Esq.; reciting, "That from the information of +trustworthy persons, it being manifestly apparent that the monasteries, +abbeys, priories, and other places of Religious or Regulars, in Ireland, +are at present in such a state, that in them, the praise of God and the +welfare of man are next to nothing regarded; the Regulars and nuns +dwelling there being so addicted, partly to their own superstitious +ceremonies, partly to the pernicious worship of idols, and to the +pestiferous doctrines of the Roman Pontiff, that unless an effectual +remedy be promptly provided, not only the weak, low order, but the whole +Irish people, may be speedily infected to their total destruction. To +prevent, therefore, the longer continuance of such Religious men and nuns +in so damnable a state, the King (having resolved to resume into his hands +all the monasteries and Religious houses, for their better reformation, to +remove from them the Religious men and women, and to cause them to return +to some honest mode of living and to true religion,) directs the +Commissioners to signify this his intention to the heads of Religious +houses; to receive their resignations and surrenders willingly tendered; +to grant to those tendering it liberty of exchanging their habit and of +accepting benefices under the King's authority; to apprehend and punish +such as adhere to the Roman Pontiff and contumaciously refuse to surrender +their houses; to take charge for the King's use of the possession of those +houses, and assign competent pensions to those who willingly surrender." +(_Patent and Close Rolls, Chancery, Ireland_, Morrin, 1539-40, April 30, +Henry VIII., 30o, p. 55.) + +Most marvellous, indeed, and sudden, and quite unprecedented in history, +was this utter decadence from godliness to "idolatry and the pestiferous +doctrine of the Roman Pontiff" on the part of 100,000 persons within the +space of three short years! But, behold! the godly monarch will reform +them (supposing they needed reform) in the fashion recorded in the old +English proverb: "The devil amended his dame's leg; when he should have +set it right, he brake it quite in pieces." That the Deputy, Lord Gray, +did not consider the monks and nuns an effete body, addicted to evil +practices, will appear evident from the letter he addressed to Cromwell, +and which was signed by his Council. It bears date 21st May 1539:-- + +"May it please your honourable Lordship to be advertised, that by the +report of Thomas Cusacke and others repaired lately out of the realm of +England into this land, it hath been openly bruited the King's grace's +pleasure to be, that all the monasteries within this land should be +suppressed, none to stand. Amongst which, for the common weal of this +land, if it might stand with King's most gracious pleasure by your good +Lordship's advertisement, in our opinion it were right expedient that six +houses should stand and continue, changing their habit and rule into such +sort as the King's grace shall will them: which are namely, St. Mary's +Abbey, adjoining Dublin, a house of white monks (Cistercians); Christ +Church, a house of canons situated in the middle of the City of Dublin; +Grace Dieu Nunnery, in the County Dublin; Connell, in the County Kildare; +Kenlys or Kells, and Jerpoint (this latter Cistercian also), in the County +Kilkenny. _For in these commonly, and in others such like_, in default of +common inns, which are not in this island the King's Deputy and all others +his Grace's Council and Officers, also Irishmen and others resorting to +the King's Deputy in these quarters is and hath been most commonly lodged +at the cost of the said houses. _Also, in them, young men and children, +both gentlemen's children and others, both of man kind and woman kind be +brought up in virtue and in the Englishe tongue and behaviour to the great +charge of the said houses_; that is to say, the woman kind of the whole +Englishie of this land, for the most part, in the said nunnery, and the +man kind in the other houses." + +And the Abbot of St. Mary's, petitioning soon after for exemption from the +general suppression, pleads in a letter to the same Cromwell: "Verily we +be but stewards and purveyors to other men's uses for the King's honour, +keeping hospitality, and many poor men, scholars and orphans." + +All petitions are unavailing; the King is inexorable; and St. Mary's and +Mellifont, and the others included in the original list must go down +before the despot's unholy will, untried, unheard, but with the nation's +regret, those alone excepted, who thirsted for and shared the sacrilegious +booty. Before the lamp of piety and learning be extinguished for ever in +Mellifont, let us take a parting glance at it, so that the contrast may be +the more marked as we note its vicissitudes later on. + +In that bright July morning (1539), when the bell summoned the monks of +Mellifont to matins for the last time, the sun rose over as fair a picture +as could well be conceived, when its brilliant rays shot floods of light +through the woods and valley, and gilt the quivering tree-tops with +lustrous gold. And the enormous piles of white masonry looked whiter for +the glinting of the sun-beams, and many a fantastic shadow was cast on the +tesselated pavement in the church by the "dim religious light" of the +gorgeous stained glass windows. The statues of the Twelve Apostles looked +down patronisingly from lofty pedestals, and bore the minds of the +beholders aloft, to where the guerdon awaits the faithful soldier of +Christ when his term of service here below shall have expired. Loud rose +the rhythmic measure of the majestic Gregorian Chant rendered by over one +hundred full-voiced singers on that beautiful morning, ere yet the skylark +shook the dew-drops from his wings, or intoned his early carol o'er the +meadows by the Boyne. The pealing of the organ sounded loud and louder as +they chanted their solemn Mass, but to many who then took part in that +sacred function, its plaintive notes presaged the speedy end of their +time-honoured establishment, which at any moment may receive the fatal +visit of the Commissioners. In its internal economy it was wisely and +worthily governed, its community numbered 150 Choir monks, besides Lay +Brothers and familiars, its schools were prosperous, and from their +widespread reputation, merited the title of "famous" which was accorded +them. The children of the monks' tenants received a free education here; +moreover, the monks conducted a school, which we would now call a +seminary, where gentlemen's children and others were taught the higher +branches suited to prepare them for their career in after-life. Their +peaceful valley was screened on every side from wintry blasts by tasteful +plantations, useful and ornamental; for a thickly planted orchard, chiefly +of apple and pear trees, which covered both sides of the River Mattock +from the mill to where the bridge now spans the river, survived till +within the memory of many still living who describe it as having been so +dense that one could cross the valley on the tops of them. The grounds +surrounding the monastery were laid out with commendable taste; the lands +yielded plentiful crops, and supported numerous herds of cattle. The hill +south-east of the abbey was covered over with oak of gigantic size--the +growth of centuries--and on the Meath side were screens of valuable +timber. Their tenants were contented and prosperous; for the monks were +indulgent landlords. Their rents were paid in kind, and for the rest, they +found a ready market always at the abbey, where a huge supply of +provisions was constantly needed for the strangers and the poor who sought +and found a ready welcome there. + +The spiritual wants of the tenants and dependants were attended to by one +of the monks, John Byrrel, whose name occurs first in the list of those +belonging to Mellifont to whom pensions were granted. He is styled Parson +of Mellifont. It is probable, too, that others of the abbey priests +ministered to Tullyallen parish (though it is scarcely probable that the +present parish is conterminous with the old one), to Monknewtown and +Donore; for in the English Episcopal Registers, twelve volumes of which +have been recently published, it is noted that their brethren in England +served the parishes in the immediate vicinity of the monasteries; and, +moreover, we find in the list of pensioners of other Cistercian houses in +Ireland, the names of three or more, in the same monastery, who are called +parsons. Medical advice and medicine were dispensed gratis at the Abbey. +The sick poor were visited and cared for in their homes by physicians +employed by the monks; they were also admitted into the hospital at the +gate. On fixed days weekly, the poor of the locality came for and received +loaves of bread which were specially baked for them, and meat in +abundance, with beer, was distributed to them. In those days there were no +poor laws; for the monks provided for all the wants of the indigent. The +monks were in constant touch with all classes of society, at least the +principal officers were, and they were the advisers, as well as the +instructors, of all. The History of the English Abbeys of the Order, or +the fragments that have survived the vandalism of the Dissolution, and +which have been published by impartial Protestants, clearly prove that +this picture of far-reaching and ungrudging beneficence is by no means +fanciful. (_See Ruined Abbeys of Britain, by Frederick Ross._) The Abbot +of Mellifont took a prominent place in the councils of the nation. He +ranked as a Peer, and had a seat in the House of Lords before all the +other Religious superiors, twenty-three more of whom were privileged to +sit there. He was bound to supply a certain number of horsemen for the +King's musters, and to maintain them at his own charge. Tradition has it +that he could ride on his own territory from the sea at Drogheda to the +Shannon at Athlone, but this requires confirmation. He owned some 4,000 +acres at the suppression, extending on the south side of the Boyne from +Drogheda to Rossnaree, and on the north, to Slane, including the fisheries +and five salmon weirs on the river. He rented the fishing of sixteen +corraghs at Oldbridge, for which he got £13 13s. 4d. annually. The _town_ +of Tullyallen belonged to him. It was then in a flourishing condition, but +has fallen since from its rank as a town to that of a mere village, +composed of a few scattered cottages. The district was then populous; for +another village grew up near the Abbey occupied by tradesmen and +dependants who were constantly employed by the monks. It was called Doagh. +It is now level with the field. It stood a quarter of a mile north-west of +Mellifont, beyond the Mattock. Its site is an elevated plateau, locally +known as the Doagh Meadows. The entire annual revenue of the Abbey was +estimated at £316, which, allowing for the difference in value of money +since, would be equivalent to an income of close on £4,000 at the present +day. On that the monks maintained themselves and a large staff of +servants, "kept hospitality, and many poor men, scholars, and orphans." +The Abbot entertained his guests daily at his own table in a spacious +building apart from the monks' quarters, and was a man of light and +leading, unlike the helpless imbecile portrayed by Scott in his novels. +The Abbot was chosen, often from some distant monastery, for his aptitude +"in governing souls," which was the paramount consideration with St. +Benedict in the selection of a superior. He should be learned, and sound +both in doctrine and morals, to be entrusted with such a charge. It is +only too true that unworthy persons, contrary to the Canons, were +sometimes intruded into the position by powerful relatives, and they, +alas! generally brought disgrace on religion. + +As to the spiritual condition of Mellifont at the time of its suppression, +it was certainly on a high level. No charge was brought against that +community, on that score, even by its worst enemies; none but the general +ones mentioned in the Commission. In truth and in fact, the observances +then in force at Mellifont were identical with those introduced by Abbot +Christian and practised at Clairvaux by St. Bernard and his saintly +companions. If they were "idolatrous," and "superstitious," and savouring +of the "pestiferous doctrines of the Roman Pontiff," so must have been the +ancient practices of the Cistercians; and wonderful indeed was it, that +till King Henry and his advisers discovered it, our ancestors, for four +hundred years at least, approved of and took part in these same practices +without a suspicion of the "pernicious" errors they were now found to +contain! In the matter of discipline alone was there any decadence, and +then the altered conditions of the times demanded some modifications. The +use of flesh meat three days in the week was introduced, and instead of +manual labour, other duties were substituted, such as teaching, copying, +study, etc. In their daily lives, we are told by Rev. Dr. Gasquet, O.S.B., +perhaps the greatest living authority in such matters, that the +Cistercians at that time differed little from the Benedictines. + +Such was the condition of Mellifont on that fatal day, the 23rd July +1539, when the Commissioners, with an armed band, demanded admission and +surrender, in the King's name. Remonstrance with them was vain, and the +usual formality was gone through. They seized on the charters, registers, +ledgers, etc., together with the keys of the treasury and store-rooms; +took an inventory of all the possessions of the monastery, and sealed the +Library and strong room. They, then, summoned the Abbot and all the monks +to the Chapter-house, to sign the Act of Surrender. In the Calendar of +Patent and Close Rolls, Chancery, Ireland, Henry VIII. (edited by James +Morrin), the synopsis of it is given as follows at p. 135:--"Surrender of +the Abbey or House of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Mellyfount, in the County +of Louth, by Richard Contoure, Abbot, with the consent of the Convent; and +of the church, belfry, cemetery, manors, lands, and all its possessions in +the counties of Dublin, Kildare, and Carlow, with all charters, evidences, +muniments, goods, utensils, ornaments and jewels."--July 23, 31o. (1539). +"Endorsed on the preceding surrender is a memorandum that the Abbot and +Convent, assembled in the Chapter-house, voluntarily acknowledged the +preceding surrender, delivered it into the hands of the Lord Chancellor, +and prayed it might be enrolled in Chancery, _in perpetuam rei memoriam_. +Witness, George, Archbishop of Dublin; Wm. Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; +Robert Cowley, Master of the Rolls." July 23, 31o. + +How often have these "voluntary" surrenders been flaunted by writers +hostile to the monks, as if the farce of signing the document which made +them beggars were a free act! They were anxious, forsooth, to shake off +the burden of their religious obligations, through the facile dispensation +so liberally accorded by the new Head of the Church, in the flush of his +accession to ecclesiastical supremacy! The late scholarly and +liberal-minded Dean Butler, Protestant Rector of Trim, wrote thus on the +subject:--"The form of surrender then executed omitted no property which +could belong to the house.... There were added their charters, evidences, +writings and manuscripts, their goods, chattels, utensils, ornaments, +jewels, and debts, all these were granted to the King, to be disposed of +at his good pleasure, without appeal or complaint, and the unhappy men +_were forced to declare_, that they thus deprived themselves of house and +home _of their own free will_, and that they put an end to a venerable +institution, to which they were bound by so many solemn obligations, +certain just and reasonable causes thereto moving their minds and their +consciences." (_Register of the Priory of All Hallows._ Preface, p. xxix.) + +The next step was, there and then, to auction off all the moveables of the +monastery, except the jewels of the rich reliquaries, chalices, and other +sacred vessels, with the plate and bells, which formed the King's special +perquisite. The whole artistic woodwork of the church (choir and +wainscotting) was smashed in pieces, and even the very tombs of the +founders and others interred there, were sold and carted off. For a +description of the work of destruction, as related by an eye-witness of +such vandalism at the suppression of an English Cistercian monastery, see +_The Irish Cistercians_, p. 45. The sale realised £141 7s. 3d., but no +detailed account is given of the sum that each article fetched. According +to another Commission addressed to John Allen, Chancellor; William +Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; and Robert Cowley, Master of the Rolls; dated +May 20, 1539, the proceeds of such sales were ordered to be allocated "to +pay the officers and servants of the Crown." When the church and monastery +were dismantled, and every article of value, no matter how trifling, had +been removed, the order to clear out the monks was promptly given and +executed; and the gates were shut behind them. Whither they went nobody +cared, and whither to go was a problem to themselves difficult to be +solved; for without money or provision, they were in a worse condition +than the most destitute of beggars. The hoary old walls caught up their +groans and lamentations on that day, as with breaking hearts they looked +upon each familiar spot for the last time. This is one of the secrets the +old stones of the few remaining buildings yet withhold from us. Mellifont +beheld many moving spectacles during the four centuries of her existence, +but none, perhaps, so deeply affecting as when her 150 children, amongst +whom were the aged, tottering on the brink of the grave and leaning for +support on some younger brethren, turned their back upon their happy home +where they enjoyed an anticipated paradise. As the sad procession slowly +gained the top of the hill, many a time they turned to take a last +farewell look at their beloved monastery, till it faded from their view +for ever. A few shillings each were allowed them for their immediate +wants, but of that multitude only thirteen and the Abbot received +pensions. This grant was fixed for them three days after their expulsion, +after which they all disappear from the scene as effectually as if the +Boyne had engulphed them. + +The following entries are found in the Patent and Close Rolls Calendar, +Henry VIII., pp. 59, 60: "Pension of £40 Ir. to Richard Contour, late +Abbot of Mellyfount, payable out of the parishes of Knockmohan, Donowre, +and Monkenewton, with clause of distress."--Sept. 10, 1539. And at p. 60, +_ibid._, "Pension to John Byrrell, late parson of Mellifount, £3 6s. 8d.; +to Thomas Bagot, £4; to Peter Rewe, 40/-; to Thomas Alen, 53/4; to +William Norreis, 40/-; to Robert Nangle, 40/-; to Patrick Contour, 53/4; +to William Veldon, £3 6s. 8d.; to Patrick Lawles, 40/-; to John Ball, +40/-; to Clement Bartholomewe, 20/-; to Phelim O'Neil, 20/-; payable out +of the rents and lands of the parishes of Knockamowan, Donower, and +Montnewton" (Monknewtown), 26 July, 1539. + +Thus, then, were these fourteen provided for, but, of the others, not one +received a single shilling, except, as has been said, a mere pittance that +sufficed to procure them a few nights' shelter. This is no picture drawn +from fancy; it is a well-authenticated fact, that where a peaceful +surrender was not given or signed, no provision whatsoever was made for +those who so refused. They were given a trifle at their expulsion, and +turned adrift to swell the army of beggars, or to perish, as they did in +hundreds, of hardships to which they were unaccustomed. The imagination +cannot now well conceive the heartless, wanton cruelty then practised on +the expelled Religious; who, if they had betrayed their consciences and +taken the oath of Supremacy, might have staved off, at least for a time, +the calamities that befell them. But only for a time; for in some +instances where the monks, through mistaken notions, obeyed the Royal +mandate, they shared the fate of their more steadfast brethren, owing to +the insatiable rapacity of the King and his advisers. To those of the +expelled who were priests, the hope was held out to them, in case of "free +surrender," that they should be promoted to the first vacant benefices. As +not one of the Religious expelled from Mellifont is enrolled on the list +of those promoted to vacancies during that or the subsequent reigns, it is +obvious that they held fast to their principles, and denied the King's +Supremacy, an acknowledgment of which was indispensable before +promotion. All honour to them for their generous sacrifices, which made +them worthy to be the last who saw the venerable institution reel and fall +beneath the despot's blows. Their noble attitude was befitting the close +of a work which was inaugurated with such splendour amid a nation's +rejoicing. Like the setting sun, Mellifont disappeared in a halo of glory. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +MELLIFONT BECOMES THE HOME OF A NOBLE FAMILY--IS SOLD, AND IS DELIVERED UP +TO RUIN AND DECAY. + + "Mute is the matin bell, whose early call + Warn'd the grey fathers from their humble beds; + No midnight taper gleams along the wall, + Or, round the sculptur'd saint its radiance sheds." + (_Keats._) + + +The long line of distinguished men being thus rudely and abruptly +terminated at Mellifont, with the suppression of the monastery, all +memorials of their history were lost, and no trace of them has been left. +Not a book, nor cross, nor chalice, register, nor chartulary remains. It +appears that Mellifont had its Annalist and its Annals like _all_ the +other monasteries of the Order in Ireland; for Bishop Nicolson, who wrote +his "Irish National Library" in 1724, says: "The Annals of Ireland from +the foundation of this Abbey in 1142 to the year 1500, are, or were +lately, in the hands of some of the learned men of this kingdom." He does +not tell us the name of the compiler, but only the fact that they had +been written at Mellifont. These are not cited by later writers, so they, +also, must have perished long since. At the suppression of monasteries, +the archives, chronicles, and registers were carefully sought by the +Commissioners, because they contained correct information on the value and +extent of the possessions of each house respectively; and the more +extensive these were, the more sedulously were the records sought for. +Hence it is that because the Cistercian Order had large possessions, the +manuscripts were all seized and handed over with the monasteries to the +grantees. The monks could not possibly take one away with them. So their +history is now derivable from other sources, which, at best, are very +meagre. Mellifont, which occupied so prominent and respected a position +during its career, would not be found inferior to other houses of the +Order in the number of its learned and remarkable men, were its ancient +documents now available; and, judging from the long roll of distinguished +men, who in every department of knowledge rendered the Order illustrious +in other countries, we may safely allot a respectable quota of the same to +Mellifont. De Visch compiled his _Writers of the Cistercian Order_ in +1656, and Sartorius published a large tome in 1700, each containing +notices of the illustrious men of the Order. No less than sixty-three +large folio pages of this latter work are occupied with the names of the +learned men, and the dates at which they flourished. He places all in +distinct categories, and so we have St. Bernard heading the list, after +whom come the Grammarians, next follow the Poets, Orators, Historians, +Philosophers, Mathematicians, Astronomers, Musicians, then Doctors of +Canon and Civil Law, and Doctors of Theology; finally, Professors in +universities, and others, whose general attainments precluded +classification. As these works were written after the suppression of the +monasteries in these countries, the materials relating to the Irish and +English monasteries having passed into hostile hands or been destroyed, +were no longer accessible. Ireland was ever remarkable for the thirst for +learning displayed by her children, and for the singular proficiency +attained by them, when the opportunity for it was afforded; we may, then, +justly conclude that learning and the polite arts found a home at +Mellifont. For this latter branch, the beautiful buildings would, of +themselves, suffice as an argument in favour of an advanced state of +culture and refinement. + +It is worthy of note, that neither the Irish people, nor the +representatives of the Government in this country, brought, much less +substantiated, any direct charges against the Irish monks, prior to the +suppression. Hence it is, that their maligners had to import, for use +against them, the staple arguments commonly used in England, and there +only by venal scribblers, and those who profited by the downfall of the +monks. To such the learned and impartial Protestant historian, the Rev. +Doctor Maitland, adverts, when after giving credit to the monks for their +having been benefactors to mankind, he writes in his preface to the _Dark +Ages_:--"In the meantime, let me thankfully believe that thousands of the +persons at whom Robertson, and Jortin, and other such very miserable +second-hand writers, have sneered, were men of enlarged minds, purified +affections, and holy lives, that they were justly reverenced by men, and, +above all, favourably accepted by God, and distinguished by the +highest honours which He vouchsafes to those whom He has called into +existence, that of being the channels of His love and mercy to their +fellow-creatures." And in our own time, the _Guardian_, an English +Protestant newspaper, when reviewing the Rev. Doctor Gasquet's, O.S.B., +learned work, _Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries_, approvingly +cites, amongst others, the following paragraph:--"The voices raised +against the monks were those of Cromwell's agents, of the cliques of the +new men and of his hireling scribes, who formed a crew of as truculent and +as filthy libellers as ever disgraced a revolutionary cause. The later +centuries have taken their tale in good faith, but time is showing that +the monasteries, up to the day of their fall, had not forfeited the +goodwill, the veneration, the affection of the English people." Mr. Lecky, +too, with his usual candour and liberality, writes:--"Monastic +institutions were the only refuges of a pacific civilisation; the only +libraries, the only schools, the only centres of art, the only refuges for +gentle and intellectual natures; the chief barriers against violence and +rapine; the chief promoters of agriculture and of industry." (_The +Political Value of History_, p. 14. London, 1892.) + +The monks being now expelled, Mellifont was delivered up to desecration +and ruin; the silence of the tomb reigned supreme, and the voice of prayer +was heard no more; no longer did the bells from the tower send forth their +cheering notes over the surrounding district to raise the hearts of the +toiler to Heaven. These sweet toned bells, the gift of some princely +benefactor, had been, with all the other moveable property, carried off by +the spoiler. The Abbey, with all its spiritual and temporal possessions, +was given, in 1541, to Laurence Townley, for 21 years. They passed by +reversionary lease to ---- Brabazon, in 1546. In 1551, they were leased to +the same for 21 years more, and in 1566, they came by reversionary lease +to Edward Moore, the founder of the Drogheda family, who, at that time, +came into Ireland, as a soldier of fortune. (_Appendix to the Report of +the Deputy-Keeper of the Rolls and Grants of Elizabeth._) + +This Edward Moore, who was accompanied by his brother John, the founder of +the Charleville family (now extinct), was descended from an ancient +Kentish House. He fixed his residence at Mellifont, changing the church +into a dwelling, which he strongly fortified against the attacks of the +Ulster Irish. The statues of the Twelve Apostles, which once occupied +places in the church, he caused to be removed to the hall, clad in red +uniforms, with muskets on their shoulders, as a protest, no doubt, against +"Popish idolatry." It is even said that he suffered the Founder's tomb, +and those of others, or such portions of them as still were left, to +remain as part of his domestic arrangements, without his being disturbed +by such solemn surroundings. He was knighted by the Deputy, Sir Wm. Drury, +and dying soon after, was succeeded by his son, Sir Garret, to whom +Mellifont, with six other dissolved monasteries, and all their +spiritualities (that is, the revenues of them, right of patronage, etc.) +and temporalities, were granted in fee. By these means, was adhesion to +the Crown purchased and services to it rewarded--services, which bore no +equivocal meaning ever since the Invasion, as the Irish knew by long and +bitter experience. + +At this time, the Church, as by Law Established, became part and parcel of +the State, and its most obsequious servant. Its ministers looked to the +civil power for patronage, and even hoped for promotion through the +officials of the Court; but only in a few instances were the livings worth +the asking, as the greater part of their temporalities were bestowed on +laymen, favourites of the Queen. We have a picture of the state of that +Church in Ireland, soon after the suppression of monasteries, drawn by the +Lord Deputy himself, in a letter to Queen Elizabeth. They who would fain +believe in the blessed advantages which flowed from the Dissolution of +Monasteries, and the introduction of the new religion, may take to heart +the lesson it teaches. Sir Henry Sydney wrote to the Queen in April, 1576, +on the condition of the diocese of Meath:--"There are within this +diocese," he writes, "224 parish churches, of which number, 105 are +impropriated to sundry possessions; no parson or vicar resident on any of +them, and a very simple or sorry curate for the most part appointed to +serve them; among which number of curates, only eighteen were found to be +able to speak English, the rest being Irish ministers, or rather, Irish +rogues, having very little Latin and less learning and civility.... In +many places the very walls of the churches are thrown down, very few +chancels covered; windows and doors ruined and spoiled. There are 52 +parish churches in the same diocese which have vicars endowed upon them, +better served and maintained than the others, yet badly. There are 52 +parish churches here, residue of the first number of 224, which pertain to +divers particular lords; and these, though in better state than the others +commonly, are yet far from well." He concludes by saying:--"But yet your +Majesty may believe it, that upon the face of the earth where Christ is +professed, there is not a church in so miserable a case." Lord Grenville, +in his _Past and Present Policy of England towards Ireland_, when +commenting on Sydney's letters, from one of which the above is an extract, +writes:--"Such was the condition of a church which was half a century +before rich and flourishing, an object of reverence and a source of +consolation to the people. It was now despoiled of its revenues; the +sacred edifices were in ruins, the clergy were either ignorant of the +language of their flocks, or illiterate and uncivilised intruders; and the +only ritual permitted by the laws was one of which the people neither +comprehended the language nor believed the doctrines; and this is called +establishing a reformation." That this condition of affairs was not +confined to any particular diocese, but rather was the state in all, is +evident from the sketch given by Spenser in his _View of the State of +Ireland_. "They" (the ministers), he says, "neither read the Scriptures +nor preach to the people, nor administer the Communion ... only they take +the tithes and offerings, and gather what fruit else they may of their +livings.... It is a great wonder to see the zeal between the Popish +priests and the ministers of the Gospel; for they spare not to come out of +Spain, from Rome, and from Rheims, by long toil and dangerous travelling +thither, where they know peril of death awaiteth them, and no reward or +riches are to be found, only to draw people to the Church of Rome." Such +were the immediate fruits of the Reformation as admitted and described by +Protestant contemporaries. + +One of the first proprietary acts of Sir Edward Moore, on his acquiring +Mellifont, seems to have been to cut down and sell some of the magnificent +timber planted by the monks. The old wooden house, so long an object of +curiosity in Drogheda, and which was taken down in 1824, was chiefly +composed of oak obtained from Mellifont Park. It was situated at the angle +formed by the junction of Laurence Street and Shop Street, and was erected +by Nicholas Bathe, as an inscription in raised characters, each six inches +in length, testified. This inscription was on the Laurence Street side. +"Made. Bi. Nicholas. Bathe. in. the. ieare. of. our. Lord. God. 1570. Bi. +Hiu. Mor. Carpenter." + +In 1592, Red Hugh O'Donnell, fleeing from Dublin Castle, where he had been +detained a close prisoner, was received and kindly treated by Sir Edward +Moore, at Mellifont. His reception is thus related in the Life of Red +Hugh, edited with notes by the late Father Denis Murphy, S.J.:--"After +crossing the Boyne near Drogheda, Red Hugh and his companion mounted their +horses, and proceeded about two miles from the river, where they saw a +dense bushy grove in front of them on the road they came, and a large +rampart all around it, as if it was a kitchen-garden. There was a fine +mansion (called the great monastery), belonging to an illustrious youth of +the English, by the side of the wood. He was much attached to O'Neil.... +He (O'Donnell) went into the house and was entertained; for he was well +known there especially more than in other places." + +In 1599, according to the family pedigree, Sir Garret Moore and Sir +Francis Stafford were the only English house-keepers in the County Louth; +all the lands being wasted by the Ulster rebels. The next important event +at Mellifont was the great O'Neil's surrender there to the Deputy, Lord +Mountjoy, on the 24th March, 1602. The Lord Deputy sent Sir Garret Moore, +as an old acquaintance of O'Neil's, with Sir Wm. Godolphin to parley with +him, and O'Neil returned with them to Mellifont, where (on his knees, it +is said by English writers,) he made his submission to the Deputy. Here, +again, we have further proof of what has been stated before, that it was +Irishmen who retained this country for the English Crown; for when Sir +George Carew sat down before Kinsale, where O'Neil was defeated, his army +consisted of three thousand men, of whom two thousand were Irish.[8] + +Five years later, that is, in 1607, O'Neil was again at the "fair mansion +of Mellifont to bid good-bye for ever to his good friend, Sir Garret, the +fosterer of his son John." He tarried two days with him, and then said +farewell. Having given his blessing, "according to the Irish fashion," to +every member of his friend's household, he and his suite took horse, and +rode rapidly by Dundalk on his way to Lough Swilly, where a ship awaited +him to bear him from his native land for ever. + +By an Inquisition taken on the 14th June, 1612, the possessions of this +Abbey were found as follow:--"The site, a water-mill, a garden, an +orchard, a park called Legan Park, the old orchard containing two acres; +the silver meadow, nine acres; the wood meadow, ten acres; and the doves' +park; 80 acres of underwood; Killingwood, being great timber, containing +twelve acres; Ardagh, twenty acres, being the demesne lands; and the +grange and town of Tullyallen," etc. + +In 1615, July 20th, Sir Garret was created Baron Moore of Mellifont, by +King James I. In 1619, Baron Moore obtained a royal grant of St. Mary's +Abbey, Dublin, from the same King; and in 1621, he was created a Viscount, +with the title of Viscount Moore of Drogheda. St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, +passed from the family some fifty years later. + +As has been said, no trace of the expelled religious remains after the +suppression of Mellifont. It, however, may be assumed, that some few of +them lingered around the hallowed spot to which their affections clung, +and that they shared the labours and dangers incident to the Catholic +missionaries of the period, as is well known their brethren in other parts +of Ireland did after their expulsion. It cannot now be ascertained +whether, or not, an unbroken line of titular Abbots of Mellifont was +maintained after the dissolution of the Abbey; but, in 1623, an oratory +in Drogheda, belonging to the Cistercians, was served by five or six +Fathers of the Order under Patrick Barnewall, who had been appointed Abbot +of Mellifont by the Pope; and in 1625, he received the abbatial +benediction in the church of St. John, in Waterford, at the hands of the +Most Rev. Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin. This Patrick Barnewall +belonged to the Bremore branch (Co. Dublin) of the ancient and illustrious +family of that name. After having studied the Humanities, Philosophy, +Theology, and Canon Law in the Universities of Douay and Paris, he was +ordained priest, and discharged missionary duties in Drogheda. In a sketch +of his life given by a fellow-labourer, it is related, that one night as +he lay awake, St. Bernard appeared to him and told him he would be a monk +of his Order. Though he relished the idea, yet he did not immediately +correspond with his inclinations till he was grievously afflicted with a +severe sickness, when he remembered the vision, and being urged by his two +sisters, who had consecrated themselves to God, he entered the Novitiate +of the Order in Kilkenny, and was at once restored to health. Soon after +his profession he was appointed Abbot of Mellifont by Apostolic authority; +and he admitted novices into the Order at his "hiding-place" at Drogheda, +whom he sent to be educated at the Cistercian College, Louvain, and to +other Continental Colleges. He was a very learned man, particularly in +Canon Law, and was consulted as an authority on this subject. During the +siege of Drogheda, in 1641, his goods were seized and himself cast into +prison, but through the influence of some powerful relatives he was +liberated. He died in his father's house in September, 1644, and was +buried in the church of Donore, which formerly belonged to Mellifont. John +Devereux, a native of the Co. Wexford, who had been educated at Louvain, +was appointed by the Pope, Abbot of Mellifont, in 1648. He, with Father +Luke Bergin and Father Patrick Grace, both natives of Co. Kilkenny, Father +Malachy O'Hartry, a native of Waterford, Father John Bryan, a native of +Drogheda, and Father Plunket, constituted the new community of Cistercian +monks under Abbot Patrick Barnewall, when he opened the oratory in +Drogheda, in 1623. Whether all or any of them perished in the general +massacre of Drogheda, under Cromwell, we cannot tell, but they disappeared +thenceforth, and John Devereux seems to have been the last titular Abbot +of Mellifont. + +In the Rebellion of 1641, Mellifont and its owner, Lord Charles Moore, son +of Garret, the first Viscount, became involved. On the 21st November, just +a short time after the outbreak, the rebels under Sir Phelim O'Neil, when +on their way to besiege Drogheda, made a halt at Tullyallen, and "sent a +party of 1,300 foot down to Mellifont, the Lord Moore's house, which their +design was suddenly to surprise; but, contrary to their expectation, they +found there twenty-four musketeers and fifteen horsemen, who very stoutly +defended the house as long as their powder lasted. The horsemen, when they +saw themselves beset so as they could no longer be serviceable to the +place, opened the gates, issued out and made their passage through the +midst of the rebels, and so, notwithstanding the opposition they made, +escaped safe to Drogheda. The foot having refused to accept of the quarter +at the first offered, resolved to make good the place to the last man; +they endured several assaults, slew one hundred-and-forty of the rebels, +before their powder failed them; and at last they gave up the place upon +promise of quarter, which was not kept, for some of them were killed in +cold blood, all were stripped, and two old decrepid men slain, the house +ransacked and all the goods carried away." + +The above is from Sir John Temple's _History of the Irish Rebellion_, and +it has been quoted by Catholics and Protestants alike when alluding to +Mellifont; they each add, however, a little spice to suit the palates of +their respective readers. Of this attack on Mellifont we have no less than +four versions, two of which deserve but little credence, viz., that +already given, and that of Dean Bernard. The account given by the latter +is fuller, and enters more minutely into detail, so that some particulars +tax the capacity of the most credulous; as, for instance, when he tells us +that twenty-four musketeers killed one hundred-and-forty rebels though +they had only "six shots" of powder, "some only four," and that they +rammed in six bullets together, and how each shot killed several. Verily, +every bullet had its billet there! That be sharp practice without doubt! +He also tells, how the loss on the part of the garrison was thirteen +killed, "whom a _Friar was so forward for deed of charity as to procure +them burial in the church adjoining_." Thank goodness, he has the grace to +credit even a Friar with some remnant of humanity! He does not say that +the rebels stripped all. They could not have done so; for eleven escaped +to Drogheda. These godless Papists capped their iniquity in this holy +man's estimation when they "threw a fair church Bible into the mill-pond." +The last charge on the sheet is--"Their best language to them all was +'English dogs,' 'rogues,' etc." + +Before producing the other two versions, let us examine the characters of +both these witnesses as drawn by Protestant writers. Sir John Temple wrote +his History in 1656, from the "Depositions" preserved then in Dublin +Castle, but which are now in Trinity College. These "Depositions" +comprise the list of murders, burnings, etc., said to have been +perpetrated by the Irish on the English Protestants during the war, and +fill thirty-two volumes. He was some time Privy Councillor, but was +removed by Ormonde, and Carte tells how "two traitorous and scandalous +letters against his Majesty written by Temple were read in Committee." And +Dr. Nalson, another Protestant writer, accuses him of having been in +league with the Parliamentarians, whom Ormonde describes as those who +became the "murderers of his (the King's) royal person, the usurpers of +his rights, and destroyers of the Irish nation; by whom the nobility and +gentry of it were massacred at home, and led into slavery, or driven into +beggary abroad." In 1674, Temple protested that the work was published +without his knowledge, as appears from _State Papers_, Dublin edition, p. +2. + +Dean Bernard was Primate Ussher's chaplain, and like his master, was a +Puritan. During the siege of Drogheda he watched over the Primate's +library lest the rebels should attack the magnificent palace which _had +been built with the fines from the recusants_. He was afterwards +Cromwell's chaplain and almoner, in either of which capacities, it would +be quite unreasonable to expect justice to the Irish from him. + +As to the "Depositions" themselves, they are summarily dealt with by the +Rev. Dr. Warner, another English Protestant historian of that Rebellion. +"There is no credit to be given to anything that was said by these +Deponents which had not others' evidence to confirm it." And again, the +same Dr. Warner, who went through the drudgery of perusing and examining +these "Depositions," says: "As a great stress has been laid upon this +collection in print and conversation, and as the whole evidence of the +massacres turns upon it, I spent a great deal of my time examining the +books; and I am sorry to say, that they have been made the foundation of +much more clamour and resentment than can be warranted by truth and +reason." It was in them that Temple found the story of the ghosts of the +murdered Protestants, in the River Bann, at the Bridge of Portadown, +shrieking for revenge, and one in particular, who was seen there from the +29th December to the end of the following Lent!!! He sets down the number +of English and Protestants who were "murdered in cold blood, destroyed +some other way, or expelled out of their habitations in two years by the +Irish, as exceeding 300,000," though, according to Petty, there were not +at the outbreak of the Rebellion 20,000 English Protestants in Ulster, +where nearly all the murders were said to have been committed. Dr. Warner +also tells how he saw in the Council books at Dublin, the letter which the +Commissioners of the Irish Parliament wrote to the English Parliament, +urging them to show no mercy to the Irish, but rather, to revenge the +murders and massacres committed by them. They tell them, "that besides +eight hundred-and-forty-eight families, there were killed, hanged, burned, +and drowned, six thousand and sixty-two." Dr. Warner considers 2,000 about +the correct number. A prodigious number to be sure, but how far less than +Temple's 300,000. Warner says, finally, at p. 296 of his work so often +cited: "It is easy enough to demonstrate the falsehood of every Protestant +historian of this Rebellion." + +The Rev. Mr. Carte, an English Protestant clergyman, who wrote the +celebrated Life of the Duke of Ormonde, tears all Temple's assertions in +pieces, and demonstrates from indubitable authority the falsehoods of his +statements. Writing of these "Depositions" he says, at Vol. II., p. 263: +"Anyone who has ever read the examinations and depositions which were +generally given on hearsay, and contradicting one another, must think it +very hard upon the Irish, to have all those without distinction to be +admitted as evidence." And in the Preface to the collection of Letters +affixed to the Life he alludes to the "uncertain, false, mistaken, and +contradictory accounts, which have been given of the Irish Rebellion, by +parties influenced by selfish views and party animosities, or unfurnished +with proper and authentic materials and memoirs." + +It is obvious from the first pages of Temple's History what the scope of +the work is. It is a gross libel on the whole Irish nation from the +earliest times. In one page, he twice applies to them the epithet of a +beastly race, and, no doubt, worthy to be rooted out, to make room for +Royalists of his type, who worshipped the rising sun. + +Carte, in his Life of Ormond, Vol. II., p. 135, gives an account of the +attack on Mellifont as follows:--"This detached body of the northern +rebels appeared on November 21st in sight of the town of Drogheda, within +four miles of it, presuming (as was imagined) upon some party within the +place. Sir H. Tichburne, Governor of Drogheda, had the week before sent a +party of fifteen horse and twenty-two foot to Mellifont (formerly an Abbey +of Bernardine monks, founded by Donagh O'Carroll, prince of Ergall, about +A.D. 1142, but then an house of the Lord Viscount Moore's, three miles +from town), as well as to secure that place from the incursions of roving +parties, as to keep abroad continual sentinels and scouts, that might +inform him of the rebels' motions. His orders were not well observed, nor +his party so vigilant as they ought to have been; for on the 21st, the +rebels on a sudden encompassed the house, and (after the soldiers' powder +was spent) took it with a loss of some one hundred and twenty of their +own number (among which were Owen M'Mahon and another captain), and eleven +of the soldiers, with most of the arms. As the Irish were breaking into +the house on all sides, the troopers causing the great gate to be opened, +sallied out, and opening themselves a way through the body of the rebels, +got safe with the rest of the foot soldiers sore wounded to Drogheda." +This may be accepted as a true, unvarnished account of this much magnified +attack; especially as Tichburne himself, who cannot be accused of +partiality towards the Irish, and who was Governor of Drogheda at the time +of its occurrence, seems to have been Carte's authority for it, as appears +from a reference to a letter written by Tichburne to Ormond, but not given +in the collection of Letters mentioned above. There is no question here of +quarter given, or of faith broken; no cold-blooded murders, no gruesome +picture of gory corpses unburied, nor of fiendish glee on the part of +rebels dancing round their watch-fires in presence of their stark and +naked victims strewn around!!! Pity such absurdity should be believed or +repeated in our time, when it should have been relegated to the same +lumber-heap as the story of the ghosts of the Bann! + +We have yet another account from a paper or Report published in London by +two parties who only give their initials, T. A. and P. G. It was "printed +by Edward Blackmore, at the Angel, in Paul's Churchyard, in 1642," and is +now to be found in the _Contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland_, so +ably edited by Sir John Gilbert, at Vol. I., Part II., p. 420. There is a +discrepancy in the dates, but that is immaterial, as only one attack is +said to have been made. It tells us, "That on the same day (April 30), +three or four hundred rebels came before Mellifont, three or four miles +from Drogheda, where Lord Moore had left on Tuesday before a garrison of +four-score foot and about thirty horse; the rebels plaid hotly upon them +until the horse were ready within; but as soon as the horse were ready, +they, with the foot, sallied out, and killed about thirty of the rebels." +This cannot be far from the truth, as it seems to be free from the +exaggerations in which Tichburne dealt, when recounting the numerical +strength of his and the enemy's forces, ascribing to the latter +poltroonery and cowardice in action, and crediting them with excessively +heavy losses. + +The predisposing cause, why the Ulster Irish were ready for rebellion was +the misery the native inhabitants endured since the Plantation of the six +forfeited counties, some thirty odd years before. Even the remnants of the +estates allowed them by the Crown were filched from them by the greed and +cunning of unscrupulous Commissioners, who enriched themselves on the ruin +of the Irish. Prendergast (_Cromwellian Settlement_, pp. 49-50,) thus +describes the condition of the old Irish nobility and gentry +then:--"Little they (the Planters, who got the forfeited estates) thought +or cared how the ancient owner, dispossessed of his lands, must grieve as +he turned from the sight of the prosperous stranger to his pining family; +daughters, without prospect of preferment in marriage; sons, without fit +companions, walking up and down the country with their horses and +greyhounds, coshering on the Irish, drinking and gaming and ready for any +rebellion; most of his high-born friends wandering in poverty in France +and Spain, or enlisted in their armies." The immediate cause of the +Rebellion is thus stated:--"A letter was intercepted coming from Scotland +to one Freeman of Antrim giving an account that a Covenanting army was +ready to come to Ireland under General Lesly, to extirpate the Roman +Catholics of Ulster, and leave the Scots in possession of that province; +that resolutions to that effect had been taken at their private meetings, +as well as to levy heavy fines on such as would not appear at their kirk +for the first and second Sunday, and on failure the third, to hang at +their own doors without mercy, such as remained obstinate" (Carte's +_Ormond_, Vol. I., p. 160). This notion prevailed universally amongst the +rebels, and was chiefly insisted on by them as one of the principal +reasons of their taking up arms. + +The Rebellion broke out, then, on the 23rd October, 1641, and the actors +in it were a "tumultuous rabble" as Ormond called them, intent chiefly on +plundering and driving off the English settlers, yet before the end of the +month the principal towns of the North were in their hands. Leland, a +Protestant historian, writes:--"That in the beginning of the insurrection, +it was determined by them that the enterprise should be conducted in every +quarter, with as little bloodshed as possible" (_History of Ireland_, Vol. +III., p. 101). At p. 131, the same historian writes:--"The Lords Justices +might have stamped out the insurrection at once had Ormond's advice to +levy a large number of troops been attended to; for the Irish were then +formidable only in numbers, and not six hundred of them had proper arms. +But their purpose was rather to fan it, in order to gratify their personal +greed by extensive forfeitures." Warner, who has been so often quoted +before, writes at p. 176 of his History:--"It is evident from the Lords +Justices' letter to the Lord Lieutenant that they hoped for an +extermination, not of the mere Irish only, but of all the old English +families who were Roman Catholics." They issued a most truculent order to +Ormond "to burn, kill, spoil, waste, destroy, the rebels, their relatives, +houses and property." One of these Lords Justices is thus referred to by +Carte: "He was a man of mean extract, scarcely able to read and write ... +plodding, assiduous, and indefatigable, greedy of gain, and eager to raise +a fortune; which it is not difficult for a man of indifferent parts to do, +when he is not hampered with scruples about the ways of getting it" +(_Ormond_, Vol. I., p. 190). This same Lord Justice, with three members of +the Privy Council, was put under arrest for disobedience to his Majesty, +King Charles, and for complicity with his enemies, the Parliamentarians of +England. The Lord Justice was deposed and imprisoned, but he retained his +ill-gotten property. + +As has been said, the rebels became masters of the principal towns in the +North without meeting any check, when they attacked Mellifont. Lord Moore +was then in Drogheda with Sir Henry Tichburne, the Governor, with whose +policy and methods he, both before and afterwards, identified himself; +and, as an active agent of the Lords Justices, he was specially odious to +the Irish. During the siege of Drogheda, he more than once, by his +alertness and personal bravery, saved the town from falling into the hands +of the besiegers. With the exception of Lord Moore and a few of the older +families, both the Lords Justices themselves (who governed the country in +the absence of the Lord Lieutenant), and their ruthless instruments were +men of no fortune; or, were such as became enriched by the plunder of the +Irish. Tichburne, in a letter to his lady, alludes to one of the +commissions entrusted to him for execution, in which fiendish work Lord +Moore was associated with him. After his return from the burning of +Dundalk,[9] which he left a smouldering heap of ruins, he describes the +results:--"There was neither man nor beast to be found in sixteen miles, +between the two towns of Drogheda and Dundalk; nor on the other side of +Dundalk, in the County of Monaghan, nearer than Carrickmacross, a strong +pile twelve miles distant" (Tichburne's _Siege of Drogheda_, p. 320). And +in the same page he says, all this magnificent ruin and desolation were +inflicted on the peasantry "without one penny of charge to the State, and +that for the space of seven months, all under his command subsisted on the +spoils" taken from the unfortunate people in that district. "The country +and fields about Dundalk," he says, "were abounding in corn, which I +allocated to the several companies, etc." The ghosts of the Bann must have +been glutted with vengeance!!! + +And now Lord Moore's career is drawing to a close. After having been +engaged in many successful skirmishes, raids, and minor actions, he burned +with a desire for the honour of measuring swords with the great Owen Roe, +who had defeated all the forces hitherto sent against him, and, according +to O'Neil's Diary, he affected to despise O'Neil. He was therefore +dispatched with a body of troops to dislodge that consummate strategist +from a position occupied by him at Portlester Mill, within five miles of +Trim. Borlase tells us that Lord Moore was killed in that engagement, +August 7th, 1643, "through the grazing of a cannon bullet which he +foresaw, yet took not warning enough to evade." The Author of the +_Aphorismical Discovery_, who is commonly supposed to have been O'Neil's +secretary, gives another account of his death. It is right to mention that +this author was by no means a monk, nor was he a clergyman at all, as is +evident from his apology in the Introduction, where he tells the reader +that he was by profession a "sworde carrier," and that it was "alienat" to +that profession to aspire to literary avocations. "The General" (O'Neil), +he writes, "not well pleased with his gunner, for he perceaved he shooted +too high, and did little hurte, the peace was charged, the Generall tooke +a perspective glasse, and saw wheare my Lord Moore stoode. It being +charged, the Generall did levell the same against Moore, gave fire, his +aime was soe neare home, that he hitted him a little above his corpise, +wherupon all dismembred, presently fell dead, the trunke of his bodie +fallinge downe, and some of his members whisling in the aire to take +possession by flight in some other field, or make such speede to accompany +his soul to hell to be assured for winter quarter next springe." + +Lord Moore was succeeded by his son Henry, who, when Governor of Dundalk, +in 1645, was more than suspected of plotting with the Parliamentarians to +deliver up that town to Monroe. He was relieved of his charge by Ormond, +who was then Lord Lieutenant, and being a minor, was sent by him to +England (out of harm's way), to the Court, where he was kindly received by +the King, who ordered livery to be granted him of his father's lands +(_Carte_, Vol. IV., p. 154.) Lady Alice, his mother, was, it appears, +inveigled into a plot at the same time to deliver up Drogheda to the +Scots; for a wax impression of the keys of the gates having been given +her, she caused the gunsmith of the troop, which Lord Henry commanded, to +make false keys; but, being discovered, her ladyship, with others, was +sent to Dublin. There, on examination before the Council, they confessed +all. (_Ibid._) Her Ladyship's end was a tragic one, as we read in Lodge's +_Peerage_. "Lady Alice, younger daughter of Sir Adam Loftus, Viscount +Elye, who broke her leg near the fort (Drogheda) by a fall from her horse +(occasioned by a sudden grief arising from the first sight of St. Peter's +Church, Drogheda, where her dear lord lay buried), on Wednesday, 10th +June, 1649, and dying the 13th of a gangrene, was that night buried by him +in the family tomb." + +There is another entry at the same place in Lodge. "Lieutenant-Colonel +Francis Moore, sixth son of the first Viscount Mellifont, and brother to +Lord Charles who was killed at Portlester Mill, who was an officer in the +army for the reduction of Ireland, and in 1654, had a pension from the +then Government of 10/- a week, and five of his brother Charles' children +had £3 17s. a week in 1665, out of the district of Trim" (Lodge's _Peerage +of Ireland_, Vol. II., pp. 99-100). This Francis Moore had been an officer +in the King's army, but soon after the arrival in Ireland of Jones, the +Parliamentarian General, he went over to him and took the Dundalk troops +with him. It was from Cromwell's government he had his pension, but the +pensions granted to Lord Charles' children were continued to them after +the Restoration, and Lord Henry mentioned above, was created Earl of +Drogheda, in 1661,--thus confirming the historic truism, that the +ungrateful Stuarts heaped favours on their enemies and treated their best +and most devoted adherents with cold indifference. As an illustration of +this we have the instance of one of the chief actors in those troublesome +times, Sir John Clotworthy, changing sides three times:--first, fighting +in the King's name and commission against the Ulster Irish; next, siding +with the Parliamentarians, his Majesty's deadliest enemies, and going over +to England as the spokesman of a deputation sent to the Parliament of +England to protest against the return of King Charles II., on rumour of +peace and terms being negotiated between them; again, on King Charles' +arrival in England, hieing over to tender his homages and +congratulations--and lo! the reward of his fidelity and loyalty (?)--he +was created Viscount Massereene. It is only one instance of several +hundreds that may be cited. The unfortunate rebels whose banner bore the +legend, "_Vivat Carolus Rex_"--"Long live King Charles," and who remained +faithful to him to the last, were, by an irony of fate, robbed and +banished by the Cromwellians, who were put in possession of their estates +and confirmed in them by Charles II.!!! + +In the foregoing pages, the authorities quoted are Protestants, and all, +without exception, hostile to the Irish. Their testimony, nevertheless, is +favourable to the rebels, save where the question of religion crops up, +then their prejudice blinds their judgment, and hurries them into most +glaring absurdities. One more fact about that saddest page of our history. +Before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1641, there were 1,200,000 Irish +Catholics in the country; at its close in 1652, the number had fallen to +700,000, and these were ordered under pain of death to transplant to +Connaught--the remnant of a broken and plundered race!!! + +Henry, the first Earl of Drogheda, did not long enjoy his honours; nor did +his son and successor, Charles, who was succeeded by his brother Henry, +the third Earl, who, on the eve of the ever-memorable Battle of the Boyne, +entertained a party, amongst whom was one of King William's highest +officers. On the morrow, July the 1st, the booming of King William's fifty +pieces of "dread artillery" echoed along the hills and the valley of the +Boyne, and shook the old abbey walls to their very foundations; and on +that night, the oaken rafters of Mellifont rang to the cheers and toasts +of the "glorious, pious, and immortal memory" of the Prince of Orange, on +whose side Earl Henry commanded that day a regiment of foot. It may be +interesting to mention here, that on the morning of the battle, the Irish +Catholic soldiers wore scraps of white paper on their caps--emblematic of +the livery of France; the followers of the Prince of Orange wore green +boughs torn off the trees. + +Charles, Lord Moore, son of Henry, the third Earl, married Jane, heiress +of Arthur, Viscount Ely, who received as her portion the suppressed Abbey +of Monasterevan, a Cistercian monastery founded by O'Dempsey, in the 12th +century. It was called Rosglas by the Irish, and the Valley of Roses, in +the list of monasteries of the Order in Ireland. When it came into Earl +Charles' possession, he changed the name to Moore Abbey, and made it his +residence. The sons of this Lord Charles, Henry and Edward, became earls +successively, and Edward, the fifth earl, having settled down permanently +at Monasterevan, sold Mellifont and some of the property in its immediate +vicinity to Mr. Balfour of Townley Hall, in 1727. + +The condition of Ireland at that time was truly deplorable. The Penal Laws +were in full force against the unfortunate Catholics, who were reduced to +a state little better than slavery. Dr. Johnson wrote of them some fifty +years later:--"The Irish are in a most unnatural state; for we see there +the minority prevailing over the majority. There is no such instance, even +in the ten persecutions, as that which the Protestants of Ireland have +exercised against the Catholics. Did we tell them we conquered, it would +be above board; to punish them by confiscations and other penalties was +monstrous injustice" (Boswell, at 1773). + +With the Moore family departed also the very shadow of Mellifont's +diminished greatness, and "time's effacing finger" almost completely +obliterated what was once a gorgeous national monument, which stood out +clearly as a finger-post on the ways of time. Gradually the fabric fell +into decay, the owl hooted on the landing of the grand stair-case, and the +daw and martin flitted unmolested through the deserted halls. The gardens +and walks and bowers disappeared beneath a crop of tangled brushwood, the +product of neglect. Soon the roof fell in, the walls became seamed with +many rents and toppled over with a crash; then Mellifont, the "Honey +Fountain," the Monasthir Mor, or Great Abbey, as it was called, the +foundation of saints and kings, the abode of the pious and the learned, +the house pre-eminently of prayer, the asylum of the poor and friendless, +became a shapeless accumulation of rubbish. True, a mill was erected about +100 years ago close to the site of the church, and, no doubt, it was told +to strangers who then visited the ruins by people who professed to know +all about monks, that it had more activity and exhibited more of the +bustle of life than when the silent, slumbering monks dwelt there. But a +mill in that hallowed spot was a huge incongruity and a wanton disregard +for all its honoured associations. In 1884, the few remaining ruins became +vested in the Board of Works, and the excavations which revealed the plan +of the church, as described in Chapter I., were carried out. It only +remains to be said that in Mr. Balfour of Townley Hall, the estimable +gentleman who now owns Mellifont and some of the property formerly +belonging to it, his tenants have found a liberal and generous benefactor, +who enjoys the merited esteem and respect of all who know him. + +As one ascends the hill over Mellifont, and, pausing on its summit, gazes +on the lovely scenery around him, particularly along the valley of the +Boyne, which Young called one of the completest pictures he had ever seen, +then glances at the quiet valley beneath him, and remembers what prominent +parts those who once trod that favoured spot played in our country's +chequered history, his soul is filled with solemn thoughts too big for +utterance. There, came the firm and gentle, yet dauntless, Malachy side +by side with Oriel's proud Chief, and hand in hand, they knelt and prayed +and consecrated it to the living God for ever. Thereon, rose up the +magnificent temple on which neither cost nor labour was spared, that it +might be worthy of Him Who deigns to dwell in tabernacles made by man; and +generation succeeded generation of monks, who calmly dwelt in that +peaceful valley, which, by their skill and enterprise, they converted into +a garden of delights and a terrestrial paradise. The bishop and the king +found there a resting-place when life's weary struggle was over, and their +end was sweetened by the cheering hopes of a glorious immortality. The +poor man and the homeless found there a welcome and a shelter, their wants +being liberally attended to; and the blessings of a free education and of +spiritual consolations were diffused on every side from that centre of +learning and piety. The knight and baron came, the belted man of war made +his home there, enjoyed his ephemeral honours, but he, too, is gone, +severing all connection with it both by name and title, leaving no trace +behind. The king and the knight have been brushed aside; and the old +chess-board, Mellifont, alone remains. Impressed with these reflections, +we take a glance beyond the grave, and there, we behold these actors pass +before the great, most just, and supreme Judge, to receive the requital of +their deeds, and to each is meted out reward or punishment according to +his deserts. We, too, the spectators, are hastening towards that same +goal; our future is indubitably in our own hands, according as we do or do +not now live up to our convictions, and the dictates of our consciences. + +And, now, we cannot help asking ourselves, what shall Mellifont's future +be? At present it is a blank; but, shall the lamp of piety and learning be +rekindled, and the light burst forth anew there as in the days of its +splendour? We know not; but we do know that, although God's ways are +inscrutable, His wisdom and power are infinite. To Him be all glory for +ever and ever. Amen. + + + + +APPENDIX I. + +LIST OF ABBOTS OF MELLIFONT. + + +Saint Christian O'Connarchy, Founder and first Abbot, Bishop of Lismore +and Legate of the Holy See, 1150. + +Blessed Malchus, brother of preceding. + +Charles O'Buacalla, 1177, made Bishop of Emly. + +Patrick, term of office not known. + +Maelisa, appointed Bishop of Clogher in 1194. + +Thomas, 1211. + +Carus, or Cormac O'Tarpa, elected Bishop of Achonry in 1219, resigned that +See in 1226, returned to Mellifont where he died. + +Mathew, 1289. + +Michael, 1293. + +William M'Buain. + +Hugh O'Hessain, resigned 1300. + +Thomas O'Henghan. + +Radulph, or Ralph O'Hedian. + +Nicholas of Lusk, 1325. + +Michael, 1333. + +Roger, 1346. + +Reginald, 1349. + +Hugh, 1357. + +Reginald Leynagh, died 15th August, 1368. + +John Terrour, 1370. + +[There is no record of the names of Abbots in this interval.] + +Roger, 1472. + +John Logan. + +Henry. + +John Warren. + +Roger Boly. + +John Troy, 1486-1500. + +Thomas Harvey, died 20th March, 1525. + +Richard Conter, the last regular Abbot, pensioned in 1540. + + +As will be observed, the line of succession is incomplete between the +years 1370 and 1472; and it is impossible now to fill in the gaps. The +List is taken from Ware's _Coenobia Cisterciensia in Hibernia_, and +Dalton's _History of Drogheda_. + + + + +APPENDIX II. + +THE CHARTER OF NEWRY. + +Copied and translated from the Original in the British Museum, from a copy +given by John O'Donovan in _Dublin Penny Journal_, 1832-33, p. 102. + + +Maurice M'Laughlin, King of all Ireland, to all his Kings, Princes, +Nobles, Leaders, Clergy and Laity, and to all and each the Irish present +and to come, GREETING. + +Know ye that I, by the unanimous will and common consent of the Nobles of +Ultonia, Ergallia (Oriel), and O'Neach (Iveagh), to wit of Donchad +O'Carroll, King of all Ergallia, and of Murchad his son, King of O'Meith, +and of the territory of Erthur, of Conla, King of Ultonia, of Donald +O'Heda, King of O'Neach (Iveagh), HAVE GRANTED AND CONFIRMED, in honour of +the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Patrick, and St. Benedict, the Father and +Founder of the Cistercian Order, to the monks serving God in +Nyvorcintracta (Newry) as a perpetual and pure donation, the land of +O'Cormac, whereon was founded the monastery of Athcrathin, with its lands, +woods, and waters, Enancratha, with its lands, woods, and waters, +Crumglean, with its lands, woods, and waters, Caselanagan, with its lands, +woods, and waters, Lisinelle, with its lands, woods, and waters, Croa +Druimfornac, with its lands, woods, and waters, Letri, Corcrach, +Fidglassayn, Tirmorgannean, Connocol, etc. THESE LANDS with their MILLS, I +have confirmed to the aforesaid monks of my own proper gift, for the +health of my soul, that I may be partaker of all the benefits of masses, +_hours_ (_i.e._ vespers and matins), and prayers that shall be offered in +the Monastery itself, and to the end of time. + +And because I have founded the Monastery of Ybar cintracta (Newry), of my +own free will, I have taken the monks so much under my protection, as sons +and domestics of the faith, that they may be safe from the molestations +and incursions of all men. + +I will also that, as the Kings and Nobles of O'Neach (Iveagh), or of +Ergallia (Uriel), may wish to confer certain lands on this Monastery, for +the health of their souls, they may do so in my lifetime, while they have +my free will and licence, that I may know what and how much of my Earthly +Kingdom, the King of Heaven may possess for the use of His poor Monks. + + +_The Witnesses and Sureties are_:-- + +Giolla MacLiag, Archbishop of Armagh, _holding the Staff of Jesus in his +hand_. + +Hugh O'Killedy, Bishop of Uriel (Clogher.) + +Muriac O'Coffay, Bishop of Tirone (Derry.) + +Melissa Mac in Clerig-cuir, Bishop of Ultonia (Down.) + +Gilla Comida O'Caran, Bishop of Tirconnell (Raphoe.) + +Eachmarcach O'Kane, King of Fearnacrinn and Kennacta (now Barony of +Keenaght, Co. Londonderry.) + +O'Carriedh, the Great; Chief of Clan Aengusa, and Clan Neil. + +Cumaige O'Flain, King of O'Turtray (Antrim.) + +Gilla Christ O'Dubhdara, King of Fermanagh. + +Eachmarcach O'Ffoifylain. + +Maelmocta MacO'Nelba. + +Aedh (Hugh) the Great Magennis, Chief of Clan-Aeda, in O'Neach Uladh +(Iveagh.) + +Dermot MacCartan, Chief of Kenelfagartay (Kinelearty.) + +Acholy MacConlacha, Gill-na-naemh O'Lowry, Chief of Kinel Temnean. + +Gilla Odar Ocasey, Abbot of Dundalethglass (Downpatrick.) + +Hugh Maglanha, Abbot of Inniscumscray (Iniscourcy.) + +Angen, Abbot of Dromoge, and many other Clerics and Laics. + + + + +APPENDIX III. + +INVENTORY OF ESTATES OF MELLIFONT. + + +Richard Conter, the last Abbot of Mellifont, was, on the 23rd July, 1539, +seized of two messuages, 167 acres of arable land, 10 of pasture, 5 of +meadow, and 5 of pasture in Clut------, with a salmon weir; £13 13s. 4d. +annual rent, arising from 16 fishing corraghs at Oldbridge, together with +the tithe-corn of the same, all of the annual value, besides reprises, of +£27 18s. 8d.; also a messuage in Shephouse, with the tithe-corn thereof, +of the annual value, besides all reprises, of £4 17s. 8d.; three +messuages, 120 acres of arable land, 20 of meadow,--a fishery, and a boat +for salmon-fishing in Komalane, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of +the annual value, besides all reprises, of £15 3s.; 3 messuages, 2 +cottages, a water-mill,--a fishing-weir, 120 acres of arable land, 3 +closes, containing 6 acres of mountain in Schahinge, together with the +tithe-corn, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of £12 6s. 8d.; 2 +messuages,--20 acres of meadow and pasture in Donnore, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of 115/4; 2 +messuages, 8 cottages, 46 acres of arable land, and 2 of meadow in +Doo----, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of £5; 4 messuages, 18 cottages, 39 acres of arable +land, and 3 of meadow in Glassehalyine, together with the tithe-corn +thereof, of the annual value, besides all the reprises, of £5 18s. 8d.; +---- 124 acres of arable land, and 10 of meadow in Graungethe, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +£14 19s. 4d.; a messuage and cottage, 45 acres of arable land, and 15 of +meadow and pasture, in ----, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the +annual value, besides all reprises, of £3 8s. 4d.; 4 messuages, 9 +cottages, 64 acres of arable land, and 4 in meadow in Balranny, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value of ----, ---- messuages, +with 19 acres of arable land in Kordoraghe, together with the tithe-corn +thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of 16/-; 7 messuages, +10 cottages, 186 acres of arable land, 8 of meadow, and 40 of pasture and +brushwood in ----, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of £12 3s.; a messuage, two cottages, 120 acres of +arable land, a fishing-weir, called Bromey's weir, and the fishery there, +a water-mill in ----, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of £16 5s.; 7 messuages, one cottage, 227 acres of +arable land, and 10 of meadow in Ballyfadocke, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ----; 4 +messuages, 20 acres of arable land, and 4 of meadow in Kinoyshe, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +£10 3s. 8d.; 4 messuages, 46 acres of arable land, and 4 of meadow in +Kellystone, with the tithe-corn thereof, besides all reprises, of the +annual value of £4 5s. 4d.; 2 messuages, 3 cottages, 60 acres of arable +land, 6 of pasture, and 4 of meadow in Oracamathane, together with the +tithe-crown thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ----; 4 +messuages, 8 cottages, 124 acres of arable land, a salmon-weir, called +Monktone, a water-mill in the town-land of Rosmore, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ----; 3 +messuages, 6 cottages, 126 acres of arable land, 6 of meadow, and 6 of +meadow in Gyltone, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual +value, besides all reprises, of £6 4s. 8d; 5 messuages, 8 cottages, 141 +acres of arable land, the fourth part of an acre of meadow, and 6 of +common pasture in Dromenhatt, otherwise, Newton of Knockamothane, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +£8 9s.; 6 messuages, 140 acres of arable land, 4-1/2 of meadow ---- in +Radrenage, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of £7 12s.; 3 messuages, 8 cottages, 120 acres of +arable land, 6 of meadow, 6 of pasture in Calm, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of £6 +17s.; 3 messuages, 60 acres of arable land, 60 of pasture, and 4 of meadow +in Starenaghe, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides +all reprises, of £5 5s. 8d.; the tithe-corn of the townland of +----inserathe and Balregane, near Donnore and below the parish of +Mellifont, of the annual value of £2; the tithe-corn of the town of +Monamore, of the annual value of £2 13s. 4d.; the rectory of Balrestore, +of the annual value of ----; and the chapels of Grangegeythe and +Knockamothane, parcel of the rectory of Mellifont, of the annual value of +---- all the said rectories being appropriated to the Abbot and his +successors, and, together with the said lands, etc., are lying and +situated in the Co. of Meath. The Abbot was also seized of a small house +in the town of Drogheda, in the tenure of Thomas Tanner, annual value +13/4, and also of another house in the tenure of Roger Samon, of the +annual value of 8/-, with 2/- rent from the Mayor and commonalty of +Drogheda. + +The above is from the _Monasticon Hibernicum_. It by no means contains a +full inventory of the possessions of Mellifont at the time of its +suppression, only the property belonging to it in the County Meath. In the +same _Monasticon_ we read, "By an inquisition taken 14th June, 1612, the +possessions of this Abbey were found as follow:--The site, a water-mill, a +garden, an orchard, a park called Legan Park, the old orchard containing +two acres, the silver meadow 9 acres, the wood meadow 10 acres, and the +doves' park; 80 acres of underwood; Killingwood, being great timber, +containing 12 acres; Ardagh, 20 acres, being the demesne lands, and the +grange and town of Tullyallen, containing 27 messuages and 260 acres; +Derveragh, 5 messuages and 213 acres; Mell, 2 messuages and 60 acres; +Ballymear, alias Ballyremerry, 2 messuages and 60 acres; Sheepgrange, no +tithe, 8 messuages and 245 acres; Little Grange, 4 messuages and 62 acres; +Beckrath, 2 messuages and 63 acres; Cubbage, 4 messuages and 103 acres; +Ballygatheran, no tithe, 6 messuages and 132 acres; Salthouse, 7 messuages +and 238 acres; Staleban, 11 messuages and 160 acres; Vinspocke, 6 +messuages and 90 acres; Morragh, no tithes, 11 messuages and 120 acres; +Ballypatrick, 8 messuages and 120 acres; in Collon, a water-mill and 23 +acres, £6 13s. 4d. annual rent out of the said town, and the tithes +thereof; Ballymacskanlan, a castle, no tithe, and 120 acres; Cruerath, +Ballyraganly and Donnore, in the parish of Mellifont, with the tithes and +altarages, all in this county" (Louth). Here follow the possessions +belonging to the Abbey in the County Meath, and which have been given. + + +THE END. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The "Tourist Company" have recently fitted up a compartment of the old +mill, where a cheap and substantial lunch can be had by visitors who may +desire it. + +[2] See Illustration, p. 19. + +[3] See Illustration, p. 23. + +[4] See Illustration, p. 35. + +[5] See Illustration, p. 43. + +[6] See Illustration, p. 47. + +[7] The _Annals of Ulster_ simply state "for the monks of Ireland did +banish him (Auliv) out of their abbacy, through lawful causes." _The Four +Masters_ tell us it was the monks of Drogheda who had expelled him from +the abbacy for his own crime. A writer in the _Dublin Penny Journal_, +1835-36, says this Auliv was Abbot of the monastery of St. Mary de Urso, +near the West Gate, Drogheda. He quotes some old Annals without +particularising them. And Dalton, in his History of Drogheda, tells us +that Auliv had been Abbot of that same Abbey of St. Mary's, Drogheda, and +was expelled. Dalton evidently confounds this monastery with Mellifont. No +Cistercian Community had power to depose their abbot, such power being +vested in the General Chapter of the Order. + +[8] It is not generally known that it was an Irishman who, on the fatal +day of Aughrim, as St. Ruth rode to victory waving his cap, pointed him +out to the gunner whose faithful shot deprived St. Ruth of his head and +the Irish Army of a valiant General. + +[9] The Puritans admitted that Sir Phelim O'Neil did not commence his +alleged massacres until after the sacking and burning of Dundalk. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. 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Louth, by Anonymous</title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + body {margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right; font-style: normal;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + .giant {font-size: 200%} + .huge {font-size: 150%} + .large {font-size: 125%} + + .poem {margin-left: 15%;} + .note {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%;} + .title {text-align: center; font-size: 150%;} + + .right {text-align: right;} + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcaplc {text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .bbox {border: solid 2px; color: gray; margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .dropfig {float: left; clear: left; margin: 0 2px 0 0;} + + a:link {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#6633cc; text-decoration:none} + + .spacer {padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth, by Anonymous</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth</p> +<p> Its Ruins and Associations, a Guide and Popular History</p> +<p>Author: Anonymous</p> +<p>Release Date: February 27, 2012 [eBook #38999]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> +(<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> +from page images generously made available by<br /> +Internet Archive<br /> +(<a href="http://www.archive.org">http://www.archive.org</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/mellifontabbeyco00dubl"> + http://www.archive.org/details/mellifontabbeyco00dubl</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<p> <a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a></p> +<div class="bbox" style="width: 600px; height: 411px;"><img src="images/img01.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">General View.</span><br /><i>From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin.</i></p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> + + +<h1>MELLIFONT ABBEY,<br />CO. LOUTH:</h1> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">Its Ruins and Associations.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">A GUIDE</span><br /> +<small>AND</small><br /> +<span class="large">POPULAR HISTORY.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“A house of prayer, once consecrate<br /> +To God’s high service—desolate!<br /> +A ruin where once stood a shrine!<br /> +Bright with the Presence all divine!”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">(<i>W. Chatterton Dix.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">Permissu Superiorum.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">Published by<br /> +JAMES DUFFY & CO., <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span>, DUBLIN,<br /> +FOR<br /> +THE CISTERCIANS,<br /> +MOUNT ST. JOSEPH ABBEY, ROSCREA.<br /> +1897.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">Printed by<br /> +<span class="smcap">Edmund Burke & Co.</span>,<br /> +61 & 62 GREAT STRAND STREET, DUBLIN.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + + +<p>In the following pages an attempt is made to describe the ruins of +Mellifont as they now appear, and to explain the uses, or probable uses, +that the buildings yet remaining must have served when the monks dwelt +there. Obviously, some important structural alterations were made when +changing the venerable Abbey into a fortified residence; nevertheless the +ruins exhibit, on the whole, the characteristics of the primitive plan and +style in which Mellifont, as well as all the Cistercian monasteries both +in this country and on the Continent, were built. The explanation is +founded on reliable authority, being gleaned from most authentic sources, +such as, <i>Les Monuments Primitifs de La Règle Cistercienne</i>, which is a +copy of the Rule drawn up by the Founders of the Order; the <i>Monasticon +Cisterciense</i>; <i>Violet Le Duc</i>; <i>Jubainville, Etudes sur l’Etat intérieur +des Abbayes Cisterciennes au XII. et au XIII. siècle</i>; <i>Meglinger, Iter +Cisterciense</i>; <i>La Vie de Saint Bernard</i>, by Vacandard, etc.</p> + +<p>As no Records, or Chronicles of Mellifont now exist, the historical part +of the compilation has been derived from different sources, chiefly from +our old Annals—<i>The Annals of the Four Masters</i>; those of <i>Boyle</i>, of +<i>St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin</i>; <i>Clyn and Dowling’s</i>; and of <i>Clonmacnois</i>; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>Ware’s <i>Bishops</i>, etc.; <i>the Miscellany of the Archæological Society</i>; +Ussher’s <i>Sylloge</i>; Morrin’s <i>Calendars of Patent Rolls</i>, etc. The part +relating to disciplinary subjects was drawn principally from Martène’s +<i>Thesaurus Anecdotorum</i>, Vol. IV., which contains the Decrees of the +General Chapter of the Cistercian Order, also, from the <i>Constitutiones et +Privilegia, Menologium</i>, and the <i>Fasiculus Sanctorum Ordinis +Cisterciensis</i>, by Henriquez; <i>Originum Cisterciensium</i>, tom. I, +Janauschek; <i>l’Histoire de La Trappe</i>, Gaillardin, etc. The vindication of +monks in general, from the aspersions cast on them by their enemies, and +the facts appertaining to the Rebellion of 1641, are borrowed exclusively +from Protestant sources,—Dugdale’s <i>Monasticon Anglicanum</i>, Tanner’s +<i>Notitia Monastica</i>, Maitland’s <i>Dark Ages</i>, Leland’s <i>History of +Ireland</i>, Temple’s <i>History of the Insurrection</i>, 1641, Tichborne’s +<i>History of the Siege of Drogheda</i>, Carte’s <i>Ormond</i>, etc.</p> + +<p>These by no means exhaust the list of authors consulted and utilised, but +they show how far apart the pieces lay which have been stitched together +to form a consecutive narrative. The compiler has endeavoured to compress +the matter into the smallest possible space in order to make the little +book accessible to all at a moderate price; and he has preferred to allow +others to speak rather than to thrust his own opinions on the reader. +Finally, he has borne in mind throughout, the trite saying, <i>Magna est +Veritas et prævalebit</i>.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> +<p class="title">CONTENTS.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2">THE RUINS</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2">ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2">AN EPITOME OF THE RULE OBSERVED AT MELLIFONT AT ITS FOUNDATION, AND FOR<br />ABOUT A CENTURY AND A HALF AFTERWARDS</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2">MELLIFONT TAKES ROOT AND FOUNDS NEW HOUSES OF THE ORDER</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2">MELLIFONT CONTINUES TO FLOURISH UNDER SUCCESSIVE EMINENT SUPERIORS</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2">MELLIFONT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2">THE SUPPRESSION OF MELLIFONT</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2">MELLIFONT BECOMES THE HOME OF A NOBLE FAMILY—IS SOLD, AND IS DELIVERED<br />UP TO RUIN AND DECAY</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">APPENDIX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#APPENDIX_I">I.—</a></td><td>LIST OF ABBOTS OF MELLIFONT</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#APPENDIX_II">II.—</a></td><td>CHARTER OF NEWRY</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#APPENDIX_III">III.—</a></td><td>INVENTORY OF ESTATES OF MELLIFONT</td> + <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></p> +<p class="title">List of Illustrations.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">General View of Mellifont</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Plan of Clairvaux</span></td> + <td align="right"><i>At</i> p. <a href="#Page_4">4</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Plan of Mellifont Abbey</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Gateway (Porter’s Lodge)</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_16">15</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">North Window of Chapter-House</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Doorway of Chapter-House</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">23</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Interior of Chapter-House</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_36">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Interior of Lavabo (Octagon)</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Arch of Lavabo (Octagon)</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">South Wall of Lectorium</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH:<br /> +Its Ruins and Associations.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<p class="title">THE RUINS.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Look, stranger; where these stones in ruin lie.<br /> +Here in the old, grey times a holy thing<br /> +Rose up—a cloistered pile; but time swept by<br /> +And smote the sanctuary with his reckless wing.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">(<i>From the Swedish, by J. E. D. Bethune.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="dropfig"><img src="images/drop_o.jpg" alt="O" /></span>f the many historic ruins which dot our country and attest its former +greatness, few attract so much attention, and invite so close a study as +our monastic remains, pre-eminent amongst which are those of the ancient +historic Abbey of Mellifont. In countless pages of our Annals the name +appears. In the records of sieges, battles and insurrections, from the day +on which a colony of St. Bernard’s monks from world-famed Clairvaux, came +and settled in its tranquil valley, till having passed through many +vicissitudes, as an abode of piety and wide-spread beneficence, it became +a baronial residence, and finally lost its prestige as the site of a mill, +whose remains contrast incongruously with those of such a precious +memorial.</p> + +<p>And what was Mellifont? It was the first house of the Cistercian Order in +Ireland; founded, endowed and enriched by native princes and saintly +prelates; the mother<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> of saints and scholars; and at one time, the +admiration of our land, as a gem of rare architectural beauty.</p> + +<p>Before going back to the shadowy past, let us endeavour to trace amongst +its ruins the outlines of the ancient buildings, and to explain the +special use and meaning of each in the monastic economy, when white-robed +monks trod its cloisters, and knelt and prayed before the altars in its +church. Each of the Cistercian churches and monasteries was built upon a +uniform plan, with some slight modifications, arising perhaps in all +instances from peculiarities of site and local difficulties. Around the +whole pile of monastic buildings, and girdling an area of some thirty +acres or more, comprising gardens, orchards, meadows, ran a high wall, +called the “Enclosure Wall,” which served to isolate the denizens of the +cloister, and prevent as far as possible all ingress of the world. +Entrance within the precincts of the monastery was obtained through a +spacious and lofty gate-house occupied by a trusty Lay-Brother, whose duty +it was to receive visitors, and dispense hospitality to the poor and the +way-farer; thus he formed a connecting link between his brethren within +and the world without, from which they were cut off. Extending on either +side of this gate-house, or “Porter’s Lodge,” as it was known in monastic +language, was a range of buildings for the exclusive use of strangers of +every grade. There were the Hospice proper, an infirmary for the sick +poor, with stabling also, in the immediate vicinity, for the horses of +travellers:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“Whoever passed, be it baron or squire,<br /> +Was free to call at the abbey and stay;<br /> +No guerdon or gift for his lodging pay,<br /> +Though he tarried a week with its holy choir.”</p> + +<p>The old tower which is passed as one approaches the ruins of Mellifont, +was the “Porter’s Lodge,” and right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> under it ran the avenue which led to +the abbey, but which was converted into a mill-race when Mellifont had +reached its last stage of degradation. The present road-way was +constructed in order to give access to the mill. The remains of old walls +can still be traced stretching on both sides of the tower, and prove its +ancient purpose in connection with Cistercian usage, as described above. +Some gate-houses of Continental monasteries, which have till now subsisted +intact from the eleventh or twelfth century, bear a striking resemblance +to this one at Mellifont. That of Aiguebelle, in particular, near Grignan, +in the Department of Drôme, France, most closely resembles it.</p> + +<p>There can be no doubt that a pile of buildings once occupied and enclosed +the whole space from the old gateway to the church, forming a rectangle, +of which the church was the fourth side. The precise purposes these +buildings served at Mellifont can now be only conjectured; for, in +different monasteries, local wants determined in a great measure the +allocation of this site to uses which varied with the circumstances of +each community. That is not, however, to be understood of what are called +the “Regular Places;” for these were held to be indispensable, and +occupied almost the same position in every monastery. The intervening +space here between the gate-house and the church is now covered over with +the debris of ancient buildings, which local tradition says once occupied +the side of the hill on which, and about where, a few modern cottages now +stand.</p> + +<p>Approaching nearer to the ruins, a modern mill obtrudes itself upon the +scene, and one cannot help wishing it transported beyond the plane of his +observation.<a name='fna_1' id='fna_1' href='#f_1'><small>[1]</small></a></p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img02_tmb.jpg" alt="PLAN OF CLAIRVAUX BY DOMMILLEY 1708" /><br /> +<a href="images/img02.jpg"><small>Larger Image</small></a></div> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="table"> +<tr><td> 1. Entrance.</td> + <td>11. Former Novitiate.</td> + <td>21. Chapel of the Counts of Flanders.</td></tr> +<tr><td> 2. Abbot’s House.</td> + <td>12. Cloisters.</td> + <td>22. Scriptoria.</td></tr> +<tr><td> 3. Guest House.</td> + <td>13. Stairs to Dormitory.</td> + <td>23. Lesser Cloister.</td></tr> +<tr><td> 4. Stables.</td> + <td>14. Calefactory.</td> + <td>24. Hall for Theses.</td></tr> +<tr><td> 5. Church.</td> + <td>15. Refectory.</td> + <td>25. Theological School.</td></tr> +<tr><td> 6. Sacristy.</td> + <td>16. Kitchen.</td> + <td>26. Infirmary.</td></tr> +<tr><td> 7. Cell for Books (Common Box).</td> + <td>17. Lavabo (Octagon).</td> + <td>27. Common Room of the Infirm.</td></tr> +<tr><td> 8. Stairs leading to Dormitory.</td> + <td>18. Cemetery.</td> + <td>28. Novitiate.</td></tr> +<tr><td> 9. The Chapter-House.</td> + <td>19. St. Bernard’s Cell.</td> + <td>29. Abbots’ Council Chamber.</td></tr> +<tr><td>10. Parlour.</td> + <td>20. The Prior’s Chambers.</td> + <td>30. Garden.</td></tr></table> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img03.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mellifont Abbey Ground Plan</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Arrived at what is now the entrance gate, the visitor beholds in front of +him the four remaining sides of what was once an octagonal building, and +somewhat nearer on his left, a small roofless edifice. These are commonly, +but erroneously, called the “Baptistery” and “St. Bernard’s Chapel.” Their +true purposes shall be explained further on. Immediately at his feet now, +extend the sites of the church, and of the once magnificent cloisters. Of +these latter not a trace remains, except a mere outline on the green +sward, and a few squares of concrete to indicate the position once +occupied by them. The plan of the church extends to right and left: the +western portion of the nave running towards the river (see Plan), and the +entire length is dotted at intervals with blocks which mark the sites of +the piers. These concrete blocks were laid by order of Sir Thomas Deane, +under whose direction the excavations were made here some few years ago. +The length of the nave cannot now be ascertained with certainty, but +judging from the position occupied by some very old walls at the +south-western side, it may be roughly stated to have been 120 feet; while +54 feet 6 inches was the width of the whole church, including the aisles. +These latter were each 10 feet wide. The nave had seven bays, and like all +Cistercian churches, it was divided into two parts by the Rood-loft and +Choir-screen, which stood about midway. This Rood-loft served a twofold +purpose; on it was a lectern, where the Lessons of the night-offices were +read by the monks in rotation, and thereon the Abbot announced the Gospel +proper to each festival, chanting or reading it, according as the office +was sung or merely recited, after which, with crosier in hand, he gave his +solemn benediction. It answered, too, as a partition between the choir of +the monks and the stalls of the Lay Brethren; the former on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> the +eastern, the latter on the western side of it. This Choir-screen formed a +sort of reredos to the two altars, which were invariably found in this +position in the churches of the Order. On these altars were offered up +daily Masses for living and deceased benefactors—a practice which +continues in the Order and which dates back to the foundation of the +Cistercian Institute. Further west was a tribune or gallery, where guests +and the dependants of the monastery assisted at Divine Service, Office and +Mass. Inside the Rood-loft, was the Choir proper, which extended thence to +the Chancel, or “Presbytery Step,” as it is called in monastic parlance. A +small space was provided between the Choir and the Chancel, in order to +allow a passage to those who proceeded from the Sacristy to the High Altar +within the Chancel. Two rows of stalls ran down on each side the length of +the nave. These stalls were generally of carved oak, and were artistically +finished. The outer rows were for the novices, and the backs of their +stalls formed the desks used by the professed monks, whereon they rested +the ponderous tomes containing the sacred psalmody. During the High Mass +the stalls next the Chancel were used, and the place of honour, that is, +the first stall on the Epistle, or south side, was given to the Abbot. The +Prior, as second superior, occupied the first on the opposite, or Gospel +side. The other monks according to seniority occupied the stalls on either +side. On the other hand, at Matins and at all the offices, except that in +connection with High Mass, the Abbot’s and Prior’s stalls were farthest +from the Chancel, and next the Rood-loft, and the order of the monks was +reversed. In token of his jurisdiction the Abbot’s crosier was fixed at +his stall. The Cistercian monks call this Rood-loft the “<i>Jubé</i>,” from the +first word spoken by the reader when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> he asks the blessing before +commencing the Lessons. The whole nave here at Mellifont seems to have +been paved with beautiful tiles; a few of which may yet be seen in their +position near the great pier on the north side. At the intersection of the +transept with the nave, is the space called the “Crossing,” or “Lantern.” +Over this rose the bell-tower, which was supported on solid piers, from +two of which sprang the Chancel arch, and from the two others, that of the +nave. These piers were formed of clustered columns, but their remains +(about five feet high), vary both in dimensions and in style, manifesting, +thereby, the partial renovation that took place from time to time. The +material of which the whole building was constructed is a buff-coloured +sandstone not found in the vicinity of Mellifont, but brought, it is said, +from Kells, some twenty miles away; a thing not very difficult, seeing +that the river is so convenient. Some, again, are of opinion that the +stone was brought from Normandy; which seems to be improbable.</p> + +<p>The total length of the transepts is 116 feet; the width 54 feet. The +northern one is some four feet longer than the southern. They seem to have +had aisles, an unusual arrangement in churches of the Order. In the +northern transept were six chapels, the piscinas of which are still to be +seen in the piers adjoining. The number of these piscinas cannot fail to +strike one as something very singular. Their presence is accounted for in +this way. At the date of the foundation of Mellifont and for centuries +later, it was the custom for priests of the Order to wash their hands at +the foot of the altar before commencing Mass, the server pouring water on +his hands, which he dried with a towel that had been previously laid on +the altar. The water used was then cast into the piscina. It was also the +custom with them, at that time,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> to descend from the altar when they had +consumed the Sacred Species out of the chalice and to wash their fingers +over the piscina.</p> + +<p>This northern transept seems to have been a favourite spot for interments; +for during the excavations numerous skulls were found there. At Clairvaux, +the corresponding site was strewn with the graves of bishops, who selected +it as the place wherein to rest after life’s weary struggle. No record or +memorial of these survives, or of any of the dead interred at Mellifont, +to point out the occupant of a single grave. In the northern wall of this +transept is a beautiful door-way with jambs of clustered columns. Hard by, +the wall was pierced to make a loop-hole when Mellifont was transformed +into a fortress. On one side of the door-way are the remains of what must +once have been a superb chapel; on the opposite side are a few steps of a +spiral stair-case, formed in the thickness of the wall, which led up to +the tower, as is to be seen at Graignamanagh, Co. Kilkenny, and other +houses of the order in Ireland. The level of the floor here is some five +or six feet lower than the adjacent road-way which was raised by the +accumulated rubbish of former buildings that extended along the hill-side +where the cottages now stand.</p> + +<p>The southern transept may have had its six altars also. The aisle seems to +have been built up, and when the alterations which took place in the whole +fabric in the fifteenth century were made, a large portion of this +transept would appear to have been allocated to the uses of a sacristy. No +trace of a sacristy remains elsewhere, and this would be a very convenient +place to utilise as one. The remains of some walls lead us to suppose such +an arrangement probable. In Cistercian monasteries, a stair-case in this +transept near the cloister led thence to the dormitory, but no remains of +such a stairs have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> discovered at Mellifont. When Sir Thomas Deane +had the earth and rubbish, or, as he calls it, the “grassy mound,” +removed, he discovered the foundations of two semi-circular chapels in +each transept, in a line with the site occupied by the High, or principal +Altar. (See the dotted lines in the Ground Plan). Describing them, Sir +Thomas writes: “Within the circuit of the external walls are the +foundations of an earlier church which indicate four semicircular chapels, +and two square ones between. Of this church we have no distinct record, +but the bases of semi-detached pillars would indicate the date given for +the erection of Mellifont.” These four semi-circular chapels in line with +the High Altar, formed an exact counterpart of the church of Clairvaux +which was erected in 1135, and which by St. Bernard’s express wish, served +St. Malachy as the model for Mellifont.</p> + +<p>The chancel terminated in a square end, and was 42 feet deep by 26 feet +wide. It was raised about six inches over the floor of the nave, and a +slab of limestone extended the entire width with which the tiled pavement +was flush. Almost in the centre of the chancel, that is to say, nearly +midway between the two piers, are two sockets sunk in sandstone blocks. +What uses they served cannot be affirmed with certainty. However, it may +be conjectured that they served to receive the supports on which a violet +curtain was suspended during Lent, screening the “Sanctuary.” This curtain +spanned the space from pier to pier. The custom is still preserved in the +Order. Here on this central spot, a lectern was placed, at which the +sub-deacon at Solemn Masses sang the Epistle. Here, too, the celebrant of +the Community Mass on Sundays blessed the water with which he sprinkled +the brethren, who presented themselves two by two before him. It was here, +also, that the Abbot blessed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> candles, ashes, and palms, on +Candlemas-day, Ash Wednesday, and Palm Sunday respectively. This was +called the “Presbytery Step,” and the whole space within the chancel, the +“Sanctuary.”</p> + +<p>The basis on which the High Altar was built still remains. It is distant +some few feet from the eastern wall, in order to allow a passage for the +monks, who on Sundays and Festivals received Holy Communion at this altar, +after which they walked around it in single file, and passing on by the +Gospel, or northern corner, returned to their stalls in the nave. The +basis is ten feet long by three and one half feet wide. On the Epistle, or +southern side, are the piscina surrounded with a dog-tooth moulding, and +the remains of the sedilia or stalls, which were occupied by the +celebrant, deacon, and sub-deacon at High Mass. Under these sedilia a tomb +was discovered during the excavations. A skull and some bones, together +with a gold ring, were raised from their resting-place; the bones were +replaced and covered with the slab of concrete now seen at this spot, but +the ring was sold by a workman and could never be recovered. No +inscription or tradition identifies the occupant of the hallowed grave. +Could it have been that of the famous Dervorgilla? She was certainly +buried at Mellifont, but unfortunately, we do not know the spot where her +remains were laid when “life’s fitful fever” was over; or it may have been +the resting-place of Thomas O’Connor, or of Luke Netterville, both, +successively, Archbishops of Armagh; for they, also, were buried at +Mellifont.</p> + +<p>On the opposite, or Gospel side, is an arched recess having an ornamental +moulding around it. This would seem to have been the Founder’s tomb, or +rather, the remains of it. In the Cistercian Constitutions no special +place was allotted for the tombs of Founders, and only the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> indefinite +permission was given, that they, kings and queens, bishops and such like +exalted dignitaries, might be buried within the churches of the Order. A +general custom, however, prevailed in Ireland of appropriating to the +Founder’s tomb a space in the northern wall of the chancel, and directly +at right angles with the High Altar. Others, besides Founders, were buried +on the north side in the chancel. Thus, in the Annals of St. Mary’s Abbey, +Dublin, we are told that Felix O’Ruadan, who had been a great benefactor +to that house, was buried in the chancel of the abbey church, on the north +side. And Felix O’Dullany, the first Abbot of Jerpoint, and afterwards +Bishop of Ossory, was interred on the north side of the High Altar, at +Jerpoint.</p> + +<p>The door on this side of the chancel is a puzzle, as in no other church of +the Order is one found in this position. There is no evidence of a +building having adjoined with which this door communicated, so that its +use is unknown. Quite close to this door there is a shallow recess in the +wall, which may have been a provision for the Abbot’s throne, when he +officiated pontifically, as that is the site usually occupied by it. Some +five or six feet high of the chancel walls is all that is left standing; +and, though not up to the window level, what remains of the cut stone and +water-tabling gives an idea of the beauty of the whole, and what a loss we +have sustained by its destruction.</p> + +<p>In the original church, that is, the one erected in St. Malachy’s time, +there were ten altars we are told, but on the ground plan seven only are +shown. Two more at least were in front of the Rood-loft or <i>Jubé</i>, and the +remaining one very probably was in one of the aisles. The church of +Mellifont was remarkable, not so much for its vast dimensions, as for its +architectural beauty; yet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> in this it was surpassed by St. Mary’s Abbey, +Dublin. Sir Thomas Deane writes: “From the fragments of the church which +remain, it is easy to trace the vicissitudes the building underwent. I +have great doubt that any portions of the structure above ground are those +of the earliest church erected on the site, or date as far back as 1157, +which is given as the year of its consecration.... The details of the +piers (the older ones) are in my opinion a century or more later in date. +They still indicate a foreign type, and the arrangements and obvious plan +show that the transepts as well as the nave had aisles.... Portions of the +piers discovered are of the fifteenth century, other parts of the church +of the fourteenth.... A second portion dates probably from 1260, another +from 1370, and another from 1460. I am not prepared to follow from the +history of the Abbey the causes of such restorations; but it is certain +that rebuildings of portions of the church occurred from time to time, and +that violence or decay was the cause.” Neither to violence nor to decay +can the alterations be attributed, which the church underwent at the three +periods mentioned by Sir Thomas, but rather to the practice then common to +the whole Order, chiefly in the monasteries of Great Britain and Ireland, +of adopting the advancing changes in the Gothic style, and to the laudable +efforts of the monks to make the House of God worthy of Him as far as art +and skill could be made subservient to that purpose. Thus in the Annals of +Fountains and Furness, there are abundant proofs of this constant change +going on in those monasteries even down to the date of their suppression. +One Abbot considered the eastern window too low and narrow, and had it +enlarged; another thought the tower rested on too slender a basis, and he +built substantial piers and flanked them on the outside with buttresses, +and so with others.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>To better understand the surroundings, it will be necessary to bear in +mind the general plan on which all Cistercian monasteries were built. On +this subject there is a good deal of misapprehension, even on the part of +those who seem to have given close attention to the matter. The church and +buildings necessary for large communities were so arranged as to form a +square, thereby combining simplicity with economy. It is said that the +monks borrowed this idea from the form of a Roman villa. The church formed +the first or northern side (for in temperate and cold climates the other +buildings, as they lay to the south, were sheltered by the church.) The +sacristy, chapter-house, and other halls were on the east; the +calefactory, refectory, and kitchen on the south; and the <i>Domus +Conversorum</i> completed the square on the west. Within this square were the +cloisters, always contiguous to the main buildings, and forming a +communication with all the parts of the monastery. They were a sort of +covered ambulatory, whose roof rested on the one side against the main +buildings, and on the other was supported by open ornamental arcades, +which, however, in these climates were glazed. The cloisters were often +vaulted in richly moulded stonework, and were fitted up with benches for +reading, chiefly on the side adjoining the church. The space or +quadrilateral area enclosed by them was called the Cloister-Garth, in the +centre of which a statue or handsome fountain stood.</p> + +<p>The cloisters were generally entered from the church by the south aisle, +at the point where it adjoins the transept; but here, at Mellifont, the +entrance was direct from the south transept itself. This a glance at the +ground-plan will show; though it may have been otherwise in the primitive +church; for, when it underwent <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>alterations, the transepts were widened by +the addition of an aisle to each; and, the cloister being thus encroached +on, a change was necessary in it also.</p> + +<p>Adjoining the transept, and at right angles with the cloister, on the +left, was a narrow hall or cell which contained books, chiefly the Sacred +Scriptures, and the writings of the Fathers. This cell, which had no +window, was called the “Armarium Commune,” or “Common Box;” for its +contents were common to all the monks. Its situation was convenient to the +reading-cloister, which lay along the south wall of the church. In this +cell the monks were provided with an abundant supply of good books, but +treatises on the Canon and Civil Laws were forbidden to be kept in it: the +Prior was charged with the custody of these. Behind this cell, and +communicating only with the church, the Sacristy was placed; but, as +before observed, there is no trace of one here. Some writers on monastic +ruins, confidently assure their readers that this cell was a prison, and +that it was called the “Lantern;” casting upon the monks all +responsibility for the name, and supposing them to have formed it on the +<i>lucus a non lucendo</i> principle, seeing the cell was dark. The error was +all their own; for the Lantern, as has been already shown, was in the +tower over the crossing of the church; and the true use of this cell has +just been stated above.</p> + +<p>Here (at Mellifont), in close proximity to the transept, is the ruined +two-storied building we saw as we approached, and which, from its present +striking appearance, must have been one of the most beautiful within the +ancient abbey’s precincts. This is commonly, but erroneously, known as +“St. Bernard’s Chapel.” Why it was reputed to have been a chapel, must be +from the close resemblance it bears to one. It was, in reality, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +Chapter-house. That it was, is quite evident to anyone who has studied the +plans of Cistercian monasteries: (<i>a</i>), from the position it occupies, and +(<i>b</i>), from the internal arrangement and decorations such as are found in +other like edifices of the Order in Ireland. A stone bench ran around the +inside of the building, and which, when covered with a rush mat, served as +a seat for the monks. In Graignamanagh Abbey, Co. Kilkenny, the ancient +Chapter-house still remains, closely resembling this one at Mellifont, +both in style and ornamentation, as well as in dimensions. The historic +Chapter-house of St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, which was unearthed a few years +ago, exhibited in every detail a striking resemblance to this also. That +at Graignamanagh was remarkable for its beauty. At the entrance to it from +the cloister, was a magnificent arched door-way, containing within it +three smaller arches of blue marble, beautifully carved. A grand central +column, called by the inhabitants of the district, the “Marble Tree,” +supported the roof. It stood eight feet high from base to capital, whence +the branches spread to meet the corresponding ribs on the groined roof.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> +<div class="bbox" style="width: 332px; height: 500px;"><img src="images/img04.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Gateway (Porter’s Lodge.)</span> See page <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.<br /><i>From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Sir William Wilde describes the Chapter-house at Mellifont, as he saw it +in 1850. He says: “It must have been one of the most elegant and highly +embellished structures of the Norman or Early English pointed style in +Ireland.” He calls it a Crypt; for it was overlaid, and surrounded up to a +high level by heaps of rubbish. He goes on to say: “It has a groined roof +underneath another building evidently used for domestic purposes, and was +probably part of the Abbot’s apartments. The upper room, which contains a +chimney, must have been a pleasant, cheerful abode, and its windows +commanded a charming prospect down the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> valley, with a view of the distant +hills peeping up from the south-west. The building is 30 feet long, by 19 +feet wide. There are no remains of mullions or tracery of the east window. +At present, there are two lights on each side; but upon a careful +examination of the masonry both within and without the building, it is, we +think, apparent that in the original plan, the upper window on each side +alone existed, the others being evidently subsequent innovations. The +original windows<a name='fna_2' id='fna_2' href='#f_2'><small>[2]</small></a> are still beautiful, deeply set, and, though their +stone mullions are rather massive, each forms, with the tracery at the +top, a very elegant figure. The internal pilasters, which form an +architrave for the northern window, spring from grotesque heads, +elaborately carved, and which appear as if pressed down by the +superincumbent weight. A fillet of dog’s-tooth moulding surrounds the +internal sash. A projecting moulding courses round the wall, about two +feet from the ground, which, while it dips down to admit the splayed sill +of the upper or original windows, continues unbroken by the lower ones, an +additional proof that the latter did not exist in the original plan of the +building. Three sets of short clustered columns, four feet high, one in +the centre, and one in each angle, spring from this course, and terminate +in elaborately carved floral capitals, which differ slightly one from the +other. The centre rod of this cluster descends as far as the floor. From +these spring the ribs, which form the groining of the roof.... The grand +architectural feature, and most elaborate piece of carving, was the +door-way, formed of a cluster of columns, very deeply revealed on the +inside, but apparently plain on the outside.... Nearly the whole of the +western end<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> has fallen, so that nothing but the foundations of this very +splendid door-way now remain. A figure of it has, however, been preserved +in Wright’s <i>Louthiana</i> (reproduced here),<a name='fna_3' id='fna_3' href='#f_3'><small>[3]</small></a> published in 1755, where we +read that it was ‘all of blue marble, richly ornamented and gilt,’ but +‘which,’ the author adds, ‘I was informed was sold and going to be taken +to pieces when I was there.’ All the pillars and carved stone work of this +building were at one time painted in the most brilliant colours, the +capitals light blue, the pillars themselves red; portions of this paint +still remain in the curves and amongst the foliage.”</p> + +<p>The Chapter-house<a name='fna_4' id='fna_4' href='#f_4'><small>[4]</small></a> is little changed since Sir William Wilde penned the +foregoing, and time seems to have dealt leniently with this magnificent +ruin. One of the windows has had its mullions restored under the Board of +Works; a number of curious objects—capitals, corbels, and portions of +arches and cut stone, flooring tiles, etc., has been collected there, and +a gate to guard them has been erected by Mr. Balfour, the owner of the +ruins and surrounding property. It is very dubious that the upper story +ever served as a part of the Abbot’s lodgings, as these are generally +found further east. This room may have been the muniment room. It has two +port-holes remaining, relics of the days when Mellifont was turned into a +fortified castle, and the cry of fierce, contending men was heard on this +hallowed spot, over the graves of the sainted dead. In the first volume of +<i>The Dublin Penny Journal</i>, there are very interesting articles from the +pen of a Mr. Armstrong, a native of the locality. He tells us that this +Chapter-house was converted into a banqueting-hall by the Moore family, +and that in his time (1832), it was used as a pig-sty.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> +<div class="bbox" style="width: 347px; height: 500px;"><img src="images/img05.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">North Window of Chapter-House.</span> See p. <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.<br /><i>From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>Another account of the fate of the beautiful arched door-way of blue +marble is, that it was lost at a game of piquet, and the lucky winner, +whose name, unfortunately, has not been handed down to us, had it removed +to his mansion, and set up as a chimney-piece. The floor of the +Chapter-house is now laid with some of the tiles which were found in the +church during the excavations, in order to preserve them from destruction +or appropriation by “relic-hunters.” Abbots, generally, chose the +Chapter-house of their abbeys for their burial place; but, as no grave was +found here, when the rubbish was removed, during the excavations, we may +conclude that the Abbots of Mellifont were buried either in the church, or +in the cemetery with their monks.</p> + +<p>The glazed tiles and their manufacture were a specialty with the old +Cistercians, in these countries. Similar tiles are seldom met with amongst +the ruins of other churches. Here at Mellifont, those found are red and +blue, and the vast majority have the legend <i>Ave Maria</i> inscribed on them; +others are impressed with a Fleur de lis, a cock, or some typical device. +It is well known, that specimens of tiles found at Fountains, in +Yorkshire, bear a close resemblance to these. There, the motto of that +monastery was impressed on the tiles discovered—“<i>Benedicite fontes +Domino</i>,”—“Ye fountains bless the Lord.” No doubt, here, too, some bore +the motto of Mellifont, if only they could be found.</p> + +<p>A very pertinent question arises now: how could this small building give +sitting accommodation, not only to one hundred and fifty monks, which this +monastery is said to have had, but even to a third of that number? It +seems impossible. It may be that, on becoming numerous, they used as +Chapter-house some other building no longer standing. At Graignamanagh, +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> monks, finding their Chapter-house too small, converted the eastern +window of it into a door, and built a large and spacious hall, as a new +Chapter-house, the old one serving as an ante-chamber to it. No such +addition had been made here; for the window remains intact.</p> + +<p>What a change has come over this grand old Chapter-house since it saw its +Abbot, who ranked as a peer of the realm, walk up its centre with solemn +and stately tread, and mount the steps which led to his seat, on the east; +and the grave assemblage of white-robed monks enter in silence, and take +their places on either side, while one of them sang at the Lectern, the +Martyrology, and a chapter of St. Benedict’s Rule! From this custom of +having a <i>chapter</i> of the Rule sung there every morning, this apartment +derives its name. In the interval, between the singing of the Martyrology +and the chapter of St. Benedict’s Rule, one of the priests gave out +certain prayers, to which all responded. These prayers were chiefly +petitions to the Lord, that He would deign to bless and guard them during +the coming day; for the hour of chapter, or of the assembling of the +Brethren, was generally about 6 <span class="smcaplc">A.M.</span>. The Abbot then explained the chapter +which had been sung, dwelt on the obligations incumbent on his hearers, by +their profession, to observe the teaching which St. Benedict inculcated by +his Rule; then called for the public self-accusations of breaches of +monastic discipline (external faults only), and imposed penances +commensurate with each transgression. The Chapter-house was the hall +wherein were held the deliberations or councils relative to the +administration of temporalities, and here novices were elected or rejected +by secret ballot.</p> + +<p>On leaving the Chapter-house one finds himself again on the site of the +eastern walk or alley of the Cloister, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> it is called, and proceeding +along it southward, one sees a wall some seven or eight feet high without +door or window of any sort. It is doubtful that this was portion of the +ancient building; for then Mellifont would not have followed the general +plan of all the houses of the Order. That it was not one of the original +buildings is probable, both because the masonry is more modern, and the +remains of an old building running at right angles with it were found when +the excavations were made a few years ago in the potato garden, at the +rere of this wall. That old structure measured about fourteen feet wide. +It is shown on the ground plan. In the plan of Clairvaux, of which +Mellifont is said to have been a counterpart, a long narrow hall ran off +the Cloister here, parallel with the Chapter-house. It was called the +“Auditorium” or “Parlour.” It was there that each choir monk’s share in +the manual labour was assigned him every day by the Prior. There, too, +confessions were heard, and the monks might speak to the Prior or Abbot on +necessary matters; for the adjoining Cloister was a place of strict +silence. As at Clairvaux, the novitiate was placed further south where the +novices were trained in their duties by a learned and experienced monk, +who, according to St. Benedict, “would know how to gain souls to God.”</p> + +<p>Over the buildings on the ground story, that is, over the Sacristy, +Chapter-house, Parlour, and Novitiate, was the Dormitory, which was +entered by a stair-case, in the south-eastern angle of the transept, on +one side, and by another stairs at the junction of the east and south +walks of the Cloister. When the monastery at Mellifont was changed and +remodelled after Clairvaux (for this latter underwent a substantial change +in 1175), the monks may have used the old Parlour as a passage leading to +other buildings which covered that plot of ground beyond the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +Chapter-house, now a potato garden. In the plan of Clairvaux, all the +space in that direction is covered with buildings. (See plan of +Clairvaux.) In the general view of Mellifont, given in frontispiece, the +plot whereon these buildings stood is that where the man is seen tilling +the garden. But if one ascend the hill, keeping close to the ruins, it +will be evident how suitable a place it was for building on, and the +remains of walls peep up here and there over the surface. The level at +that spot is, indeed, much higher than in the Cloister, or Chapter-house, +but that is partially caused by the debris of ruined buildings which has +accumulated there.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img06.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Doorway of Chapter-House.</span> See p. <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.<br /><i>A. Scott & Son, Architects, Drogheda.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>At the extreme end of this eastern walk of the Cloister and at right +angles with it, are the remains of what was once a spacious building. It +had a fire-place at the eastern end, and a door which led out into another +building that formerly adjoined it. It is 96 feet long by 36 feet wide. No +idea can be formed now as to its original use. In some monasteries of the +fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, chiefly the more considerable ones, +there was a spacious room or hall located as this was, and furnished with +benches and writing-desks, where the monks studied and wrote. It was +called the “Lectorium” or Reading room. It must not, however, be +confounded with the Scriptorium, which was the official quarters of the +copyist. It is well to remark here that the plot of ground lying north of +this building was not dug up during the excavations, but only skimmed over +in order to trace the course of some walls which at intervals appeared +above the surface; but, even this slight investigation was sufficient to +reveal the outlines of numerous buildings that once extended in that +direction and covered that whole area. Again comparing the site with +Clairvaux, we find that the Infirmary and its surroundings would lie in +that direction.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>At the extreme end of the eastern walk of the Cloister where it joins the +southern one, are the remains of a stairs, which formerly led up to the +Dormitory from this part of the monastery, as at Clairvaux. Near it is +what is commonly called a vault, an arched chamber measuring sixteen feet +by fourteen. It has a chimney, and it would seem to have had a narrow +window also on the outer or southern end. Here is where the Calefactory +stood in almost all the old Cistercian monasteries. This Calefactory was +heated by a stove, at which the monks warmed themselves after their long +vigils in winter; but their stay there was restricted to one quarter of an +hour. Pope Eugenius III., when a monk at Clairvaux, under St. Bernard, had +charge of the stove there, as was commemorated by an inscription over the +door of the Calefactory. A son of the King of France discharged the same +lowly office afterwards at Clairvaux, as the Annals of the Order testify.</p> + +<p>Adjoining this vault is a covered passage, having an entrance into the +next building, which runs parallel with it. Its purpose cannot now be +known. It may be that the vault or Calefactory had been converted in later +times into a store-room for necessaries which were brought thence by this +covered way into the Refectory, which is the next building. The Refectory +measures 48 feet by 24. A few coarse flags remain in their original +position, from which it may be inferred that the whole floor was once +formed of them. In its western wall was the turnstile, through which the +food was served from the kitchen that adjoined the Refectory on that side.</p> + +<p>Now, we come to the great puzzle, the remains of the octagon building, +which was commonly called the Baptistery. Sir William Wilde, who saw it as +it was in 1848, calls it the oldest and by far the most interesting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +architectural remains in the whole place; and he goes on to describe +it:<a name='fna_5' id='fna_5' href='#f_5'><small>[5]</small></a> “This octagonal structure, of which only four sides remain, +consists of a colonnade or series of circular-headed arches, of the Roman +or Saxon character, enclosing a space of 29 feet in the clear, and +supporting a wall which must have been, when perfect, about 30 feet high. +Each external face measures 12 feet in length, and was plastered or +covered with composition to the height of 10 feet, where a projecting band +separates it from the less elaborate masonry above. The arches<a name='fna_6' id='fna_6' href='#f_6'><small>[6]</small></a> are +carved in sandstone, and spring from foliage-ornamented capitals, to the +short supporting pillars, the shaft of each of which measures 3 feet 5 +inches. The chord of each arch above the capitals is 4 feet 3 inches. Some +slight difference is observable in the shape and arrangement of the +foliage of the capitals, and upon one of the remaining half arches were +beautifully carved two birds; but some Goth has lately succeeded in +hammering away as much of the relieved part of each, as it was possible. +The arches were evidently open, and some slight variety exists in their +mouldings. Internally a stone finger-course encircled the wall, at about +six inches higher than that on the outside. In the angles between the +arches there are remains of fluted pilasters at the height of the +string-course, from which spring groins of apparently the same curve as +the external arches, and which, meeting in the centre, must have formed +more or less of a pendant, which, no doubt, heightened the beauty and +architectural effect. Like the pillars and stone carvings in the +Chapter-house, this building was also painted red and blue, and the track +of the paint is still visible in several places. The upper story, which +was lighted by a window on each side of the octagon, bears no +architectural<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> embellishment which is now visible.” He then adds, how +Archdall, in his <i>Monasticon</i>, asserted that a cistern was placed on the +upper story, whence water was conveyed by pipes to the different parts of +the monastery; but shows how such an arrangement would have been +impossible, on account of the weakness of the walls, and the position of +the windows.</p> + +<p>This building was known, in monastic terminology, as the “Lavabo.” A +fountain of water issued in jets from a central column, and fell into a +basin, in which the monks washed their hands, before entering the +Refectory for their meals. It is quite easy, from the construction of the +roof, to imagine a number of branches springing from the capital of the +column, and meeting the ribs of the groined roof, in the same manner, as +the “Marble Tree,” in the Chapter-house of Graignamanagh. Drains in +connection with this building were discovered when the excavations were +made, and Sir Thomas Deane is of opinion, that it was surrounded on the +outside by a wooden verandah, or shed. Certainly, in the plan of +Clairvaux, a low building is shown, adjoining the Lavabo, at its east and +west ends; but no use is assigned it. Very probably it was the Lavatory. +Petrie thinks the Lavabo may have been built as far back as 1165, but that +can hardly be held; for Clairvaux had not been remodelled till 1175, and +it had no such ornamental structure in the time of St. Bernard. He +remarks, too, that fragments of bricks were discovered in the building, +and says they were never employed earlier in any other building in +Ireland. It is now certain, that it was the monks of Mellifont who first +manufactured bricks in this country. This Lavabo was not isolated or +detached from the Cloister, but, as at Clairvaux, a door led from one into +the other, opposite the entrance into the Refectory;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> and, since the +excavations, portions of the door-way are visible. Some small shafts and +their bases remain. Even at the present day, in one of the most recently +constructed monasteries of the Order (near Tilburg, Holland), what might +be termed a semi-octagonal Lavabo, having its fountain and basin, has been +built. It answers the same purpose as those in ancient times.</p> + +<p>By keeping the Lavabo before one’s mind, one can form an idea of the +Cloister itself; which, consisting of arcades, closely resembled this in +every detail, except that these were glazed, and in all probability its +walks had a lean-to roof. The site of the east walk of the Cloister is +easily traced, and the places occupied by the piers being now concreted, +mark their positions. This eastern walk was 21 feet 6 inches wide. The +opposite, or western one, was some 19 feet 6 inches; that on the south, 14 +feet; and the north one, adjoining the church, and which was usually the +Reading-Cloister, may also have been 14 feet. Thus, we would have an +enclosed space or Garth, 100 feet square.</p> + +<p>Beside the Refectory lay the Kitchen, which was a small building, and +around it are the ruins of smaller structures, which may have been +store-rooms in connection with it. Under the Kitchen ran a copious stream +of water which carried off all the refuse. It is remarkable that at +Clairvaux similar remains are found in exactly the same position +relatively to the Kitchen there. With the Cistercians, the Kitchen was +always square; with the Benedictines, it was round. To the rere of the +Kitchen, and almost directly opposite the covered passage, is the old well +which was covered over for a long time, but was discovered, and re-opened +in 1832. Near it a portion of the old wall fell in, but the masonry, owing +to the singularly cohesive character of the mortar, holds together despite +the action of the elements.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>Of the western walk of the Cloister no trace remains, and only a tottering +wall of the <i>Domus Conversorum</i>, which once adjoined it, is standing. +There is no trace either of the northern walk, though this was the most +important of all. There the monks read and copied, in cells called +“carrols,” which were placed near the windows. When not employed in +chanting the Masses and Offices in the church, or busied with domestic +concerns, or working in the fields, the monks passed all their intervals +here occupied with study. The Abbot had a chair here also; and, from a +raised pulpit opposite it, one of the monks read aloud every evening, the +lecture before Compline, at which the whole community assisted.</p> + +<p>Turning westward and approaching the River Mattock, we enter, at the left, +an enclosed space, bounded by the river on one side, and by the remains of +the outer wall of the <i>Domus Conversorum</i> on the other, we find ourselves +in a potato garden, which, on close observation, appears strewn with +pieces of bones. This was “God’s Acre” at Mellifont, the cemetery of the +monks. Some forty or fifty years ago, a Scotchman, who then rented the +mill and a farm adjoining it, perceiving that the clay of this old +cemetery was particularly rich and loamy, dug a spit off it a foot deep or +more, and carted it out on his fields for top-dressing. Amongst the stuff +so carted were human bones of all kinds, skulls, etc.!!! This was done in +a Christian land, and no protesting voice was raised against the horrid +profanation!! The cemetery is shown in the general view at the extreme +left, where the plot of ground appears laid out in ridges and surrounded +by a wall.</p> + +<p>The River Mattock flows peacefully still by the old abbey as it did over +seven centuries ago, when its course being first arrested, it was +harnessed and compelled to take its share in many useful and profitable +industries.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> One old solitary yew tree casts its shadow on its water and +bears it company amid the surrounding ruin and desolation—sad and +sympathising witnesses of Mellifont’s fallen greatness. No bridge now +spans the river here, though formerly it was probably arched over, and the +slopes upon the Meath side were laid out in terraces and gardens. The +present mill was built over one hundred years ago, together with some +out-offices; the latter, being situated almost midway in the nave of the +church, were removed when the excavations were made. The mill has not been +worked during the last thirty years. When Mr. Armstrong wrote his +interesting papers on Mellifont, in the <i>Dublin Penny Journal</i>, 1832-33, a +few cabins nestled under the shadow of the old ruins.</p> + +<p>The last building that deserves notice is the small ruined edifice on the +hill, which, after the suppression of the monastery, was used as a +Protestant place of worship. Sir William Wilde was of opinion that it +dates from the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The western gable which +rises in the centre into a double belfry contains a pointed door-way, and +above, but not immediately over this, is a double round-arched window. One +small narrow light occupies the eastern gable. At a few paces in front of +this building there stood, at the time Sir William examined it, two very +plain and very ancient crosses, one having a heart engraven on it +encircled by a crown of thorns, and the other having a fleur de lis on the +arm. The latter cross has disappeared, but the former can still be seen +prostrate on the ground, in that half of the old cemetery beyond the +road-way, that is, on the side to the south. After the suppression, this +was used as a Protestant burial-ground, though the presence of Catholic +emblems would go to prove that it was once Catholic. Of late years the +interments here have been but few. We are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> nowhere told, nor does any +tradition still linger to indicate the former use of this ancient +building, but it is most probable, that it was the church in which the +tenants and dependants of the Abbey assisted at Mass and other religious +functions—in a word, that it was the parish church of Mellifont, which +was <i>served by the monks</i>. This seems to be the most likely explanation; +for the law of “Enclosure,” that law of the Church which debarred females +from entering within the monastic enclosure, (“<i>Septa monasterii</i>” as it +is called), was in full force at the Dissolution of monasteries, as +appears from the Decrees of the General Chapters of the Order about that +time, and also from the Episcopal Registers of some of the English +dioceses which have lately been published. In these latter are found +reports of the bishops, who, either officially or by delegation, visited +some monasteries and adverted to the law of enclosure as an important +point of monastic discipline. This old structure, then, would have been +constructed purposely outside the wall for the use of the tenants. Such a +chapel is still to be seen outside the enclosure at Bordesley Abbey, an +old Cistercian monastery in Worcestershire, of which we are expressly +told, that it was the place in which the monks, tenants, domestics, etc., +attended Mass. Another purpose may be assigned to this old chapel at +Mellifont, as that attached to the College, or Seminary, which once +flourished there. The surrounding hill is locally and traditionally known +as College-Hill, and the old road which passes over it and leads to +Townley Hall, is called the College Road.</p> + +<p>Little more remains to be said of the ruins or of the site itself. +Standing on this hill and looking into the valley beneath, we are struck +by its singular natural features. It would seem as if the waters of the +Mattock had been suddenly dammed up, and that the pent-up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> waters, +bursting their barriers, hollowed out this sheltered little valley, after +the angry element had cleared away the rocks and other obstructions; and +having swept it clear of the rubbish, made it a fit and proper place +whereon to rear a temple to the true God, in which praise and sacrifice +might for ever be offered to Him. No buildings seem to have been +constructed on the Meath side, as no traces of them remain. In this, +Mellifont differed from Clairvaux, whose buildings filled the valley and +spread out wings high up the hills on either side of the River Aube.</p> + +<p>Just due south from where we have been standing, on the hill, and distant +about a few hundred yards, the Guide will show a singular earth-work, +shaped like a moat, and having an elevated mound in the centre. From the +presence here of old conduits built with masonry, there can be no doubt +that this was a reservoir to contain a copious supply of water which +flowed from wells on the hill. Lower down than this moat, that is, at the +rere of the Chapter-house, lies buried beneath some feet of soil the +Abbot’s house, where Mellifont’s puissant rulers received their guests, +and whose hospitable board was honoured by the presence of kings and +bishops, as well as chiefs and warriors bold in all their pomp and +panoply. It is doubtful that any vestige of the enclosure wall remains, +nor can it be conjectured even, what, or how much, space it embraced. As +we ponder over the scene, Keats’ words find an echo in our hearts:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“How changed, alas! from that revered abode<br /> +Graced by proud majesty in ancient days,<br /> +Where monks recluse those sacred pavements trod,<br /> +And taught the unlettered world its Maker’s praise.”</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<p class="title">ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer<br /> +Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice<br /> +Rise like a fountain for me night and day,<br /> +For what are men better than sheep and goats,<br /> +That nourish a blind life within the brain,<br /> +If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer<br /> +Both for themselves and those who call them friend?<br /> +For so the whole round earth is every way<br /> +Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;">(<i>Lord Tennyson.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="dropfig"><img src="images/drop_a.jpg" alt="A" /></span>t the time that Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen Harding were laying +the foundation of the Cistercian Order, in the dense forest of Cistercium, +or Citeaux, whence the Order derives its name, or to be more precise, in +1098, a lovely little boy eight years old, with golden hair and dove-like +eyes, and with nobility of birth stamped in every lineament of his +features, was playing in his father’s chateau at Fontaines, near Dijon, in +France. This child of predilection was the great St. Bernard, who is +justly styled the Propagator of that Order which was then in a struggling +condition. It has become a proverb, “that the child is father of the man,” +and a very clever writer exclaims—“Blessed is the man whose infancy has +been watched over, kindled, and penetrated by the eyes of a tender and +holy mother.” It was St. Bernard’s singular privilege to have such a +mother, one who sedulously watched over his youthful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> days, and inspired +him with a love of all virtues. Hence we are told, that even in early +childhood, he evinced a love of piety that was remarkable, and that he +constituted his mother the grand model which he was bound to copy. He +considered it the summit of his ambition to do all things like his +mother—to pray like her, to give alms and visit the sick poor like her; +for this noble lady was wont to go along the roads unattended, carrying +medicine and nourishment to the indigent. He distinguished himself at the +public school where he received his education, and returned to the +paternal mansion where he soon after experienced his first great sorrow in +the death of his loving mother. He was now approaching manhood, and he +must needs select a state of life befitting his high birth. At that time, +only two professions were worthy of the consideration of young +noblemen—the Church or the Army. With Bernard’s distinguished talents, a +bright and rosy future presented itself before his youthful imagination, +and then the eloquent persuasions of his relatives, who promised him their +powerful patronage, were not wanting to arouse his ambition; but, the +image of his saintly mother dispelled all dreams of promotion, and her +pious instructions, which sank deep into his young heart, acted as potent +antidotes against the allurements of worldly pomp and short-lived honours. +After much reflection he made up his mind to renounce all honours, and to +become a monk. By his irresistible pleadings he gained over his four +brothers, with other relatives and friends, to the number of thirty, and +at their head, presented himself at the gate of the Abbey of Citeaux, +where St. Stephen Harding joyfully admitted them. Two years later we find +him leaving that monastery as the Abbot of a new colony, on his way to +found Clairvaux, being then in his twenty-fifth year. Here, his light +could <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>no longer remain hidden, but burst forth into a luminous flame +whose splendour aroused and powerfully influenced the whole Christian +world. The Bishop of Chalons, in whose diocese Clairvaux was situated, was +the first to discover the transcendent abilities and eloquence of the +youthful Abbot. At his request, St. Bernard consented to deliver a course +of sermons in the churches of his diocese, which were productive of +incalculable good, and spread the fame of the zealous preacher. Priests as +well as laymen, attached themselves to him and accompanied him to +Clairvaux on his return from those missions. One of the Saint’s +biographers cries out—“How many learned men, how many nobles and great +ones of this earth, how many philosophers have passed from the schools or +academies of the world to Clairvaux to give themselves up to the +meditation of heavenly things and the practice of a divine morality.” His +fame reached even to Ireland, and we are told that in this country the +little children were wont to ask for the badge of the Crusaders which the +Saint distributed. In a word, his voice was the most authoritative in +Europe. Kings and princes dreaded him, and accepted him as arbitrator in +their quarrels. Even Popes themselves sought his counsel. In his lifetime, +his own disciple, Bernard of Pisa, occupied the Chair of Peter, as +Eugenius III. It may be truthfully said, that St. Bernard reformed Europe +and infused a new spirit into the monastic orders. Even Luther does not +hesitate to place him in the forefront of all monks who lived in his time; +of him he writes: “Melius nec vixit nec scripsit quis in universo cœtu +monachorum.”</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> +<div class="bbox" style="width: 600px; height: 419px;"><img src="images/img07.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Interior of Chapter-House.</span> See p. <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.<br /><i>From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Whilst the Church in France was reaping the benefit of the holy Abbot’s +preaching and example, a zealous Irish prelate was actively and +successfully engaged in eradicating vice which sprang up in this country, +as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> consequence of the long-protracted wars with the Danes, and the +demoralising effects of intercourse with that people. Nevertheless, +Ireland had then its saints and scholars, and the ancient seats of +learning, such as Armagh, Bangor, Lismore, Clonard, and Clonmacnoise were +once more inhabited by numerous communities. This saintly prelate was St. +Malachy, who, being on his way to Rome, heard of the sanctity of the great +St. Bernard, and would fain pay him a visit. This visit would St. Malachy +have gladly prolonged; for then and there sprang up a mutual affection, +which, writes our own Tom Moore, “reflects credit on both.” St. Malachy +was so enamoured with what he witnessed at Clairvaux, and particularly +with the wise discourses of the learned Abbot, that he determined to +become one of his disciples. Innocent II., who then ruled the flock of +Christ, on the Saint seeking his permission to retire to Clairvaux, would +not hearken to his request, but giving him many marks of his esteem, +appointed him his Legate in Ireland, and commanded him to return thither. +If St. Malachy might not live at Clairvaux in the midst of the fervent men +whom he there beheld earnestly intent in the great work of mortification +and expiation, he resolved, at least, to have a colony of them near him in +his own country, that by their prayers and example, they might promote +God’s glory, and in a measure, repeat the glorious traditions of the +ancient monastic ages in Ireland. In furtherance of this happy project, he +singled out four of his travelling companions, whom he gave in charge to +St. Bernard, with these words: “I most earnestly conjure you to retain +these disciples, and instruct them in all the duties and observances of +the religious profession, that, hereafter they may be able to teach us.” +On receiving an assurance of a hearty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> compliance from St. Bernard, he +took cordial leave of his friend and returned to Ireland. Not long after +he sent more of his disciples to join those whom he had already left at +Clairvaux, and on their arrival, St. Bernard wrote as follows: “The +Brothers who have come from a distant land, your letter and the staff you +sent me, have afforded me much consolation in the midst of the many +anxieties and cares that harass me.... Meanwhile, according to the wisdom +bestowed on you by the Almighty, select and prepare a place for their +reception, which shall be secluded from the tumults of the world, and +after the model of those localities which you have seen amongst us.” The +place selected by St. Malachy as the site of the future monastery, was the +sequestered valley watered by the River Mattock, situated about three and +one half miles from Drogheda, Co. Louth, and much resembling Clairvaux, +which, too, was located in a valley, shut in by little hills on all sides. +Donogh O’Carroll, Prince of Oriel, the lord of the territory, freely +granted the site to God and SS. Peter and Paul, munificently endowed the +monastery with many broad acres, and supplied wood and stone for the +erection of the buildings. This grant was made in either 1140 or 1141. The +charter of endowment by O’Carroll has not been found.</p> + +<p>It would appear from another letter of St. Bernard to St. Malachy, that he +had sent some monks from Clairvaux to make preparations for those who were +to immediately follow, and that already their number was augmented at +Mellifont by the accession of new members from the surrounding district, +who had joined them on their appearance in that locality. In this same +letter St. Bernard writes: “We send back to you your dearly-beloved son +and ours, Christian, as fully instructed as was possible in those rules +which regard our Order, hoping,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> moreover, that he will henceforth prove +solicitous for their observance.” This Christian is commonly supposed to +have been archdeacon of the diocese of Down. He was certainly first Abbot +of Mellifont, and his name shall turn up in connection with important +national events later on. With Christian came a certain Brother Robert, a +Frenchman, a skilful architect, who constructed the monastery after the +model of Clairvaux.</p> + +<p>That these were the pioneers of the Cistercian Order in Ireland cannot for +one moment be doubted, both from the very important fact, that the Abbot +of Mellifont took precedence of all the Abbots of his Order in this +country, and also, because it is an historical fact, that St. Mary’s +Abbey, Dublin, the other claimant for priority, did not exchange the +Benedictine for the Cistercian Rule till, at earliest, 1148, when the +Abbot of Savigni in France, with the thirty houses of his Order +(Benedictine) subject to his jurisdiction, were admitted into the +Cistercian family by Pope Eugenius III., who presided at the General +Chapter of the Cistercians that year. St. Mary’s was founded from +Buildewas, in Shropshire, and this latter was subject to Savigni.</p> + +<p>Various reasons are assigned for the adoption by these ancient monks of +the name Mellifont, which signifies “The Honey Fountain.” Some are of +opinion it had a spiritual signification, and had reference to the +abundance of blessings which would flow, and be diffused over the whole +country from this centre, through the unceasing and fervent intercessory +prayer of its holy inmates; for next to their own sanctification, their +neighbour’s wants claimed and received their practical sympathy. Like +divine charity it gushed forth from hearts totally devoted to God’s +service and interests, and this zeal would be halting and incomplete did +it not embrace the spiritual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> and temporal concerns of their fellow +mortals. Others derive the name from a limpid spring which supplied the +monks with a copious, unfailing stream of sweet water, which had its +source in Mellifont Park about one quarter of a mile distant, and which +was conducted by pipes through the various parts of the monastery. This +seems a very plausible account, and as the spring rose at a high level, it +had sufficient pressure to obviate the necessity of a cistern as was +erroneously supposed in connection with the Lavabo.</p> + +<p>It was customary with the old Irish Cistercians to give their monasteries +symbolical names at their foundation, and these names often denoted some +local feature or peculiarity. Thus, Newry was called of the “Green Wood,” +from the abundance of yew trees around the monastery there; Corcomroe, Co. +Clare, was known under the title of the “Fertile Rock;” Baltinglas, Co. +Wicklow, as the “Valley of Salvation,” etc.</p> + +<p>It is said that the “Honey Fountain” had its source in Mellifont Park, but +it seems that few of the present generation living in the vicinity of +Mellifont know or appreciate its virtues. In the Ordnance Survey, it is +stated that it rose in Mellifont Park, which was formerly a wood, and that +to the north of the well, a few trees still remained at the time of the +Survey, when the farm belonged to a Mr. James Curran.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<p class="title">AN EPITOME OF THE RULE OBSERVED AT MELLIFONT AT ITS FOUNDATION AND FOR +ABOUT A CENTURY AND A HALF AFTERWARDS.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Here man more purely lives; less oft doth fall;<br /> +More promptly rises; walks with stricter heed;<br /> +More safely rests; dies happier; is freed<br /> +Earlier from cleansing fires; and gains withal<br /> +A brighter crown.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">(<i>Saint Bernard.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="dropfig"><img src="images/drop_i.jpg" alt="I" /></span>n the foregoing verses St. Bernard summarises the manifold advantages +accruing from the profession and practice of the rule which he and his +fellow abbots drew up for their followers. In that age of chivalry and +wide extremes, men’s minds were profoundly moved by the world-wide +reputation and discourses of an outspoken, fearless monk, who confirmed +his words by incontestable and stupendous miracles. Then, it was nothing +unusual to see the impious sinner of yesterday become a meek repentant +suppliant for admission into some monastery to-day, where he could expiate +and atone for his former grievous excesses. The innocent, also, sought the +shelter of the cloister from the contaminating influences of a corrupt and +corrupting world; and in the spirit of sacrifice presented themselves as +victims to God’s outraged justice. At that same period, that is, about the +middle of the twelfth century, there was witnessed an unwonted movement +towards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> monasticism in its regenerated condition, as the Church Annals +abundantly testify. This happy tendency was mainly due to St. Bernard’s +influence and popularity, and was well illustrated by the saying of the +historian: “The whole world became Cistercian.”</p> + +<p>In essaying to reform St. Benedict’s Rule, the first Fathers of the +Cistercian Order sought only to restore its primitive simplicity and +austerity, but they, nevertheless, added some wise provisions which +established their reform on a firm basis, and which the experience of ages +proved to be indispensable. First of all, it was ordained, that all houses +of the Order should be united under one central controlling power, and +that all the Superiors should meet annually for deliberation on matters +appertaining to the maintenance of discipline and the correction of +abuses. This assembly was called the General Chapter, over which the Abbot +of Citeaux presided as recognised head of the Order. Till then, no such +institution existed, and an Abbot General, as we may call him, had it in +his power, from incapacity or any other cause, to disorganise a whole +Order. Under the General Chapter such a catastrophe was impossible. +Besides this wise enactment, St. Stephen drew up what he called the “Chart +of Charity,” by which it was ordained that the abbot of a monastery who +had filiations (that is, offshoots or houses founded directly from that +monastery) subject to him, should visit them annually either in person or +by proxy, and minutely inquire into their spiritual, disciplinary, and +financial condition. The abbots of those filiations were bound to return +the visit during the year; but they did so in quality of guest and not as +“Visitor,” the official title of the Abbot of the Parent House; or, +“Immediate Father,” as he is called. Thus the bands of discipline were +kept tightly drawn, and harmony, with uniformity of observance, was +maintained throughout the entire Order.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> +<div class="bbox" style="width: 600px; height: 414px;"><img src="images/img08.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Interior of Lavabo (Octagon.)</span> See p. <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /><i>From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>The denizens of the Cloister at that time consisted of two great classes, +who, indeed, enjoyed alike all the advantages of the state, but differed +in their functions and employments. One was busied with the cares of +Martha, the other was admitted to the privilege of Mary. The former were +employed chiefly in domestic duties, and various trades, and were +entrusted with the charge of the granges or outlying farms. These were the +Lay Brothers. Frequently their ranks were augmented by the noble and the +learned, who, unnoticed and unknown till their holy death, guided the +plough, delved the soil, or tended the sheep and oxen in the glades of the +forest. The other class resided in the monastery and devoted their time to +the chanting of the Divine Office, alternating with study in the Cloister +and manual labour in the fields and gardens. These were the choir monks. +Their dress was white. By vigorous toil and strict economy, these good old +monks wrested a competency from their farms, and freely shared their +substance with the needy and the stranger. They exhibited to an astonished +world a practical refutation of its corrupt maxims and habits. Thus by +their very lives, they preached most efficaciously; for by their contempt +of worldly honours and pleasures they gave proof abundant of the faith +that enlightened them to recognise the sublimity of the Gospel truths; of +the hope that sustained them to courageously endure temporal privations +for the sake of future rewards; and of the charity that prompted them to +liken themselves to Jesus Christ, their Master, who, being rich, became +poor for their sakes. Some may be inclined to consider all this as the +effect of monkish extravagance, weak-mindedness, and folly; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> modern +investigation, instituted and carried to a successful issue by honest +Protestant writers, has brushed aside such calumnies as hackneyed +catch-words, and has proved that beneath the monk’s cowl, there were found +hearts as warm and minds as broad as in any state or grade of society. It +must also be remembered, that for centuries the monks were the teachers +who moulded and fashioned the youth of the upper and middle classes.</p> + +<p>Two o’clock <span class="smcaplc">A.M.</span> was the usual hour for rising, when the monks, obedient +to the Sacristan’s signal, rising from their straw pallets and slipping on +their sandals (for they slept fully dressed, as the poorer classes of the +time are said to have done,) they left the Dormitory by the stairs that +led down to the southern transept, and proceeding noiselessly, they +reached the Choir where they immediately renewed the oblation of +themselves to God. Then the Office of Matins was commenced, and it with +Lauds occupied about one hour. On solemn festivals the monks rose at +midnight, and the Office lasted over three hours; for then the whole of it +was sung. Matins and Lauds over, they proceeded to the Reading-cloister to +study the Psalms, or Sacred Scripture, or the Fathers: some prolonged +their devotions in the church, where with clean, uplifted hands, they +became powerful mediators between God and His creatures; too many of whom, +alas, ignore their personal obligations. At that time, too, the priests +might celebrate their Masses, as the ancient Rule gave them liberty to +select that hour if they felt so inclined. We do not know how many priests +were amongst the Religious at Mellifont soon after its establishment, but +they must have numbered about twenty, since there were ten altars in the +church. And judging by the number of priests in other monasteries of the +Order at that period, this figure is not too high. We know that in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> 1147, +there were fifty priests at least at Pontigny, one of the four first +houses of the Order. About five o’clock the monks assembled in Choir for +Prime, after which they went to Chapter, where the Martyrology and portion +of the Rule were sung, as has been already explained. Chapter over, they +entered the Auditorium, where they took off and hung up their cowls, and +each went thence to the manual labour assigned him by the Prior. In +winter, nearly all went out to work in the fields, grubbing up brushwood +and burning it, and so preparing the ground for cultivation. After some +hours spent in labour, they returned to the monastery where they had time +for reading; they then went to Choir for Tierce and High Mass. During +winter the Mass was sung before going out to work. In summer they dined at +11.30, after which an hour was allowed for repose, and None being sung +they resumed their labour in the fields. In winter, dinner was at +half-past two; the evening was spent in study and in chanting the Offices +of Vespers and Compline, and at seven they retired to rest. In summer the +hour for repose was eight o’clock. The Office of Completorium or Compline +always closed the exercises of the day, and all passed before the Abbot, +from whom they received holy water as they left the church. Each went +straight to his simple couch where sweet repose awaited him after his day +of toil and penitential works. His frugal vegetable fare, without +seasoning or condiment, barely sufficed for the wants of nature, and even +this was sparingly doled out to him; for during the winter exercises, that +is, from the 14th of September to Easter, he got only one refection daily +except on Sundays, when he always got two. Wine, though allowed in small +quantities at meals in countries where it was the common drink, was not +permitted here, but in its stead, the monks used beer of their own +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>brewing. Their raiment consisted of a white woollen tunic of coarse +material and a strip of black cloth over the shoulders, and reaching to +below the knees, gathered in at the waist with a leathern girdle. Over +these, when not employed in manual labour, was worn the long white garment +with wide sleeves, called the cowl. The tunic was the ordinary dress of +peasantry in the twelfth century, and was retained by the reformers of St. +Benedict’s Rule, partly because it was the prescribed dress of the monks, +and partly as an incentive to humility; a mark of the perfect equality +which reigned in monasteries, and which removed all distinction of class.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> +<div class="bbox" style="width: 347px; height: 500px;"><img src="images/img09.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Arch of Lavabo (Octagon.)</span> See p. <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /><i>From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Such was the ordinary routine of life led at Mellifont, but then certain +officials filled important offices which necessarily brought them in +constant contact with the outer world. Such, for instance, was the +Cellarer, who had charge under the Abbot of the temporalities of the +monastery, and catered for all the wants of the community. Some were +deputed to wait on the guests and strangers, while others cared the sick +poor in the hospice with all charity and tenderness. For the maintenance +of the sick poor large tracts of land or revenues arising from +house-property were very often bequeathed by pious people, and the monks +were then their almoners; but, with or without such a provision from +outside, the monks did maintain these establishments from their own +resources.</p> + +<p>The Abbot entertained the guests of the monastery at his own table, +dispensing to them such frugal fare as was in keeping with the Rule; for +meat was not allowed to be served, except to the sick. He had his kitchen +and dining-hall apart, but in every other respect, he shared in all the +exercises with his brethren. Though he occupied the place of honour and of +pre-eminence in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> monastery, yet he was constantly reminded in the +Rule, that he must not lord it over his monks, but must cherish them as a +tender parent. His object in all his ordinances should be to promote the +welfare of the flock entrusted to him, for which he should render an +account on the last day.</p> + +<p>From this relation of the manner of life at Mellifont, we see that it was +in strict conformity with St. Bernard’s definition of the Cistercian +Institute, when he writes: “Our Order is humility, peace, and joy in the +Holy Ghost. Our Order is silence, fasting, prayer, and labour, and above +all, to hold the more excellent way, which is charity.”</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<p class="title">MELLIFONT TAKES ROOT AND FOUNDS NEW HOUSES OF THE ORDER.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 10em;">“Even thus of old</span><br /> +Our ancestors, within the still domain<br /> +Of vast Cathedral or Conventual church,<br /> +Their vigils kept; where tapers day and night<br /> +On the dim altars burned continually,<br /> +In token that the House was evermore<br /> +Watching to God. Religious men were they:<br /> +Nor would their reason tutored to aspire<br /> +Above this transitory world, allow<br /> +That there should pass a moment of the year<br /> +When in their land the Almighty’s service ceased.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;">(<i>Wordsworth.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="dropfig"><img src="images/drop_t.jpg" alt="T" /></span>he history of Mellifont may be justly said to reflect the concurrent +history of Ireland. It is so intimately connected and interwoven with that +of our country, that they touch at many points, and we can collect matter +for both as we travel back along the stream of time and observe the +footprints on the sands, where saint, and king, chieftain, bishop, and +holy monk, have left their impress and disappeared, to be succeeded later +on by the baron and his armed retainers. How different the Ireland of +to-day from the Ireland that Christian, the first Abbot of Mellifont, +beheld when he and his companions settled down in the little valley, in +the land of the O’Carroll! How many changes have passed over it since, +leaving it the poorest country in Europe, though one of the richest in +natural<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> resources! But these considerations appertain to the politician; +they do not lie within the scope of the present writer. Next to building +their church and monastery, the first care of the monks on their immediate +arrival at Mellifont, was to prepare the soil for tillage; for, judging +from the nature of the surroundings, it must have been overrun with dense +brushwood, unbroken, save at distant intervals, by patches of green sward. +Most houses of the Order in Ireland had to contend with similar conditions +at their foundation; of Dunbrody, Co. Wexford, we are expressly told, that +the monk sent by the Abbot of Buildewas to examine the site of the future +monastery, found on it only <i>a solitary oak surrounded by a swamp</i>. But +these old monks were adepts in the reclamation of waste lands, and soon +the hills rang with the instruments of husbandry. Pleasant gardens and +fertile meadows rewarded their toil, and their example gave a stimulus to +agriculture, which, till then, was neglected by a pastoral people. At the +same time, they manufactured bricks in the locality, and employed them in +their buildings. Then rumour on her many wings flew far and near, and +spread the fame of the new-comers to that remote valley, and soon the +monastery was crowded with visitors intent on seeing the strangers and +observing closely their manner of life. The sight pleased them. The ways +of these monks accorded with the traditions handed down of the inhabitants +of the ancient monasteries, before the depredations of the Danes, and the +hearts of a highly imaginative race, with quick spiritual instincts, were +attracted towards St. Bernard’s children. Immediately began an influx of +postulants for the Cistercian habit, and every day brought more, till the +stalls in the Choir were filled, and Abbot Christian’s heart overflowed +with gladness. In consultation with St. Malachy, Abbot Christian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> decided +on founding another monastery, as his own could no longer contain the now +greatly-increased community. A new colony was sent forth from it, and thus +in two years from the foundation of Mellifont, was established “Bective on +the Boyne.” Some say that Newry, which was endowed by Maurice M’Loughlin, +King of Ireland, at St. Malachy’s earnest entreaty, was the first +filiation of Mellifont. The charter of its (Newry) foundation happily has +come down to us, but it bears no date. However, O’Donovan, who translated +it into English from the Latin original in MS. in the British Museum, says +it was written in 1160. As it is the only extant charter granted to a +monastery by a native king before the Invasion, a copy of the translation +is given in the Appendix.</p> + +<p>Under the patronage, then, of St. Malachy and the native princes, and by +the skill, industry, and piety of its inmates, Mellifont rose and +prospered, and merited an exalted place in popular esteem. The monastery +was in course of construction, and their new church nearing completion, +when a heavy trial befell the monks in the death of their unfailing +friend, wise counsellor, and loved father, St. Malachy, which took place +at Clairvaux, in the arms of St. Bernard, <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1148. St. Bernard delivered +a most pathetic discourse over the remains of his friend, and wrote a +consoling letter to the Irish Cistercians, condoling with them on the loss +they and the whole Irish Church had sustained on the death of St. Malachy. +He, later on, wrote his life, and willed, that as they tenderly loved each +other in life, so in death they should not be separated. Their tombs were +side by side in the church of Clairvaux, till their relics, enshrined in +magnificent altars, with many costly lamps burning before them, were +scattered at the French Revolution, and the rich shrines were smashed and +plundered. Portions of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> their bodies were, however, preserved by the good, +pious people of the locality, and their heads are now preserved with +honour in the cathedral of Troyes, France. The writers of the Cistercian +Order claim St. Malachy as having belonged to them; for, they say that +being previously a Benedictine, he received the Cistercian habit from St. +Bernard during one of his visits to Clairvaux. They add that St. Bernard +exchanged cowls with him, and that he wore St. Malachy’s ever after on +solemn festivals. The Saint’s life is so well known that it needs no +further notice here. Before his death, he saw three houses founded from +Mellifont, namely, Bective, Newry, and Boyle.</p> + +<p>Two years after St. Malachy’s death, that is, in 1150, the monks of +Mellifont experienced another serious loss when their venerated Abbot, +Christian, was appointed Bishop of Lismore, and Legate of the Holy See in +Ireland, by Pope Eugenius III., who had been his fellow-novice in +Clairvaux. Christian’s brother, Malchus, was elected to the abbatial +office in his stead. Malchus proved himself a very worthy superior, and +Mellifont continued on her prosperous course, so much so, that in 1151, or +nine years from its own establishment, it could reckon as many as six +important filiations, namely, Bective, Newry, Boyle, Athlone, Baltinglas, +and Manister, or Manisternenay, Co. Limerick.</p> + +<p>In 1152, St. Bernard passed to his reward, after having founded 160 houses +of his Order, having edified Christendom by the splendour of his virtues, +and astonished it by his rare natural gifts, which elevated him far above +all his contemporaries. From the moment that he accepted the pastoral +staff as Abbot of Clairvaux, till his death, that is, during the space of +forty years, he was the figurehead of his Order in whom its whole history +was merged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> during that long period. In fact, he became so identified with +the Order to which he belonged, that it was often called from him, +Bernardine; or, of Claraval, from his famous monastery; and it was in a +great measure owing to his influence, and in grateful acknowledgment of +the splendid services which he rendered the Church in critical times, that +Sovereign Pontiffs heaped so many favours on it. He was the fearless and +successful champion of the oppressed in all grades of society, and all +looked up to him as their guide and instructor. And yet this paragon of +wisdom, this stern judge of the evil-doer, was remarkable for his +naturalness and affectionate disposition. On the occasion of his brother +Gerard’s death, he attempted to preach a continuation of his discourses on +the Canticle of Canticles, but his affection for his brother overcame him, +and after giving vent to his grief, he delivered a most touching panegyric +on his beloved Gerard. To the last moment of his life he entertained a +most vivid recollection of his mother, and cherished the tenderest +affection towards her memory. It may be doubted, that any child of the +Church ever defended her cause with such loyalty and success. One stands +amazed on reading what the Rev. Mr. King writes in his <i>Church History of +Ireland</i>, where he taxes St. Bernard with superstition, because the Saint +relates in his Life of St. Malachy, how that holy man wrought certain +miracles. So evident were St. Bernard’s own miracles, that Luden, a German +Protestant historian, calls them “incontestable.” ’Twere supreme folly to +accuse a man of St. Bernard’s endowments and culture, of the weakness that +admits or harbours superstition, which generally flows from ignorance, or +incapacity to sift matters, and to test them in their general or +particular bearings. On the whole, Protestant writers speak and write +approvingly of him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>In that year (1152), a Synod was held at Mell, which, according to Ussher, +is identical with Mellifont, though now a suburb of Drogheda is known by +that name. Other Irish writers say that this Synod was held at Kells. At +it Christian, then Bishop of Lismore and Legate of the Holy See, presided. +In the <i>Annals of the Four Masters</i> it is related, that a “Synod was +convened at Drogheda, by the bishops of Ireland, with the successor of +Patrick, and the Cardinal, John Paparo,” etc. O’Donovan, quoting Colgan, +tells us that Mellifont was known as the “Monastery at Drogheda.”</p> + +<p>In this same year occurred the elopement of Dervorgilla, wife of Tiernan +O’Rourke, Prince of Brefny, with Dermod M’Murchad, King of Leinster. She +is styled the Helen of Erin, as it is commonly supposed that her flight +with Dermod occasioned the English Invasion. When O’Rourke heard of her +departure, he was “marvellously troubled and in great choler, but more +grieved for the shame of the fact than for sorrow or hurt, and, therefore, +was fully determined to be avenged.” It is mentioned in the <i>Annals of +Clonmacnois</i> that O’Rourke had treated her harshly some time previous, and +that her brother M’Laughlin connived at her conduct. Dervorgilla (which +means in Irish, The True Pledge), was forty-four years of age at the time, +whilst O’Rourke (who was blind of one eye) and M’Murchad, were each of +them sixty-two years old. O’Rourke was the most strenuous opponent of the +English at the Invasion, and was treacherously slain by a nephew of +Maurice Fitzgerald at the Hill of Ward, near Athboy, in 1172. He was +decapitated, and his head hung over the gates of Dublin for some time. It +was afterwards sent to King Henry, in England.</p> + +<p>From 1152 to 1157 the monks attracted no attention worth chronicling; for +during these five years they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> passed by unnoticed in our Annals. It is, +however, certain that they were busily engaged in the completion of their +church and in making preparations for its solemn consecration. And what a +day of rejoicing that memorable day of the consecration was, when +Mellifont beheld the highest and holiest in Church and State assembled to +do her honour! This ceremony far eclipsed any that had been witnessed +before that in Ireland. What commotion and bustle filled the abbey, the +valley, and the surrounding hills! A constantly increasing crowd came +thronging to behold a sight which gladdened their hearts and aroused their +piety and admiration. For, there stood the Ard Righ (High King) of Erin, +surrounded by his princes and nobles in all the pride and pageantry of +state, the Primate Gelasius, and Christian, the Papal Legate, with +seventeen other bishops, and almost all the abbots and priests in Ireland. +Then the solemn rite was performed, and many precious offerings were made +to the monks and to their church—gold and lands, cattle, and sacred +vessels, and ornaments for the altars, were bestowed with a generosity +worthy of the princely donors. O’Melaghlin gave seven-score cows and +three-score ounces of gold to God and the clergy, for the good of his +soul. He granted them, also, a townland, called Finnabhair-na-ninghean, a +piece of land, according to O’Donovan, which lies on the south side of the +Boyne, opposite the mouth of the Mattock, in the parish of Donore, Co. +Meath. O’Carroll gave sixty ounces of gold, and the faithless but now +repentant Dervorgilla presented a gold chalice for the High Altar, and +cloths for the other nine altars of the church.</p> + +<p>Mellifont looked charming on that propitious occasion, and presented a +truly delightful picture, with its beautiful church and abbey buildings +glistening in the sun in all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> purity and freshness of the white, or +nearly white, sandstone of which they were composed. Yet, beautiful as +were the material buildings, far more so were those stones of the +spiritual edifice, the meek and prayerful cenobites, who were gathered +there to adore and serve their God in spirit and in truth. From that +valley there arose a pleasing incense to the Lord—the prayers, and hymns, +and canticles, which unceasingly resounded in that church from hearts +truly devoted to God’s worship, and dead to the world and themselves.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<p class="title">MELLIFONT CONTINUES TO FLOURISH UNDER SUCCESSIVE EMINENT SUPERIORS.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“This is no common spot of earth,<br /> +No place for idle words or mirth;<br /> +Here streamed the taper’s mystic light;<br /> +Here flashed the waving censers bright;<br /> +Awhile the Church’s ancient song<br /> +Lingered the stately aisles along,<br /> +And high mysterious words were said<br /> +Which brought to men the living Bread.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(<i>W. Chatterton Dix.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="dropfig"><img src="images/drop_a.jpg" alt="A" /></span>fter the consecration of their church the monks settled down to their +ordinary quiet way. The erection of the monastic buildings had hitherto +kept them occupied; now that these were completed, they devoted their +attention to the improvement of their farms, which they tilled with their +own hands, and to the embellishment of their immediate surroundings. Even +at this early period of her history, Mellifont was a hive of industry +where all the trades flourished and many important arts were encouraged. +At that time hired labour was sparingly employed by the monks; for they +themselves bore a share in the work of the artisans as well as in the +ordinary drudgery of tillage. Labour placed all on a footing of equality +whilst it gave vigour to the body by healthy exercise in the open air. +Perhaps, this healthy exercise was one of the secrets of the longevity for +which the monks were remarkable.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> Regularity of life continued for years +contributes to a state of health which dispenses with physicians. Wherever +monks settled down they immediately erected mills for grinding corn, for +preparing and finishing the fabrics of which their garments were made, +etc. St. Benedict enjoined on his monks the necessity of practising all +the trades and arts within the walls of the monastery, so that they need +never leave their enclosure for the purpose, or under the pretext, of +having their work done by externs.</p> + +<p>Eleven years passed without Mellifont receiving any notice from our native +chroniclers, and then at the year 1168, it is recorded, that Prince Donogh +O’Carroll, the Founder, died and was buried in the church there. Ware +tells us that his tomb and those of other remarkable personages had been +in the church. As it was an almost general custom in Ireland, that the +Founders of religious houses were interred on the north, or Gospel side of +the High Altar, so it may be justly inferred that he was buried within the +chancel, and that the recess on the north side is where his monument was +erected. Thus, King Charles O’Connor’s tomb occupies the same place in +Knockmoy Abbey, Co. Galway, of which he was Founder. So, too, in Corcomroe +Abbey, Co. Clare, the tomb of Conor O’Brien, King of Thomond, grandson of +the Founder of that abbey, is still to be seen in a niche in the wall on +the north side of the High Altar. No doubt they were buried under the +pavement. The ancient Statutes of the Order permitted kings and bishops to +be buried in the churches, but assigned no particular part as proper to +them.</p> + +<p>In 1170, a monk named Auliv, who had been expelled<a name='fna_7' id='fna_7' href='#f_7'><small>[7]</small></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> from Mellifont, +instigated Manus, the King of Ulster, to commit an “unknown and attrocious +crime,” as the <i>Annals of the Four Masters</i> call it; that is, to banish +the monks whom St. Malachy brought to Saul, Co. Down, and to deprive them +of everything they were possessed of. Instances of wicked men deceitfully +entering monasteries, at that time and at other periods of monastic +history, are given, but invariably the guilty party is severely censured, +and it is related that his fellow-monks rid themselves of him. St. Bernard +himself was deceived by his secretary, Nicholas, who afterwards left the +Order. “He went out from us,” said the Saint, “but he did not belong to +us.”</p> + +<p>The Order was spreading rapidly in Ireland, and the filiations from +Mellifont in their turn sent out new filiations, till most of the +picturesque valleys in this country sheltered and nurtured thriving +establishments; so much so, that O’Daly tells us “there were twenty-five +grand Cistercian abbeys in Ireland at the Invasion.” But then a new era +dawned on this unhappy nation, and might usurped the place of right, cruel +unending strife and fierce jealousies were imported into the country, and +it became one vast battle-field. Ireland would have assimilated the two +contending races, but their amalgamation would have been detrimental to +English interests in this kingdom, and hence by statute, by bribe, by all +means available, the representatives of that Crown only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> too successfully +kept the feuds alive. Fain would they have made the Church an instrument +for the furtherance of these ulterior purposes, but, whilst she stood firm +as an integral part of Peter’s Rock, neither English bribes nor English +wiles could subjugate her. True, Englishmen were appointed to the richest +benefices within the Pale to which the English kings had the right of +presentation, and these strove, with as much zeal as the knight or baron, +to extend the boundaries of the shire-lands. But the Irish prelates, by +their disinterestedness, and their personal and episcopal virtues, saved +the Church from the degradation that imperilled her. We shall see the +result of this policy as we proceed.</p> + +<p>Judging, by analogy, from the progress of society in other countries, and +from the relative number of monasteries founded in them and in Ireland +before the Invasion, it may be conjectured that the monastic system in all +its branches would have produced in this country the same fruits in +agriculture, in learning, and in the arts, as are attributed to it in the +history of other nations; and, in a special manner, it would have helped, +by the unity of government enforced in Religious Orders, to bind together +the discordant elements of society. Quite different, however, was it in +Ireland; for the sphere of action of each monastery was cramped, and +confined within a certain radius, beyond which its influences were not +felt, nor regarded otherwise than in a hostile spirit, or at best as an +object of suspicion.</p> + +<p>In 1172, the Abbot of Mellifont was sent to Rome on an embassy by King +Roderic O’Connor. We are not told its nature.</p> + +<p>In 1177, Charles O’Buacalla, then Abbot of this monastery, was elected +Bishop of Emly, where he died within a month after his consecration. In +1182, King<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> Henry II. granted to the Abbot and community of Mellifont a +confirmation of their possessions, and three years later, King John, at +that time styled Lord of Ireland, renewed the confirmation while he was +residing at Castleknock, during his brief visit to this country, in 1185, +the thirty-second year of his father’s reign. A copy of the Charter may be +seen in the Miscellany of the Archæological Society, Vol. I., page 158. +The original, which is one of the earliest of the Anglo-Irish documents +that have come down to us, is preserved in Trinity College, Dublin. By +this Charter King John confirmed to the monks of Mellifont the “donation +and concession” which his father made to them. By it he confirmed to the +monks “the site and ambit of the abbey, with all its appurtenances, +namely, the grange of Kulibudi (not on the Ordnance map), and Munigatinn +(Monkenewtown), with its appurtenances, the granges of Mell and Drogheda +(in Irish Droichet-atha, that is, bridge of the ford) and their +appurtenances, and Rathmolan (Rathmullen) and Finnaur (Femor), with their +appurtenances, the grange of Teachlenni (Stalleen), and the grange of +Rossnarrigh (Rossnaree), with their appurtenances, the townland of Culen +(Cullen) and its appurtenances, the grange of Cnogva (Knowth), the grange +of Kelkalma (not known now), with their appurtenances, Tuelacnacornari +(not known), and Callan (Collon), with their appurtenances, and the grange +of Finna (<span class="spacer"> </span>) with its appurtenances.” He also confirms the grants of +two carucates of land made to the monks by Hugh de Lacy, viz., of Croghan +and Ballybregan (?), and also one carucate of land given by Robert of +Flanders, called Crevoda, now Creewood, two miles west of Mellifont.</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<div class="bbox" style="width: 600px; height: 416px;"><img src="images/img10.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">South Wall of Lectorium.</span><br /><i>From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>In 1186, St. Christian O’Connarchy, or Connery, who had been the first +Abbot of Mellifont and afterwards Bishop of Lismore and Legate of the +Holy See, died, and was buried at O’Dorney, Co. Kerry, a monastery of his +Order, which was founded in 1154, from Manister-Nenay. He had resigned all +his dignities six years before, in order the better to prepare himself for +a happy death. He was enrolled in the Calendar of the Saints of the +Cistercian Order, and his festival was kept in England in pre-Reformation +times, on the 18th March. In the eulogy of him in the Cistercian Menology +it is said, “that he was remarkable for his sanctity and wonderful +miracles, and that next to St. Malachy, he was regarded by the Irish +nation as one of its principal patrons,” even down to the time that that +was written, <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1630. An Irish gentleman who visited Italy in 1858, +wrote from Venice to a friend, that he had seen amongst the fresco +paintings which covered the wall of the beautiful church of Chiaravalla, +the first Cistercian monastery founded in Italy, a painting of St. +Malachy; also one entitled, “<i>S. Christianus Archieps. in Hibernia +Cisterciensis</i>”—“St. Christian, a Cistercian monk, and Archbishop in +Ireland.” The error in ranking him as Archbishop probably arose from his +having succeeded St. Malachy as Legate. It was in his Legatine capacity +that he presided at several Synods, chiefly the memorable one convened by +King Henry at Cashel, in 1172.</p> + +<p>About the same time, there died at Mellifont, a holy monk named Malchus, +who is said to have been St. Christian’s brother and successor in the +abbatial office, as has been related above. Ussher, quoting St. Bernard, +positively asserts that he was St. Christian’s brother. And Sequin, who, +in 1580, compiled a Catalogue of the Saints of the Cistercian Order, +mentions Malchus in that honoured roll, and styles him “a true contemner +of the world, a great lover of God, and a pattern and model of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> all +virtues to the whole Order.” He says, “he was one of St. Malachy’s +disciples in whose footsteps he faithfully followed, and that he was +renowned for his sanctity and learning, as well as for the many miracles +he wrought.” His feast was kept on the 28th of June.</p> + +<p>In 1189, Rudolph, or Ralph Feltham, Abbot of Furness, died and was buried +here. And in the same year, died Murrogh O’Carroll, cousin of the Founder, +near whom he was interred.</p> + +<p>In 1190, Pope Clement III. issued a Bull addressed to the General Chapter +of the Cistercian Order, dated July 6th of that year, enrolling St. +Malachy in the Calendar of Saints, and appointing the 3rd of November for +his festival.</p> + +<p>At that same General Chapter, it was decreed that the Irish Abbots be +dispensed from attending the General Chapter annually, and it was decided +that they should be present every third year; and a few years later, the +Abbot of Mellifont was charged to select three of their number who should +repair thither every year.</p> + +<p>In 1193, Dervorgilla died at the monastery of Mellifont. The <i>Annals of +the Four Masters</i> and other Annals simply relate the fact of her having +died there in the 85th year of her age, without alluding to the place of +her sepulture.</p> + +<p>In that year, also, portions of the Relics of St. Malachy were brought to +Mellifont and were distributed to the other houses of the Order in +Ireland. Several of our Annals say that the Saint’s body was brought over +from Clairvaux, but that is obviously a mistake; for until the French +Revolution, the bodies of St. Malachy and St. Bernard occupied two +magnificent altar-tombs of red marble within the chancel, at Clairvaux. A +charter, dated 1273, is still extant, whereby Robert Bruce, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> rival of +John Baliol for the Scottish Crown, conveys his land of Osticroft to the +Abbot of Clairvaux for the maintenance of a lamp before St. Malachy’s tomb +in that church. And the General Chapter of the Order held in 1323, when +raising the Saint’s festival to a higher rank, expressly mentioned that +his body “rested” at Clairvaux. Meglinger, a German Cistercian monk, who +visited Clairvaux in 1667, and wrote a description of that famous abbey as +he beheld it, says that he was shown the heads of Saints Malachy and +Bernard, which were preserved in silver cases. He also mentions the superb +altar-tombs of the two Saints. Later on, the two celebrated Benedictine +monks, Dom Martène and Dom Durand, when in quest of MSS., called at +Clairvaux, and were shown the tombs and heads of the Saints. It is +scarcely necessary to remark that this respect and veneration were +entertained for the tombs only because they contained the bodies of the +holy men.</p> + +<p>In 1194, Abbot Moelisa, who then governed Mellifont, was made Bishop of +Clogher.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<p class="title">MELLIFONT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 5em;">“But I must needs confess</span><br /> +That ’tis a thing impossible to frame<br /> +Conceptions equal to the soul’s desires;<br /> +And the most difficult of tasks to keep<br /> +Heights which the soul is competent to gain.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">(<i>Wordsworth.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="dropfig"><img src="images/drop_s.jpg" alt="S" /></span>ixty years of uninterrupted prosperity have passed over Mellifont, during +which period it has been honoured by princes and people alike, and even +the English Kings have marked their esteem for it by heaping fresh favours +on it. It was still flourishing in 1201, when Thomas O’Connor, Archbishop +of Armagh, whom the Annals of St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, style “a noble and +worthy man,” chose it as his burial-place, and was buried there with great +honour. He was brother to Roderick O’Connor, King of Connaught. It was at +his instance that Joceline wrote his Life of St. Patrick.</p> + +<p>In 1203, King John “of his own fee” granted a new charter confirming that +given by his father some years before, and also giving the monks free +customs, together with the fishery on both sides of the Boyne.</p> + +<p>In 1206, Benedict and Gerald, monks of Mellifont, were deputed by Eugene, +Archbishop of Armagh, to wait on the King and to tender him, on the +Archbishop’s behalf, three hundred marks of silver and three of gold for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +restitution of the lands and liberties belonging to that See. It was the +King’s custom to appropriate the revenues of the vacant bishoprics, and on +the confirmation by the Pope of the bishop-elect, he issued a writ of +restitution of the temporalities, or episcopal possessions and rights. The +King, in order to keep the temporalities the longer, often refused his +“<i>congé d’elire</i>,” without which an election was invalid by the civil law. +Soon after the Invasion, King Henry II. held in his possession, pending +the appointment of new prelates, one archbishopric, five bishoprics, and +three abbeys, here in Ireland.</p> + +<p>In 1211, Thomas was Abbot, and seven years later, Carus, or Cormac +O’Tarpa, Abbot, and presumably immediate successor to Thomas, was made +Bishop of Achonry, which See he resigned in 1226, and returned to +Mellifont, where he died that same year, and was buried there. Some +two-and-one-half miles north of Mellifont, and one-half mile east of +Collon, between that village and Tinure, there is a crossing of the roads +still popularly known as “Tarpa’s Cross.” Local tradition has it that this +Cormac O’Tarpa, when Abbot, was wont to walk daily from the monastery to +this spot.</p> + +<p>About that time, or in 1221, Mellifont, from some unrecorded cause, fell +from its first fervour, but only for a very brief period; for the remedy +applied effected a thorough reform. In the Statutes of the Order for that +year, the General Chapter authorised the Abbot of Clairvaux to set things +right by bringing in monks from other monasteries, and so, as it were, +infuse new and healthier blood into the monastic life there. As no further +mention is made of the matter, the trouble, whatever its nature was, must +have been permanently removed.</p> + +<p>In 1227, Luke Netterville, Archbishop of Armagh, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> buried here. It was +he who, three years previous, founded the Dominican monastery in Drogheda, +of which, now, only the Magdalen Tower remains. And in that year (1227), +Gerald, a monk of Mellifont, was elected Bishop of Dromore.</p> + +<p>In 1229, the King granted to the Abbot and Community of Mellifont a +Tuesday market in their town of Collon.</p> + +<p>In 1233, the General Chapter authorised all the Abbots of the Order to +have the Word of God preached on Sundays and festivals, to their servants +and retainers, in some suitable place. And in 1238, the King gave a new +confirmation to the monks of Mellifont.</p> + +<p>In 1248, the General Chapter granted permission to the English and Irish +Abbots of the Order, to hold deliberations on important local matters in +their respective countries. The Abbots of Mellifont, of St. Mary’s Abbey, +Dublin, and of Duiske, Co. Kilkenny, were empowered to convoke all the +other Irish Abbots of the Order for consultation; the assembly thus +somewhat partaking of the nature of a Provincial Chapter.</p> + +<p>In 1250, no Englishman would be admitted to profession at Mellifont. In +1269, David O’Brogan, who had been a monk of this house, and afterwards +Bishop of Clogher, was buried here. In 1272, Hore Abbey, near Cashel, was +founded from Mellifont. In 1275, the General Chapter decreed that in the +admission of novices into the Order there should be no question of +nationality.</p> + +<p>Hitherto, the Cistercians confined themselves, in discharging the offices +of their sacred ministry, to their guests, servants, and the sick poor in +the hospitals at their gates; but now, the altered circumstances of the +times demand a change in their usages and impose fresh burdens on them, +for which they get no credit.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> The new Orders of St. Francis and St. +Dominic had settled down in this country, and were attracting a large +percentage of the young men, who, till then, entered the ranks of the Lay +Brethren, and managed the granges, or outlying farms, under the Cellarer. +In consequence, therefore, of the insufficiency of their numbers to work +the farms profitably, it was found necessary to lease these granges to +tenants, and hence the origin of many villages and towns that, in several +instances, arose on the site of the granges. The chapel attached to the +grange (for every grange had its chapel for the use of the Brothers in +charge) was converted into a parish church for the new population that +clustered around it. Of this church the monks became the pastors, except +when it lay at too great distance to be served from the monastery; in +which case, the monks employed secular priests. They built schools also, +where the children of the tenants and dependants received <i>gratuitously</i> +from the monks themselves, an education similar to that at present +imparted in our primary schools.</p> + +<p>Though the study of Sacred Scripture, Theology, and Canon Law was +encouraged in the Order from its foundation; yet it was not until 1245 +that studies were fully organised by drawing up a curriculum that should +be obligatory. In that year it was ordained by the General Chapter that in +every Province there should be a central monastery to which the monks +should repair to read the prescribed course of studies under members of +the Order, who had graduated at some university. We are not told which of +the Irish monasteries was selected as the House of Studies; but, in 1281, +the General Chapter decided and decreed that in all the larger abbeys such +Houses of Studies should be established.</p> + +<p>There is an entry in the Annals of St. Mary’s Abbey, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> the year 1281, +giving the price of cattle at that time. As it is interesting it is given +here: viz., twenty shillings each for a horse, a cow, or a bullock.</p> + +<p>In 1306, Mellifont first experienced the baleful effects of racial +jealousies and bickerings; for the monks could not, or would not, agree to +elect an Abbot; and during their dissensions, the King seized the +possessions of the monastery. We are not informed how matters terminated +on that occasion.</p> + +<p>In 1316, the General Chapter ordered that the English, Welsh, and Irish +Abbots should send some of their monks, in proportion to the number in +their respective monasteries, to the University of Oxford, to be educated +there. A few years previous, the Earl of Cornwall endowed at Oxford the +College of St. Bernard (now St. John’s), for the Cistercians. How far the +Irish monks availed of this college cannot be known; probably those within +the Pale did largely benefit by it. One who obtained an unenviable +notoriety by his intemperate invectives against the Mendicant Orders, was +educated there—Henry Crump, an Englishman, and monk of the Abbey of +Baltinglas. But it is very dubious that the “<i>mere</i> Irish” ventured to +cross its threshold. They would abstain from doing so from prudential +motives.</p> + +<p>The fourteenth century was ushered in by the repetition of feuds between +the Anglo-Irish and the Irish; and, as it grew older, the former fought +amongst themselves, with Irish auxiliaries on both sides. It may be here +remarked, as a curious historical fact, that it was the Irish who fought +the battles for the English Crown in Ireland; it was they, too, who +retained their country subject to that dominion, according to Sir John +Davis (<i>Discoverie</i>, p. 639); for no army ever came out of England from +the time of King John, except the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>expeditionary army of Richard II. The +few forces subsequently sent over, until the twenty-ninth year of Queen +Elizabeth, were to quell the rebellions of the English settlers.</p> + +<p>The most disastrous calamity in Ireland in this century, next to the great +plague of 1348, or the “Black Death,” as it was called, was Bruce’s +invasion in 1315. Friar Clyn tells us in his Annals, that Bruce and his +followers “went through all the country, burning, slaying, depredating, +spoiling towns and castles, and even churches, as they went and as they +returned.” As a result the country was visited by a dreadful famine, and, +moreover, the Pope, writing to the Archbishops of Dublin and Cashel in +1317, alludes to scandals, murders, conflagrations, sacrileges, and +rapine, as following from that invasion. Though Bruce failed in his object +to overthrow the English power in Ireland, yet he so far succeeded, that +he weakened it considerably.</p> + +<p>In the year 1316 (according to Ussher), O’Neill addressed his famous +Remonstrance to Pope John XXII., in which, amongst other complaints, he +remarked, that the religious communities were prohibited by the law from +admitting anyone not an Englishman into monasteries within the Pale. In +response to this, the Pope sent two Cardinals to investigate the matter, +and also wrote a letter to King Edward II., exhorting him to adopt +merciful measures towards the Irish. The letter had not much effect, and +the cruelties and injustice continued; but, about twenty years later, +there was exhibited an unprecedented tendency on the part of the +Anglo-Irish and the Irish towards incorporation. The Irish people clung to +the great Geraldine family with a romantic affection which that chivalrous +race fully reciprocated. So, too, did they lean towards the rivals of the +Geraldines, the Ormondes, and to other Anglo-Irish barons, who, likewise,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +had adopted Irish customs and sirnames. English power in this country had +grown to be regarded as merely nominal, and the administration of the law +and the office of Lord Deputy could no longer be committed to one or other +of the two principal families (the Geraldine or Ormonde), to whom the +Deputyship had been usually entrusted. To preclude the danger of these +haughty noblemen attempting to arrogate the state of the independent +native chieftains, and to firmly establish the English power, a +Parliament, which assembled at Nottingham, in the seventeenth of Edward +III. (1343), enacted laws for the reformation of the Irish Government. A +few months previous to the sitting of this Parliament, Sir Ralph Ufford +had been sent over as Lord Deputy, to stamp out this incipient spirit of +independence, and to impede the fusion of the two races. This nobleman, by +rigid and cruel measures, executed the nefarious intentions of the English +Parliament. He appropriated the goods of others, plundered, without +discrimination, the clergy, the laity, the rich and the poor; assigning +the public welfare as a pretext. He broke down the pride of the Earl of +Desmond, and for a while seized his estates; but, on Ufford’s recall to +England and the appointment of Sir Walter Bermingham as his successor, +Desmond was restored to royal favour. Gradually the old animus was +revived, and old dormant jealousies between the two races were awakened, +until, in the year 1376, the “Statute of Kilkenny” threw the whole nation +into a state of commotion and chaos, and aroused a fierce hatred between +the Anglo-Irish and the later arrivals from England, who were styled by +that Act, “the English born in England.” The latter despised the former +and called them “Irish Dogg;” the Anglo-Irish retorted, giving them the +name of “English Hobbe,” or churl. These bickerings were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> reprobated by +the said Statute, which, at the same time, banned the whole race of the +native Irish. Sir John Davis writes of it: “It was manifest from these +laws that those who had the government of Ireland under the Crown of +England intended to make a perpetual separation between the English +settled in Ireland and the native Irish, in the expectation that the +English should in the end root out the Irish.” And another Englishman +writes of this Statute: “Imagination can scarcely devise an extremity of +antipathy, hatred, and revenge, to which this code of aggravation was not +calculated to provoke both nations” (Plowden, <i>Historical Review of the +State of Ireland</i>.) The foregoing summary of the condition of affairs in +Ireland in the fourteenth century has been given, in order to illustrate +and explain the bald historical facts handed down to us having reference +to Mellifont during the same period.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that in the year 1316, O’Neil complained to the Pope +that Irishmen were by law excluded from entering monasteries within the +Pale; accordingly, we read that in 1322, the monks of Mellifont, amongst +whom the English element then prevailed, would admit no man to profession +there who had not previously sworn that he was not an Irishman. Cox, who +derives his information from some old document in the Tower of London, +tells us that in 1323, the General Chapter of the Order strongly denounced +this pernicious practice, but there is no such decree, nor is there any +allusion to it in Martène at that date. That spirit seems to have been +gratifying to King Edward II.; for, in 1324, he complained to the Pope of +the violation of the law of exclusion, and Nicholas of Lusk, who was then +Abbot, was superseded; very likely, was summarily deposed, for the +infraction of it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>At that very time, some of the other Cistercian monasteries under the +protection of the native chieftains, and totally composed of Irishmen, +were in a most prosperous condition, and merited the genuine esteem of +princes and people. Thus, the Abbey of Assaroe, or Ballyshannon, under the +fostering care of the Princes of Tyrconel, attained celebrity by the +regularity of its monks and the learning and sanctity of its Abbots, three +of whom were made Bishops at no distant intervals. Of Boyle Abbey, Co. +Roscommon, the same can also be said; for it throve and flourished without +royal favour or charter. On the other hand, Mellifont had a plethora of +charters, for which the monks there must have paid dearly. But, surrounded +as it was by covetous and not over-scrupulous neighbours in lawless times, +such safeguards were decidedly necessary. So, in 1329, Edward III. granted +them a confirmation of all former privileges, together with the right of +free warren in all their manors; and again in 1348, he gave them a fresh +confirmation, with the right to erect a prison in any of their lands in +the Co. Meath, and also the power to erect a pillory and gallows in their +town of Collon. The Abbot then, as a temporal lord over his own manors, +had power of life and death over his vassals therein; but he never +exercised the authority so vested in him by condemning anyone to death, +nay, even, he refrained from adjudicating on civil matters, as is seen by +dispensations granted by Popes to Irish Cistercian Abbots freeing them +from the obligation of acting as Justices.</p> + +<p>It is recorded that in 1329, in the battle in which the Louth men killed +their new Earl, John Birmingham, “there fell Caech O’Carroll, that famous +tympanist and harper, so pre-eminent that he was a phœnix in his art, +and with him fell about twenty tympanists who were his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> scholars. He was +called Caech O’Carroll because his eyes were not straight, but squinted; +and if he was not the first inventor of chord music, yet of all his +predecessors and contemporaries, he was the corrector, the teacher, and +director.”</p> + +<p>How it fared with Mellifont during the fearful pestilence that ravaged all +Europe in 1348, is not related. Friar Clyn, the Franciscan Annalist, wrote +of it:—“That pestilence deprived of human inhabitants, villages and +cities, and castles and towns, so that there was scarcely found a man to +dwell therein.” The mortality in the religious houses was very great, and +in some instances, only a few monks were left out of large and numerous +communities. It is said that in these countries the religious Orders never +recovered from the loss of the best and most learned of their members who +were then swept away.</p> + +<p>In 1351, Abbot Reginald was charged, as if it were a crime, and found +guilty, of having within two years collected of his own money, and from +the Abbots of Boyle, Knockmoy, Bective, and Cashel, and of having remitted +the sum of 664 florins to the Abbot of Clairvaux, while war was being +waged between England and France. But there was no treason or treasonable +intent in that; for the money was to defray the current expenses of the +Order, and was levied off every monastery in proportion to the resources +of each. Richard, Cœur de Lion, Alexander II. of Scotland, and Bela IV. +of Hungary had, in their day, contributed largely to this fund.</p> + +<p>In 1358, the Abbot of Mellifont made good his claim to three weirs upon +the Boyne, at Rosnaree, Knowth, and Staleen; but, in 1366, he was indicted +at Trim, for erecting an unlawful weir at Oldbridge, when the Jury found +against him, and he was ordered to reduce the weir<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> to a certain breadth +and space, and he, himself, was sentenced to a term of imprisonment; but, +on his paying a fine of £10 to Roland de Shalesford, the sheriff of the +Co. Meath, this sentence was commuted. Ten years later, John Terrour, +successor to this Abbot, was sued for obstructing the King’s passage of +the Boyne.</p> + +<p>In the years 1373 and 1377, the Abbot was summoned to attend Parliaments +held at Dublin and Castledermot respectively. In the former Parliament, +one hundred shillings were ordered to be levied from him, as his portion +of the subsidy granted to the Lord Justice, William de Windesore, by the +same Parliament. In 1380, the King gave a special mandate that no <i>mere</i> +Irishman should be admitted to profession in this abbey. In 1381 and 1382, +the Abbot attended Parliaments held in Dublin, and in 1400, the King +granted a royal confirmation of all the land, manors, and liberties, +bestowed on the abbey by former charters; and in 1402, he pardoned the +Abbot and monks for their having admitted Irishmen to profession. However, +they were mulcted in the sum of £50. In 1415, Leynagh Bermingham, William +Davison, and John D’Alton were committed to the custody of the Abbot to be +kept by him as hostages for the allegiance of their respective fathers. In +1424, the Abbot, with the Archbishop of Armagh and Nicholas Taaffe, was +appointed Justice and Conservator of the Peace for the Co. Louth.</p> + +<p>The allusions to Mellifont during the remainder of this century are very +few and uninteresting. Whether, or not, it shared the fate of many other +Irish monasteries at that time and had no regular Abbot, but one who was +called Abbot <i>in commendam</i>, is not known; but the presumption is that it +had not a regular Abbot. These Abbots <i>in commendam</i> were not monks, or +members of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> any Religious Order; but secular clerics, not necessarily in +Holy Orders. Sometimes, especially when the abuse had reached its greatest +height in the fifteenth century, they were even laymen; nevertheless, they +enjoyed the revenues of the abbeys committed to them, with the style and +title of Abbots, but exercised no spiritual jurisdiction in their abbeys. +This latter was confided to regular Priors who were selected by their own +Religious superiors. When laymen held the abbeys <i>in commendam</i> they +commonly resided in them with their wives, families, retinues, servants, +etc., to the distraction and interference with the monks in their regular +observances, and finally, to the complete subversion of discipline. At +that very time this pernicious practice had brought the whole Order to the +brink of ruin; for we find the General Chapter on several occasions +deploring the injuries inflicted on religion, and lamenting the havoc +wrought by it, and they decided to send three of their number to Rome to +implore the Pope’s protection against the growing evil. Still, it +survived, more or less, in these countries till the Reformation. Scotland +suffered more from it, apparently, than Ireland did, as can be seen from +the lists furnished by Brady in his <i>Episcopal Succession</i>.</p> + +<p>In 1476, the Abbot of Mellifont complained, that “owing to oppressions and +extortions within the County of Louth and Uriell, his monastery was +greatly indebted and impoverished.” Certain it is, that for some time +previous, it had fallen from its former regularity and fervour; but, +through the zeal and tact of Abbot Roger who then governed it, it regained +its wonted prominence amongst the most observant monasteries. In 1479, +this same Roger having set forth to the King that he had “Jurisdiction +Ecclesiastical of all persons within his lands, as well secular as +ecclesiastical, the King, out of his love<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> to the Cistercian Order, +granted to the Abbot and his successors, the <i>Jus de excommunicatis +capiendis</i>, and episcopal jurisdiction,” (Stat. Roll. 19 Ed. IV., c. 5.) +The former privilege refers to the concession made to the Church by the +first clause of the Statute of Kilkenny, and which had been confirmed by +subsequent Parliaments for centuries after its first enactment. Under the +heading—“The Church to be free—Writ <i>De Excommunicato capiendo</i>,” the +clause proceeds to ordain, “that Holy Church shall have all her franchises +without injury, ... and if any (which God forbid) do to the contrary, and +be excommunicated by the Ordinary of the place for that cause, so that +satisfaction be not made to God and Holy Church by the party so +excommunicated within a month after such excommunication, that then, after +certificate thereupon being made by the said Ordinary into the Chancery, a +writ shall be directed to the Sheriff, Mayor, Seneschal of the franchise, +or other officers of the King, to take his body, and to keep him in prison +without bail, until due satisfaction be made to God and Holy Church, etc.” +By episcopal jurisdiction is here meant the civil rights and privileges +appertaining to the episcopal office, and enjoyed at that time by bishops +over their subjects, lay and clerical. And as to the spiritual, +quasi-episcopal jurisdiction—the Abbots of the Order had that as well as +exemption in relation to their own monks from the very foundation of the +Order; but by a Decree dated 28th September 1487, Pope Innocent VIII. +granted to all Cistercian Abbots quasi-episcopal jurisdiction over their +tenants, vassals, subjects, and servants. By this Decree, the Pope “took +all the Abbots, Abbesses, Monks and Nuns of the Order under his special +protection, together with all their goods, vassals, subjects, and +servants, and exempted and freed the same from <i>all jurisdiction,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +superiority, correction, visitation</i>, subjection and power of Archbishops, +Bishops and their Vicars, etc., ... and subjected them immediately to +himself and the Holy See.” This Decree is given in full in the <i>Privilegia +Ordinis Cisterciensis</i>, p. 179.</p> + +<p>That the Abbots of the Order exercised that privilege in this country +cannot be doubted. We read an instance of it in the <i>Triumphalia</i>, so ably +edited by the late Father Denis Murphy, S.J., where, even after the +Council of Trent and so recently as 1621, a certain secular priest, who +had been appointed by the Abbot of Holy Cross to the pastoral charge of +the parish attached to that abbey and of one or more outlying parishes +subject to the same Abbot, denied after some time, that he had his +faculties from the said Abbot, but rather from the Archbishop, or his +Vicar. The controversy lasted long, but finally, it was decided in the +Abbot’s favour, and Dr. Kearney, then Archbishop of Cashel, acknowledged +the Abbot’s title. And again, in the <i>Spicelegium Ossoriense</i> there is a +letter from Dr. O’Reilly, Archbishop of Armagh, written to the Propaganda +in 1633, in which he complained that the Cistercians claimed the privilege +of “<i>Visitation, Correction, Summoning to Synods, Approbation to +hear confessions, together with entire and absolute episcopal +jurisdiction</i>.” And a further proof in favour of the practice is found in +the fact that laymen who acquired the suppressed monasteries of the Order +claimed and exercised that same privilege. Thus, in 1622, Archbishop +Ussher in a Report of Bective parish said it belonged to Bartholomew +Dillon, Esq. of Riverstown, his Majesty’s farmer of the impropriate +property. “This church belongeth to the Abbey of Bectiffe, in the +possession of the said Mr. Dillon, who pretendeth to have an exemption +from the Lord Bishop’s jurisdiction, and doth prove wills<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> and grant +administrations.” And in 1744, Harris writes of Newry, where once was a +Cistercian Abbey also: “A mitred Abbot formerly possessed the lordships of +Newry and Mourne, and exercised therein Episcopal Jurisdiction, which +after the dissolution of the Abbey was done by the temporal proprietor, +and at the present Robert Needham, Esq., to whom the town and manor +belong, enjoys an exempt Jurisdiction within the said manors, and the seal +of his court is a Mitred Abbot in his Albe sitting in a chair, and +supported by two yew trees with this inscription: ‘<i>Sigillum exemptæ +Jurisdictionis de Viride Ligno alias Newry et Mourne</i>.’” Which in English +means, the seal of the Exempt Jurisdiction of Newry and Mourne. Verily! +this savours of Popery; for, it was from the Pope the monks received their +exemption. A modern example of this Papal concession, exercised in the +Anglican Church, is to be found in the case of the Dean of Westminster who +is immediately under the jurisdiction of her Gracious Majesty the Queen, +and consequently exempt from that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is +as successor to the Abbot of Westminster that he claims and is allowed +that privilege of exemption; for the Abbot was immediately subject to the +Pope in pre-Reformation times.</p> + +<p>The Abbot of Mellifont was implicated in the rebellion of Lambert Simnel; +for in 1488, he received pardon from the King for his offences in that +connection. The close of the fifteenth century found Mellifont recovering +and maintaining its old prestige amongst the Religious Orders of this +country, and with the dawning of a new century, it had regained its former +level, from which a host of circumstances had conspired to drag it down +and to degrade it. These circumstances have been already detailed and need +not be here repeated.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>In civil matters, Ireland in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, +presented the same, or nearly the same, condition as she did more than +three centuries before, when the English first landed on her shores. The +Pale was literally bounded by the Liffey and the Boyne, and the old feuds, +the long-protracted wars between the Anglo-Irish and the natives still +subsisted. The regular administration of the law was limited to the four +counties adjoining the capital, called the “Four Obedient Counties.” It +seems incontestable that religion was in a flourishing condition in this +country during the period; for an unwonted activity and fervour animated +both clergy and people, as can be inferred from the number of religious +houses established; the frequency of Synods held denoting zeal and +regularity on the part of the prelates convening them; and the common +practice, so much then in vogue, of visiting, through a spirit of penance +and devotion, the Holy Places at home and in far-off countries. Our Annals +prove this to demonstration. But, it must be borne in mind that the spirit +of exclusion was still in full force amongst the Anglo-Irish clergy, and +no Irishman was eligible for benefices within the Pale. Learning, which is +ever the handmaid of true piety, found its home as in ancient times +amongst the two classes of the clergy, the secular and regular. The number +of learned works published at that time clearly proves it. Amongst the +many eminent men who then adorned the Church in Ireland, Maurice O’Fihely, +Archbishop of Tuam, ranks foremost. His biographers, for he had many, +inform us, that he “was eminent for his extraordinary knowledge in +Divinity, Logic, Philosophy, and Metaphysics,” that he published a +Dictionary of the Holy Scriptures, and was styled by his contemporaries at +home and abroad, “The Flower of the World.” He had been a Franciscan +Friar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> before his promotion to the See of Tuam, but did not long survive +his appointment.</p> + +<p>Now, capital has been made by some writers out of a description of the +Church in Ireland taken from the State Papers, Part III., Vol. II., pp. +15, 16. If it reflected a true picture, a Reformation would indeed have +been needed, but not the kind introduced by Henry VIII., nurtured by +Edward VI., and propagated with fire and sword by Elizabeth. The Report +states: “Some sayeth, that the prelates of the Church and the clergy is +much the cause of all the mysse order of the land, for there is no +archbyshop, ne bysshop, abbot, ne prior, parson ne vicar, ne any other +person of the church, high or lowe, greate or smalle, Englysh or Irishe, +that usythe to preach the worde of Godde, saveing the poor fryers +beggars.”... “Some sayeth”—Who were these “Some,” or what was their +assertion worth? Were they parties who benefited by the disturbance of the +old order of things at the Suppression, and so suspected of having been +partial, and eager to seek any and every palliation for the State Church +as by law established. Now every student of Irish history, as contained in +our Annals, knows that that anonymous statement is unwarranted by fact. It +will suffice to take two instances, as we find them recorded in Dowling’s +<i>Annals</i> about this time, to show the fallacy of the accusation of +wholesale neglect of preaching the Word of God. Of Nicholas Maguire, +Bishop of Leighlin, 1490-1512, Dowling (Protestant Chancellor of Leighlin) +writes: “When he was Prebendary of Ullard, he preached and delivered great +learning with no less reverence, being in favour with the King and +nobility of Leinster, who, together with the Dean and Chapter, elected him +Bishop of Leighlin.” And of Maurice Deoran, or Doran, who a few years +later succeeded him in Leighlin, Dowling again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> writes: “He was a most +eloquent preacher.” It cannot be denied that at that time some Church +dignitaries affected the airs and magnificence of worldly magnates, nor +that they gave scandal to their flocks by their absenteeism. Other abuses, +no doubt, existed, but the watchful providence of God had made provision +for their removal through His authorised ministers. But, alas! a new +condition of affairs shall soon arise. The most powerful political engine +ever fabricated for the extension of the English power in Ireland shall be +introduced, one which shall eventually break up the tribe lands, +annihilate the sway of the ancient chieftains, and reduce their +impoverished descendants to the condition of serfs and menials. And this +shall be called reforming the Church! Even in this revolution, Mellifont +shall play her part, and become revolutionized and misappropriated.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<p class="title">THE SUPPRESSION OF MELLIFONT.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“No more shall Charity with sparkling eyes,<br /> +And smiles of welcome, wide unfold the door,<br /> +Where pity listening still to nature’s cries,<br /> +Befriends the wretched and relieves the poor.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;">(<i>Keats.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="dropfig"><img src="images/drop_t.jpg" alt="T" /></span>he Religious Orders, which succeed each other in the Catholic Church, are +subject to laws similar to those that govern the productions of nature. +They grow from feeble and imperceptible seeds, increase, flourish, and +bear fruit; then decrease, fade, and fall to the ground. But they have +produced a fruit, which contains within it the germs of a new seed-time, +and which bursts forth vigorously from the decaying sheath to reproduce +its never-failing kind. This work of reproduction and subsequent expansion +is aided, directed, and encouraged by him, to whom is divinely committed +the government of the Church; and when pseudo, self-styled reformers essay +the difficult task, their true character is unmasked in the inevitable +ruin and desolation which follow, instead of the order and rehabilitation +which were promised. Bluff King Hal, or the Merrie Monarch, as Henry VIII. +was familiarly and affectionately called by his loving subjects in the +beginning of his reign, was in need of money to squander on his passions +and pleasures. In his newly assumed character, therefore, of Head of the +Church in his dominions (which, by Act of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> Parliament, he made it high +treason to deny), he suppressed the lesser monasteries whose annual income +did not exceed £200. This was done, forsooth, in the interests of +religion!!! The proceeds of the confiscation were soon dissipated, and the +wily Cromwell, whom the King had appointed his <i>Vicar General</i>, suggested +the suppression and appropriation to the King’s uses, of all the +monasteries within the realm. Again it is his zeal for the promotion of +God’s glory that is pleaded as his motive for the nefarious deed. Three +years before, when addressing the Houses of Parliament in behalf of the +measure for the suppression of the lesser monasteries, he publicly gave +thanks to God, that in the large communities “religion is right well kept +and observed.” And yet, what a metamorphosis in such a short space! All +had now fallen away, and had inexplicably sunk into all manner of +iniquity! Spelman, in his <i>History of Sacrilege</i>, tells the mode adopted +by this model Reformer to carry his motion for investing in the Crown the +property of all the Religious Orders. “The King sent for the Commons,” he +tells us, “and informed them he would have the Bill pass, or take off some +of their heads.” This they knew to be no empty threat; and pass the Bill +they did on that memorable day of May 13, 1539. The Lords, as a body, +voted for it; partly through a feeling of jealousy towards the Churchmen, +who enjoyed no inconsiderable share of the monarch’s confidence and +favour, and so they rejoiced at whatever promised to destroy this good +understanding between them; and partly through cupidity, for they hoped +for a share in the booty. The Bishops at that juncture are blamed for +their weakness in complying with so unjust a proceeding; but they were +divided in their councils; some considering it the less of two evils to +sacrifice the Religious houses, in the hope that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> misunderstanding +between the King and the Pope would be soon adjusted and the monks +restored, yielded to the King; others, unworthy of their office, as it +must be admitted, worldly men, courtly prelates, who dreaded the King’s +displeasure, obsequiously obeyed his mandate.</p> + +<p>Besides his greed for gold, the King had another potent motive for +suppressing the monasteries, one that gave a zest to this disgraceful act: +he wanted the further to spite the Pope by inflicting such an unheard-of +injury on religion. Other motives, too, were not wanting, such as state +policy, so the King alleged, and the want of constant affection towards +his person on the part of the Religious, particularly in his new capacity. +This, Lord Herbert (who was no friend of the monks) admits in his Life of +the King. His Lordship writes: “The monks were looked upon as a body of +reserve for the Pope, and always ready to appear in his quarrels.” +Perhaps, their opposition to the King’s assumption of spiritual power +precipitated matters. At all events, one of them, zealous for God’s law, +had the courage to reproach him to his face in a sermon preached at +Greenwich before the King’s marriage with Anne Boleyn. This fearless +champion of justice, this intrepid son of St. Francis, thus addressed the +dissolute monarch:—“I am that Micheas, O King, whom you will hate because +I must tell you truly that this marriage is unlawful; and I know that I +shall eat the bread of affliction and drink the water of sorrow; yet, +because our Lord has put it in my mouth, I must speak it.” And when he and +another faithful brother friar were brought before the King’s council, who +rebuked them, and declared them deserving of being shut up in a sack, and +thrown into the Thames, for the boldness of their language in the matter +of the King’s marriage, his companion smiling said: “Threaten these things +to the rich and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> dainty persons, who are clothed in purple, and fare +deliciously, and have their chiefest hope in this world; for we esteem +them not, but are joyful, that, for the discharge of our duty we are +driven hence; and, with thanks to God, we know the way to heaven to be as +ready by water as by land.” (Stowe, <i>Church Chronicle</i>.)</p> + +<p>It was not, then, for dissoluteness of morals, nor for illiteracy, nor for +backwardness in preaching the Word of God, nor yet for being drones in +society, that the monks were turned from their peaceful homes. The true +cause was, that the King knew, and his criminal advisers also knew, that +the monasteries were as impregnable fortresses, which in defence of truth +and justice, would hold out firm against seductive bribes, and the most +appalling threats; hence they must be swept away under plea of general +corruption of morals, etc., and their properties held up as a bait to draw +over proselytes to the new order of things. The historian, Lingard, +writing of the attitude of the monks towards the King’s supremacy in +spiritual matters, says: “Secluded from the world, the Religious felt +fewer temptations to sacrifice their consciences to the commands of their +Sovereign, and seemed more eager to court the crown than to flee the pains +of martyrdom.”</p> + +<p>Here, in Ireland, one of the King’s advisers counselled him to suppress +some of the monasteries, and to convert them into residences for young +noblemen, who would promote and defend the King’s interests. Patrick +Finglas, created by Henry VIII. Chief Baron of the King’s Exchequer, and +afterwards Lord Chief Justice, wrote a book entitled: “A Breviate of the +getting of Ireland and of the decay of the same,” in which he recommends +the suppression of the monasteries bordering on the Pale, “because they +were giving more aid and supportacion to the Irish than to the King.” “Let +the Abbeys,” he goes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> on to say, “be given to young lords, knights, and +gentlemen out of England, which shall dwell upon the same.” This advice +seemed good to the King, and it was literally carried out, but to far +greater extent than this astute lawyer had anticipated.</p> + +<p>Mellifont, in common with the other Religious establishments in Ireland +within grasp of the King (for in Ulster, they were free from molestation +under O’Neil and O’Donnell), must have heard with dismay the rumours +afloat about a general suppression, and grief and consternation must have +filled the hearts of the monks. Was it possible, they asked, that the +King, whose person they respected, whose laws they obeyed, would drive +them forth, wanderers over the world, which many of them had renounced in +early youth; and now, without adequate provision, were they, in their +declining years, to perish by the roadside? Were their beautiful church, +their loved cloister, their shady groves, no more to shelter them, and +were they to sever connection with a spot endeared to them by so many holy +associations? Yes, it is true, alas! for the Abbot of St. Mary’s, Dublin, +being nearer authentic sources of information, has heard it and has sent +word, that sentence is passed on all, and their doom has sounded; for the +following Royal Commission was forwarded to the Deputy, with peremptory +orders to have it executed forthwith:—</p> + +<p>Royal Commission directed to John Allen, Chancellor; George, Archbishop of +Dublin; William Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; Robert Cowley, Master of the +Rolls; and Thomas Cusacke, Esq.; reciting, “That from the information of +trustworthy persons, it being manifestly apparent that the monasteries, +abbeys, priories, and other places of Religious or Regulars, in Ireland, +are at present in such a state, that in them, the praise of God and the +welfare of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> man are next to nothing regarded; the Regulars and nuns +dwelling there being so addicted, partly to their own superstitious +ceremonies, partly to the pernicious worship of idols, and to the +pestiferous doctrines of the Roman Pontiff, that unless an effectual +remedy be promptly provided, not only the weak, low order, but the whole +Irish people, may be speedily infected to their total destruction. To +prevent, therefore, the longer continuance of such Religious men and nuns +in so damnable a state, the King (having resolved to resume into his hands +all the monasteries and Religious houses, for their better reformation, to +remove from them the Religious men and women, and to cause them to return +to some honest mode of living and to true religion,) directs the +Commissioners to signify this his intention to the heads of Religious +houses; to receive their resignations and surrenders willingly tendered; +to grant to those tendering it liberty of exchanging their habit and of +accepting benefices under the King’s authority; to apprehend and punish +such as adhere to the Roman Pontiff and contumaciously refuse to surrender +their houses; to take charge for the King’s use of the possession of those +houses, and assign competent pensions to those who willingly surrender.” +(<i>Patent and Close Rolls, Chancery, Ireland</i>, Morrin, 1539-40, April 30, +Henry VIII., 30<sup>o</sup>, p. 55.)</p> + +<p>Most marvellous, indeed, and sudden, and quite unprecedented in history, +was this utter decadence from godliness to “idolatry and the pestiferous +doctrine of the Roman Pontiff” on the part of 100,000 persons within the +space of three short years! But, behold! the godly monarch will reform +them (supposing they needed reform) in the fashion recorded in the old +English proverb: “The devil amended his dame’s leg; when he should have +set it right, he brake it quite in pieces.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> That the Deputy, Lord Gray, +did not consider the monks and nuns an effete body, addicted to evil +practices, will appear evident from the letter he addressed to Cromwell, +and which was signed by his Council. It bears date 21st May 1539:—</p> + +<p>“May it please your honourable Lordship to be advertised, that by the +report of Thomas Cusacke and others repaired lately out of the realm of +England into this land, it hath been openly bruited the King’s grace’s +pleasure to be, that all the monasteries within this land should be +suppressed, none to stand. Amongst which, for the common weal of this +land, if it might stand with King’s most gracious pleasure by your good +Lordship’s advertisement, in our opinion it were right expedient that six +houses should stand and continue, changing their habit and rule into such +sort as the King’s grace shall will them: which are namely, St. Mary’s +Abbey, adjoining Dublin, a house of white monks (Cistercians); Christ +Church, a house of canons situated in the middle of the City of Dublin; +Grace Dieu Nunnery, in the County Dublin; Connell, in the County Kildare; +Kenlys or Kells, and Jerpoint (this latter Cistercian also), in the County +Kilkenny. <i>For in these commonly, and in others such like</i>, in default of +common inns, which are not in this island the King’s Deputy and all others +his Grace’s Council and Officers, also Irishmen and others resorting to +the King’s Deputy in these quarters is and hath been most commonly lodged +at the cost of the said houses. <i>Also, in them, young men and children, +both gentlemen’s children and others, both of man kind and woman kind be +brought up in virtue and in the Englishe tongue and behaviour to the great +charge of the said houses</i>; that is to say, the woman kind of the whole +Englishie of this land, for the most part, in the said nunnery, and the +man kind in the other houses.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>And the Abbot of St. Mary’s, petitioning soon after for exemption from the +general suppression, pleads in a letter to the same Cromwell: “Verily we +be but stewards and purveyors to other men’s uses for the King’s honour, +keeping hospitality, and many poor men, scholars and orphans.”</p> + +<p>All petitions are unavailing; the King is inexorable; and St. Mary’s and +Mellifont, and the others included in the original list must go down +before the despot’s unholy will, untried, unheard, but with the nation’s +regret, those alone excepted, who thirsted for and shared the sacrilegious +booty. Before the lamp of piety and learning be extinguished for ever in +Mellifont, let us take a parting glance at it, so that the contrast may be +the more marked as we note its vicissitudes later on.</p> + +<p>In that bright July morning (1539), when the bell summoned the monks of +Mellifont to matins for the last time, the sun rose over as fair a picture +as could well be conceived, when its brilliant rays shot floods of light +through the woods and valley, and gilt the quivering tree-tops with +lustrous gold. And the enormous piles of white masonry looked whiter for +the glinting of the sun-beams, and many a fantastic shadow was cast on the +tesselated pavement in the church by the “dim religious light” of the +gorgeous stained glass windows. The statues of the Twelve Apostles looked +down patronisingly from lofty pedestals, and bore the minds of the +beholders aloft, to where the guerdon awaits the faithful soldier of +Christ when his term of service here below shall have expired. Loud rose +the rhythmic measure of the majestic Gregorian Chant rendered by over one +hundred full-voiced singers on that beautiful morning, ere yet the skylark +shook the dew-drops from his wings, or intoned his early carol o’er the +meadows by the Boyne. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> pealing of the organ sounded loud and louder as +they chanted their solemn Mass, but to many who then took part in that +sacred function, its plaintive notes presaged the speedy end of their +time-honoured establishment, which at any moment may receive the fatal +visit of the Commissioners. In its internal economy it was wisely and +worthily governed, its community numbered 150 Choir monks, besides Lay +Brothers and familiars, its schools were prosperous, and from their +widespread reputation, merited the title of “famous” which was accorded +them. The children of the monks’ tenants received a free education here; +moreover, the monks conducted a school, which we would now call a +seminary, where gentlemen’s children and others were taught the higher +branches suited to prepare them for their career in after-life. Their +peaceful valley was screened on every side from wintry blasts by tasteful +plantations, useful and ornamental; for a thickly planted orchard, chiefly +of apple and pear trees, which covered both sides of the River Mattock +from the mill to where the bridge now spans the river, survived till +within the memory of many still living who describe it as having been so +dense that one could cross the valley on the tops of them. The grounds +surrounding the monastery were laid out with commendable taste; the lands +yielded plentiful crops, and supported numerous herds of cattle. The hill +south-east of the abbey was covered over with oak of gigantic size—the +growth of centuries—and on the Meath side were screens of valuable +timber. Their tenants were contented and prosperous; for the monks were +indulgent landlords. Their rents were paid in kind, and for the rest, they +found a ready market always at the abbey, where a huge supply of +provisions was constantly needed for the strangers and the poor who sought +and found a ready welcome there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>The spiritual wants of the tenants and dependants were attended to by one +of the monks, John Byrrel, whose name occurs first in the list of those +belonging to Mellifont to whom pensions were granted. He is styled Parson +of Mellifont. It is probable, too, that others of the abbey priests +ministered to Tullyallen parish (though it is scarcely probable that the +present parish is conterminous with the old one), to Monknewtown and +Donore; for in the English Episcopal Registers, twelve volumes of which +have been recently published, it is noted that their brethren in England +served the parishes in the immediate vicinity of the monasteries; and, +moreover, we find in the list of pensioners of other Cistercian houses in +Ireland, the names of three or more, in the same monastery, who are called +parsons. Medical advice and medicine were dispensed gratis at the Abbey. +The sick poor were visited and cared for in their homes by physicians +employed by the monks; they were also admitted into the hospital at the +gate. On fixed days weekly, the poor of the locality came for and received +loaves of bread which were specially baked for them, and meat in +abundance, with beer, was distributed to them. In those days there were no +poor laws; for the monks provided for all the wants of the indigent. The +monks were in constant touch with all classes of society, at least the +principal officers were, and they were the advisers, as well as the +instructors, of all. The History of the English Abbeys of the Order, or +the fragments that have survived the vandalism of the Dissolution, and +which have been published by impartial Protestants, clearly prove that +this picture of far-reaching and ungrudging beneficence is by no means +fanciful. (<i>See Ruined Abbeys of Britain, by Frederick Ross.</i>) The Abbot +of Mellifont took a prominent place in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> councils of the nation. He +ranked as a Peer, and had a seat in the House of Lords before all the +other Religious superiors, twenty-three more of whom were privileged to +sit there. He was bound to supply a certain number of horsemen for the +King’s musters, and to maintain them at his own charge. Tradition has it +that he could ride on his own territory from the sea at Drogheda to the +Shannon at Athlone, but this requires confirmation. He owned some 4,000 +acres at the suppression, extending on the south side of the Boyne from +Drogheda to Rossnaree, and on the north, to Slane, including the fisheries +and five salmon weirs on the river. He rented the fishing of sixteen +corraghs at Oldbridge, for which he got £13 13s. 4d. annually. The <i>town</i> +of Tullyallen belonged to him. It was then in a flourishing condition, but +has fallen since from its rank as a town to that of a mere village, +composed of a few scattered cottages. The district was then populous; for +another village grew up near the Abbey occupied by tradesmen and +dependants who were constantly employed by the monks. It was called Doagh. +It is now level with the field. It stood a quarter of a mile north-west of +Mellifont, beyond the Mattock. Its site is an elevated plateau, locally +known as the Doagh Meadows. The entire annual revenue of the Abbey was +estimated at £316, which, allowing for the difference in value of money +since, would be equivalent to an income of close on £4,000 at the present +day. On that the monks maintained themselves and a large staff of +servants, “kept hospitality, and many poor men, scholars, and orphans.” +The Abbot entertained his guests daily at his own table in a spacious +building apart from the monks’ quarters, and was a man of light and +leading, unlike the helpless imbecile portrayed by Scott in his novels. +The Abbot was chosen, often from some distant monastery, for his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> aptitude +“in governing souls,” which was the paramount consideration with St. +Benedict in the selection of a superior. He should be learned, and sound +both in doctrine and morals, to be entrusted with such a charge. It is +only too true that unworthy persons, contrary to the Canons, were +sometimes intruded into the position by powerful relatives, and they, +alas! generally brought disgrace on religion.</p> + +<p>As to the spiritual condition of Mellifont at the time of its suppression, +it was certainly on a high level. No charge was brought against that +community, on that score, even by its worst enemies; none but the general +ones mentioned in the Commission. In truth and in fact, the observances +then in force at Mellifont were identical with those introduced by Abbot +Christian and practised at Clairvaux by St. Bernard and his saintly +companions. If they were “idolatrous,” and “superstitious,” and savouring +of the “pestiferous doctrines of the Roman Pontiff,” so must have been the +ancient practices of the Cistercians; and wonderful indeed was it, that +till King Henry and his advisers discovered it, our ancestors, for four +hundred years at least, approved of and took part in these same practices +without a suspicion of the “pernicious” errors they were now found to +contain! In the matter of discipline alone was there any decadence, and +then the altered conditions of the times demanded some modifications. The +use of flesh meat three days in the week was introduced, and instead of +manual labour, other duties were substituted, such as teaching, copying, +study, etc. In their daily lives, we are told by Rev. Dr. Gasquet, O.S.B., +perhaps the greatest living authority in such matters, that the +Cistercians at that time differed little from the Benedictines.</p> + +<p>Such was the condition of Mellifont on that fatal day,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> the 23rd July +1539, when the Commissioners, with an armed band, demanded admission and +surrender, in the King’s name. Remonstrance with them was vain, and the +usual formality was gone through. They seized on the charters, registers, +ledgers, etc., together with the keys of the treasury and store-rooms; +took an inventory of all the possessions of the monastery, and sealed the +Library and strong room. They, then, summoned the Abbot and all the monks +to the Chapter-house, to sign the Act of Surrender. In the Calendar of +Patent and Close Rolls, Chancery, Ireland, Henry VIII. (edited by James +Morrin), the synopsis of it is given as follows at p. 135:—“Surrender of +the Abbey or House of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Mellyfount, in the County +of Louth, by Richard Contoure, Abbot, with the consent of the Convent; and +of the church, belfry, cemetery, manors, lands, and all its possessions in +the counties of Dublin, Kildare, and Carlow, with all charters, evidences, +muniments, goods, utensils, ornaments and jewels.”—July 23, 31<sup>o</sup>. +(1539). “Endorsed on the preceding surrender is a memorandum that the +Abbot and Convent, assembled in the Chapter-house, voluntarily +acknowledged the preceding surrender, delivered it into the hands of the +Lord Chancellor, and prayed it might be enrolled in Chancery, <i>in +perpetuam rei memoriam</i>. Witness, George, Archbishop of Dublin; Wm. +Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; Robert Cowley, Master of the Rolls.” July 23, +31<sup>o</sup>.</p> + +<p>How often have these “voluntary” surrenders been flaunted by writers +hostile to the monks, as if the farce of signing the document which made +them beggars were a free act! They were anxious, forsooth, to shake off +the burden of their religious obligations, through the facile dispensation +so liberally accorded by the new Head of the Church, in the flush of his +accession to ecclesiastical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> supremacy! The late scholarly and +liberal-minded Dean Butler, Protestant Rector of Trim, wrote thus on the +subject:—“The form of surrender then executed omitted no property which +could belong to the house.... There were added their charters, evidences, +writings and manuscripts, their goods, chattels, utensils, ornaments, +jewels, and debts, all these were granted to the King, to be disposed of +at his good pleasure, without appeal or complaint, and the unhappy men +<i>were forced to declare</i>, that they thus deprived themselves of house and +home <i>of their own free will</i>, and that they put an end to a venerable +institution, to which they were bound by so many solemn obligations, +certain just and reasonable causes thereto moving their minds and their +consciences.” (<i>Register of the Priory of All Hallows.</i> Preface, p. xxix.)</p> + +<p>The next step was, there and then, to auction off all the moveables of the +monastery, except the jewels of the rich reliquaries, chalices, and other +sacred vessels, with the plate and bells, which formed the King’s special +perquisite. The whole artistic woodwork of the church (choir and +wainscotting) was smashed in pieces, and even the very tombs of the +founders and others interred there, were sold and carted off. For a +description of the work of destruction, as related by an eye-witness of +such vandalism at the suppression of an English Cistercian monastery, see +<i>The Irish Cistercians</i>, p. 45. The sale realised £141 7s. 3d., but no +detailed account is given of the sum that each article fetched. According +to another Commission addressed to John Allen, Chancellor; William +Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; and Robert Cowley, Master of the Rolls; dated +May 20, 1539, the proceeds of such sales were ordered to be allocated “to +pay the officers and servants of the Crown.” When the church and monastery +were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> dismantled, and every article of value, no matter how trifling, had +been removed, the order to clear out the monks was promptly given and +executed; and the gates were shut behind them. Whither they went nobody +cared, and whither to go was a problem to themselves difficult to be +solved; for without money or provision, they were in a worse condition +than the most destitute of beggars. The hoary old walls caught up their +groans and lamentations on that day, as with breaking hearts they looked +upon each familiar spot for the last time. This is one of the secrets the +old stones of the few remaining buildings yet withhold from us. Mellifont +beheld many moving spectacles during the four centuries of her existence, +but none, perhaps, so deeply affecting as when her 150 children, amongst +whom were the aged, tottering on the brink of the grave and leaning for +support on some younger brethren, turned their back upon their happy home +where they enjoyed an anticipated paradise. As the sad procession slowly +gained the top of the hill, many a time they turned to take a last +farewell look at their beloved monastery, till it faded from their view +for ever. A few shillings each were allowed them for their immediate +wants, but of that multitude only thirteen and the Abbot received +pensions. This grant was fixed for them three days after their expulsion, +after which they all disappear from the scene as effectually as if the +Boyne had engulphed them.</p> + +<p>The following entries are found in the Patent and Close Rolls Calendar, +Henry VIII., pp. 59, 60: “Pension of £40 Ir. to Richard Contour, late +Abbot of Mellyfount, payable out of the parishes of Knockmohan, Donowre, +and Monkenewton, with clause of distress.”—Sept. 10, 1539. And at p. 60, +<i>ibid.</i>, “Pension to John Byrrell, late parson of Mellifount, £3 6s. 8d.; +to Thomas Bagot,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> £4; to Peter Rewe, 40/-; to Thomas Alen, 53/4; to +William Norreis, 40/-; to Robert Nangle, 40/-; to Patrick Contour, 53/4; +to William Veldon, £3 6s. 8d.; to Patrick Lawles, 40/-; to John Ball, +40/-; to Clement Bartholomewe, 20/-; to Phelim O’Neil, 20/-; payable out +of the rents and lands of the parishes of Knockamowan, Donower, and +Montnewton” (Monknewtown), 26 July, 1539.</p> + +<p>Thus, then, were these fourteen provided for, but, of the others, not one +received a single shilling, except, as has been said, a mere pittance that +sufficed to procure them a few nights’ shelter. This is no picture drawn +from fancy; it is a well-authenticated fact, that where a peaceful +surrender was not given or signed, no provision whatsoever was made for +those who so refused. They were given a trifle at their expulsion, and +turned adrift to swell the army of beggars, or to perish, as they did in +hundreds, of hardships to which they were unaccustomed. The imagination +cannot now well conceive the heartless, wanton cruelty then practised on +the expelled Religious; who, if they had betrayed their consciences and +taken the oath of Supremacy, might have staved off, at least for a time, +the calamities that befell them. But only for a time; for in some +instances where the monks, through mistaken notions, obeyed the Royal +mandate, they shared the fate of their more steadfast brethren, owing to +the insatiable rapacity of the King and his advisers. To those of the +expelled who were priests, the hope was held out to them, in case of “free +surrender,” that they should be promoted to the first vacant benefices. As +not one of the Religious expelled from Mellifont is enrolled on the list +of those promoted to vacancies during that or the subsequent reigns, it is +obvious that they held fast to their principles, and denied the King’s +Supremacy, an acknowledgment of which was indispensable before +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>promotion. All honour to them for their generous sacrifices, which made +them worthy to be the last who saw the venerable institution reel and fall +beneath the despot’s blows. Their noble attitude was befitting the close +of a work which was inaugurated with such splendour amid a nation’s +rejoicing. Like the setting sun, Mellifont disappeared in a halo of glory.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<p class="title">MELLIFONT BECOMES THE HOME OF A NOBLE FAMILY—IS SOLD, AND IS DELIVERED UP +TO RUIN AND DECAY.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Mute is the matin bell, whose early call<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Warn’d the grey fathers from their humble beds;</span><br /> +No midnight taper gleams along the wall,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or, round the sculptur’d saint its radiance sheds.”</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 16em;">(<i>Keats.</i>)</span></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="dropfig"><img src="images/drop_t.jpg" alt="T" /></span>he long line of distinguished men being thus rudely and abruptly +terminated at Mellifont, with the suppression of the monastery, all +memorials of their history were lost, and no trace of them has been left. +Not a book, nor cross, nor chalice, register, nor chartulary remains. It +appears that Mellifont had its Annalist and its Annals like <i>all</i> the +other monasteries of the Order in Ireland; for Bishop Nicolson, who wrote +his “Irish National Library” in 1724, says: “The Annals of Ireland from +the foundation of this Abbey in 1142 to the year 1500, are, or were +lately, in the hands of some of the learned men of this kingdom.” He does +not tell us the name of the compiler, but only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> the fact that they had +been written at Mellifont. These are not cited by later writers, so they, +also, must have perished long since. At the suppression of monasteries, +the archives, chronicles, and registers were carefully sought by the +Commissioners, because they contained correct information on the value and +extent of the possessions of each house respectively; and the more +extensive these were, the more sedulously were the records sought for. +Hence it is that because the Cistercian Order had large possessions, the +manuscripts were all seized and handed over with the monasteries to the +grantees. The monks could not possibly take one away with them. So their +history is now derivable from other sources, which, at best, are very +meagre. Mellifont, which occupied so prominent and respected a position +during its career, would not be found inferior to other houses of the +Order in the number of its learned and remarkable men, were its ancient +documents now available; and, judging from the long roll of distinguished +men, who in every department of knowledge rendered the Order illustrious +in other countries, we may safely allot a respectable quota of the same to +Mellifont. De Visch compiled his <i>Writers of the Cistercian Order</i> in +1656, and Sartorius published a large tome in 1700, each containing +notices of the illustrious men of the Order. No less than sixty-three +large folio pages of this latter work are occupied with the names of the +learned men, and the dates at which they flourished. He places all in +distinct categories, and so we have St. Bernard heading the list, after +whom come the Grammarians, next follow the Poets, Orators, Historians, +Philosophers, Mathematicians, Astronomers, Musicians, then Doctors of +Canon and Civil Law, and Doctors of Theology; finally, Professors in +universities, and others, whose general attainments precluded +classification. As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> these works were written after the suppression of the +monasteries in these countries, the materials relating to the Irish and +English monasteries having passed into hostile hands or been destroyed, +were no longer accessible. Ireland was ever remarkable for the thirst for +learning displayed by her children, and for the singular proficiency +attained by them, when the opportunity for it was afforded; we may, then, +justly conclude that learning and the polite arts found a home at +Mellifont. For this latter branch, the beautiful buildings would, of +themselves, suffice as an argument in favour of an advanced state of +culture and refinement.</p> + +<p>It is worthy of note, that neither the Irish people, nor the +representatives of the Government in this country, brought, much less +substantiated, any direct charges against the Irish monks, prior to the +suppression. Hence it is, that their maligners had to import, for use +against them, the staple arguments commonly used in England, and there +only by venal scribblers, and those who profited by the downfall of the +monks. To such the learned and impartial Protestant historian, the Rev. +Doctor Maitland, adverts, when after giving credit to the monks for their +having been benefactors to mankind, he writes in his preface to the <i>Dark +Ages</i>:—“In the meantime, let me thankfully believe that thousands of the +persons at whom Robertson, and Jortin, and other such very miserable +second-hand writers, have sneered, were men of enlarged minds, purified +affections, and holy lives, that they were justly reverenced by men, and, +above all, favourably accepted by God, and distinguished by the highest +honours which He vouchsafes to those whom He has called into existence, +that of being the channels of His love and mercy to their +fellow-creatures.” And in our own time, the <i>Guardian</i>, an English +Protestant newspaper, when <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>reviewing the Rev. Doctor Gasquet’s, O.S.B., +learned work, <i>Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries</i>, approvingly +cites, amongst others, the following paragraph:—“The voices raised +against the monks were those of Cromwell’s agents, of the cliques of the +new men and of his hireling scribes, who formed a crew of as truculent and +as filthy libellers as ever disgraced a revolutionary cause. The later +centuries have taken their tale in good faith, but time is showing that +the monasteries, up to the day of their fall, had not forfeited the +goodwill, the veneration, the affection of the English people.” Mr. Lecky, +too, with his usual candour and liberality, writes:—“Monastic +institutions were the only refuges of a pacific civilisation; the only +libraries, the only schools, the only centres of art, the only refuges for +gentle and intellectual natures; the chief barriers against violence and +rapine; the chief promoters of agriculture and of industry.” (<i>The +Political Value of History</i>, p. 14. London, 1892.)</p> + +<p>The monks being now expelled, Mellifont was delivered up to desecration +and ruin; the silence of the tomb reigned supreme, and the voice of prayer +was heard no more; no longer did the bells from the tower send forth their +cheering notes over the surrounding district to raise the hearts of the +toiler to Heaven. These sweet toned bells, the gift of some princely +benefactor, had been, with all the other moveable property, carried off by +the spoiler. The Abbey, with all its spiritual and temporal possessions, +was given, in 1541, to Laurence Townley, for 21 years. They passed by +reversionary lease to —— Brabazon, in 1546. In 1551, they were leased to +the same for 21 years more, and in 1566, they came by reversionary lease +to Edward Moore, the founder of the Drogheda family, who, at that time, +came into Ireland, as a soldier of fortune. (<i>Appendix to the Report of +the Deputy-Keeper of the Rolls and Grants of Elizabeth.</i>)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>This Edward Moore, who was accompanied by his brother John, the founder of +the Charleville family (now extinct), was descended from an ancient +Kentish House. He fixed his residence at Mellifont, changing the church +into a dwelling, which he strongly fortified against the attacks of the +Ulster Irish. The statues of the Twelve Apostles, which once occupied +places in the church, he caused to be removed to the hall, clad in red +uniforms, with muskets on their shoulders, as a protest, no doubt, against +“Popish idolatry.” It is even said that he suffered the Founder’s tomb, +and those of others, or such portions of them as still were left, to +remain as part of his domestic arrangements, without his being disturbed +by such solemn surroundings. He was knighted by the Deputy, Sir Wm. Drury, +and dying soon after, was succeeded by his son, Sir Garret, to whom +Mellifont, with six other dissolved monasteries, and all their +spiritualities (that is, the revenues of them, right of patronage, etc.) +and temporalities, were granted in fee. By these means, was adhesion to +the Crown purchased and services to it rewarded—services, which bore no +equivocal meaning ever since the Invasion, as the Irish knew by long and +bitter experience.</p> + +<p>At this time, the Church, as by Law Established, became part and parcel of +the State, and its most obsequious servant. Its ministers looked to the +civil power for patronage, and even hoped for promotion through the +officials of the Court; but only in a few instances were the livings worth +the asking, as the greater part of their temporalities were bestowed on +laymen, favourites of the Queen. We have a picture of the state of that +Church in Ireland, soon after the suppression of monasteries, drawn by the +Lord Deputy himself, in a letter to Queen Elizabeth. They who would fain +believe in the blessed advantages which flowed from the Dissolution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> of +Monasteries, and the introduction of the new religion, may take to heart +the lesson it teaches. Sir Henry Sydney wrote to the Queen in April, 1576, +on the condition of the diocese of Meath:—“There are within this +diocese,” he writes, “224 parish churches, of which number, 105 are +impropriated to sundry possessions; no parson or vicar resident on any of +them, and a very simple or sorry curate for the most part appointed to +serve them; among which number of curates, only eighteen were found to be +able to speak English, the rest being Irish ministers, or rather, Irish +rogues, having very little Latin and less learning and civility.... In +many places the very walls of the churches are thrown down, very few +chancels covered; windows and doors ruined and spoiled. There are 52 +parish churches in the same diocese which have vicars endowed upon them, +better served and maintained than the others, yet badly. There are 52 +parish churches here, residue of the first number of 224, which pertain to +divers particular lords; and these, though in better state than the others +commonly, are yet far from well.” He concludes by saying:—“But yet your +Majesty may believe it, that upon the face of the earth where Christ is +professed, there is not a church in so miserable a case.” Lord Grenville, +in his <i>Past and Present Policy of England towards Ireland</i>, when +commenting on Sydney’s letters, from one of which the above is an extract, +writes:—“Such was the condition of a church which was half a century +before rich and flourishing, an object of reverence and a source of +consolation to the people. It was now despoiled of its revenues; the +sacred edifices were in ruins, the clergy were either ignorant of the +language of their flocks, or illiterate and uncivilised intruders; and the +only ritual permitted by the laws was one of which the people neither +comprehended the language nor believed the doctrines;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> and this is called +establishing a reformation.” That this condition of affairs was not +confined to any particular diocese, but rather was the state in all, is +evident from the sketch given by Spenser in his <i>View of the State of +Ireland</i>. “They” (the ministers), he says, “neither read the Scriptures +nor preach to the people, nor administer the Communion ... only they take +the tithes and offerings, and gather what fruit else they may of their +livings.... It is a great wonder to see the zeal between the Popish +priests and the ministers of the Gospel; for they spare not to come out of +Spain, from Rome, and from Rheims, by long toil and dangerous travelling +thither, where they know peril of death awaiteth them, and no reward or +riches are to be found, only to draw people to the Church of Rome.” Such +were the immediate fruits of the Reformation as admitted and described by +Protestant contemporaries.</p> + +<p>One of the first proprietary acts of Sir Edward Moore, on his acquiring +Mellifont, seems to have been to cut down and sell some of the magnificent +timber planted by the monks. The old wooden house, so long an object of +curiosity in Drogheda, and which was taken down in 1824, was chiefly +composed of oak obtained from Mellifont Park. It was situated at the angle +formed by the junction of Laurence Street and Shop Street, and was erected +by Nicholas Bathe, as an inscription in raised characters, each six inches +in length, testified. This inscription was on the Laurence Street side. +“Made. Bi. Nicholas. Bathe. in. the. ieare. of. our. Lord. God. 1570. Bi. +Hiu. Mor. Carpenter.”</p> + +<p>In 1592, Red Hugh O’Donnell, fleeing from Dublin Castle, where he had been +detained a close prisoner, was received and kindly treated by Sir Edward +Moore, at Mellifont. His reception is thus related in the Life of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> Red +Hugh, edited with notes by the late Father Denis Murphy, S.J.:—“After +crossing the Boyne near Drogheda, Red Hugh and his companion mounted their +horses, and proceeded about two miles from the river, where they saw a +dense bushy grove in front of them on the road they came, and a large +rampart all around it, as if it was a kitchen-garden. There was a fine +mansion (called the great monastery), belonging to an illustrious youth of +the English, by the side of the wood. He was much attached to O’Neil.... +He (O’Donnell) went into the house and was entertained; for he was well +known there especially more than in other places.”</p> + +<p>In 1599, according to the family pedigree, Sir Garret Moore and Sir +Francis Stafford were the only English house-keepers in the County Louth; +all the lands being wasted by the Ulster rebels. The next important event +at Mellifont was the great O’Neil’s surrender there to the Deputy, Lord +Mountjoy, on the 24th March, 1602. The Lord Deputy sent Sir Garret Moore, +as an old acquaintance of O’Neil’s, with Sir Wm. Godolphin to parley with +him, and O’Neil returned with them to Mellifont, where (on his knees, it +is said by English writers,) he made his submission to the Deputy. Here, +again, we have further proof of what has been stated before, that it was +Irishmen who retained this country for the English Crown; for when Sir +George Carew sat down before Kinsale, where O’Neil was defeated, his army +consisted of three thousand men, of whom two thousand were Irish.<a name='fna_8' id='fna_8' href='#f_8'><small>[8]</small></a></p> + +<p>Five years later, that is, in 1607, O’Neil was again at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> the “fair mansion +of Mellifont to bid good-bye for ever to his good friend, Sir Garret, the +fosterer of his son John.” He tarried two days with him, and then said +farewell. Having given his blessing, “according to the Irish fashion,” to +every member of his friend’s household, he and his suite took horse, and +rode rapidly by Dundalk on his way to Lough Swilly, where a ship awaited +him to bear him from his native land for ever.</p> + +<p>By an Inquisition taken on the 14th June, 1612, the possessions of this +Abbey were found as follow:—“The site, a water-mill, a garden, an +orchard, a park called Legan Park, the old orchard containing two acres; +the silver meadow, nine acres; the wood meadow, ten acres; and the doves’ +park; 80 acres of underwood; Killingwood, being great timber, containing +twelve acres; Ardagh, twenty acres, being the demesne lands; and the +grange and town of Tullyallen,” etc.</p> + +<p>In 1615, July 20th, Sir Garret was created Baron Moore of Mellifont, by +King James I. In 1619, Baron Moore obtained a royal grant of St. Mary’s +Abbey, Dublin, from the same King; and in 1621, he was created a Viscount, +with the title of Viscount Moore of Drogheda. St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, +passed from the family some fifty years later.</p> + +<p>As has been said, no trace of the expelled religious remains after the +suppression of Mellifont. It, however, may be assumed, that some few of +them lingered around the hallowed spot to which their affections clung, +and that they shared the labours and dangers incident to the Catholic +missionaries of the period, as is well known their brethren in other parts +of Ireland did after their expulsion. It cannot now be ascertained +whether, or not, an unbroken line of titular Abbots of Mellifont was +maintained after the dissolution of the Abbey; but, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> 1623, an oratory +in Drogheda, belonging to the Cistercians, was served by five or six +Fathers of the Order under Patrick Barnewall, who had been appointed Abbot +of Mellifont by the Pope; and in 1625, he received the abbatial +benediction in the church of St. John, in Waterford, at the hands of the +Most Rev. Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin. This Patrick Barnewall +belonged to the Bremore branch (Co. Dublin) of the ancient and illustrious +family of that name. After having studied the Humanities, Philosophy, +Theology, and Canon Law in the Universities of Douay and Paris, he was +ordained priest, and discharged missionary duties in Drogheda. In a sketch +of his life given by a fellow-labourer, it is related, that one night as +he lay awake, St. Bernard appeared to him and told him he would be a monk +of his Order. Though he relished the idea, yet he did not immediately +correspond with his inclinations till he was grievously afflicted with a +severe sickness, when he remembered the vision, and being urged by his two +sisters, who had consecrated themselves to God, he entered the Novitiate +of the Order in Kilkenny, and was at once restored to health. Soon after +his profession he was appointed Abbot of Mellifont by Apostolic authority; +and he admitted novices into the Order at his “hiding-place” at Drogheda, +whom he sent to be educated at the Cistercian College, Louvain, and to +other Continental Colleges. He was a very learned man, particularly in +Canon Law, and was consulted as an authority on this subject. During the +siege of Drogheda, in 1641, his goods were seized and himself cast into +prison, but through the influence of some powerful relatives he was +liberated. He died in his father’s house in September, 1644, and was +buried in the church of Donore, which formerly belonged to Mellifont. John +Devereux, a native<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> of the Co. Wexford, who had been educated at Louvain, +was appointed by the Pope, Abbot of Mellifont, in 1648. He, with Father +Luke Bergin and Father Patrick Grace, both natives of Co. Kilkenny, Father +Malachy O’Hartry, a native of Waterford, Father John Bryan, a native of +Drogheda, and Father Plunket, constituted the new community of Cistercian +monks under Abbot Patrick Barnewall, when he opened the oratory in +Drogheda, in 1623. Whether all or any of them perished in the general +massacre of Drogheda, under Cromwell, we cannot tell, but they disappeared +thenceforth, and John Devereux seems to have been the last titular Abbot +of Mellifont.</p> + +<p>In the Rebellion of 1641, Mellifont and its owner, Lord Charles Moore, son +of Garret, the first Viscount, became involved. On the 21st November, just +a short time after the outbreak, the rebels under Sir Phelim O’Neil, when +on their way to besiege Drogheda, made a halt at Tullyallen, and “sent a +party of 1,300 foot down to Mellifont, the Lord Moore’s house, which their +design was suddenly to surprise; but, contrary to their expectation, they +found there twenty-four musketeers and fifteen horsemen, who very stoutly +defended the house as long as their powder lasted. The horsemen, when they +saw themselves beset so as they could no longer be serviceable to the +place, opened the gates, issued out and made their passage through the +midst of the rebels, and so, notwithstanding the opposition they made, +escaped safe to Drogheda. The foot having refused to accept of the quarter +at the first offered, resolved to make good the place to the last man; +they endured several assaults, slew one hundred-and-forty of the rebels, +before their powder failed them; and at last they gave up the place upon +promise of quarter, which was not kept, for some of them were killed in +cold blood, all were stripped, and two old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> decrepid men slain, the house +ransacked and all the goods carried away.”</p> + +<p>The above is from Sir John Temple’s <i>History of the Irish Rebellion</i>, and +it has been quoted by Catholics and Protestants alike when alluding to +Mellifont; they each add, however, a little spice to suit the palates of +their respective readers. Of this attack on Mellifont we have no less than +four versions, two of which deserve but little credence, viz., that +already given, and that of Dean Bernard. The account given by the latter +is fuller, and enters more minutely into detail, so that some particulars +tax the capacity of the most credulous; as, for instance, when he tells us +that twenty-four musketeers killed one hundred-and-forty rebels though +they had only “six shots” of powder, “some only four,” and that they +rammed in six bullets together, and how each shot killed several. Verily, +every bullet had its billet there! That be sharp practice without doubt! +He also tells, how the loss on the part of the garrison was thirteen +killed, “whom a <i>Friar was so forward for deed of charity as to procure +them burial in the church adjoining</i>.” Thank goodness, he has the grace to +credit even a Friar with some remnant of humanity! He does not say that +the rebels stripped all. They could not have done so; for eleven escaped +to Drogheda. These godless Papists capped their iniquity in this holy +man’s estimation when they “threw a fair church Bible into the mill-pond.” +The last charge on the sheet is—“Their best language to them all was +‘English dogs,’ ‘rogues,’ etc.”</p> + +<p>Before producing the other two versions, let us examine the characters of +both these witnesses as drawn by Protestant writers. Sir John Temple wrote +his History in 1656, from the “Depositions” preserved then in Dublin +Castle, but which are now in Trinity College. These <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>“Depositions” +comprise the list of murders, burnings, etc., said to have been +perpetrated by the Irish on the English Protestants during the war, and +fill thirty-two volumes. He was some time Privy Councillor, but was +removed by Ormonde, and Carte tells how “two traitorous and scandalous +letters against his Majesty written by Temple were read in Committee.” And +Dr. Nalson, another Protestant writer, accuses him of having been in +league with the Parliamentarians, whom Ormonde describes as those who +became the “murderers of his (the King’s) royal person, the usurpers of +his rights, and destroyers of the Irish nation; by whom the nobility and +gentry of it were massacred at home, and led into slavery, or driven into +beggary abroad.” In 1674, Temple protested that the work was published +without his knowledge, as appears from <i>State Papers</i>, Dublin edition, p. +2.</p> + +<p>Dean Bernard was Primate Ussher’s chaplain, and like his master, was a +Puritan. During the siege of Drogheda he watched over the Primate’s +library lest the rebels should attack the magnificent palace which <i>had +been built with the fines from the recusants</i>. He was afterwards +Cromwell’s chaplain and almoner, in either of which capacities, it would +be quite unreasonable to expect justice to the Irish from him.</p> + +<p>As to the “Depositions” themselves, they are summarily dealt with by the +Rev. Dr. Warner, another English Protestant historian of that Rebellion. +“There is no credit to be given to anything that was said by these +Deponents which had not others’ evidence to confirm it.” And again, the +same Dr. Warner, who went through the drudgery of perusing and examining +these “Depositions,” says: “As a great stress has been laid upon this +collection in print and conversation, and as the whole evidence of the +massacres turns upon it, I spent a great deal of my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> time examining the +books; and I am sorry to say, that they have been made the foundation of +much more clamour and resentment than can be warranted by truth and +reason.” It was in them that Temple found the story of the ghosts of the +murdered Protestants, in the River Bann, at the Bridge of Portadown, +shrieking for revenge, and one in particular, who was seen there from the +29th December to the end of the following Lent!!! He sets down the number +of English and Protestants who were “murdered in cold blood, destroyed +some other way, or expelled out of their habitations in two years by the +Irish, as exceeding 300,000,” though, according to Petty, there were not +at the outbreak of the Rebellion 20,000 English Protestants in Ulster, +where nearly all the murders were said to have been committed. Dr. Warner +also tells how he saw in the Council books at Dublin, the letter which the +Commissioners of the Irish Parliament wrote to the English Parliament, +urging them to show no mercy to the Irish, but rather, to revenge the +murders and massacres committed by them. They tell them, “that besides +eight hundred-and-forty-eight families, there were killed, hanged, burned, +and drowned, six thousand and sixty-two.” Dr. Warner considers 2,000 about +the correct number. A prodigious number to be sure, but how far less than +Temple’s 300,000. Warner says, finally, at p. 296 of his work so often +cited: “It is easy enough to demonstrate the falsehood of every Protestant +historian of this Rebellion.”</p> + +<p>The Rev. Mr. Carte, an English Protestant clergyman, who wrote the +celebrated Life of the Duke of Ormonde, tears all Temple’s assertions in +pieces, and demonstrates from indubitable authority the falsehoods of his +statements. Writing of these “Depositions” he says, at Vol. II., p. 263: +“Anyone who has ever read the examinations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> and depositions which were +generally given on hearsay, and contradicting one another, must think it +very hard upon the Irish, to have all those without distinction to be +admitted as evidence.” And in the Preface to the collection of Letters +affixed to the Life he alludes to the “uncertain, false, mistaken, and +contradictory accounts, which have been given of the Irish Rebellion, by +parties influenced by selfish views and party animosities, or unfurnished +with proper and authentic materials and memoirs.”</p> + +<p>It is obvious from the first pages of Temple’s History what the scope of +the work is. It is a gross libel on the whole Irish nation from the +earliest times. In one page, he twice applies to them the epithet of a +beastly race, and, no doubt, worthy to be rooted out, to make room for +Royalists of his type, who worshipped the rising sun.</p> + +<p>Carte, in his Life of Ormond, Vol. II., p. 135, gives an account of the +attack on Mellifont as follows:—“This detached body of the northern +rebels appeared on November 21st in sight of the town of Drogheda, within +four miles of it, presuming (as was imagined) upon some party within the +place. Sir H. Tichburne, Governor of Drogheda, had the week before sent a +party of fifteen horse and twenty-two foot to Mellifont (formerly an Abbey +of Bernardine monks, founded by Donagh O’Carroll, prince of Ergall, about +<span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1142, but then an house of the Lord Viscount Moore’s, three miles +from town), as well as to secure that place from the incursions of roving +parties, as to keep abroad continual sentinels and scouts, that might +inform him of the rebels’ motions. His orders were not well observed, nor +his party so vigilant as they ought to have been; for on the 21st, the +rebels on a sudden encompassed the house, and (after the soldiers’ powder +was spent) took it with a loss of some one hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> and twenty of their +own number (among which were Owen M’Mahon and another captain), and eleven +of the soldiers, with most of the arms. As the Irish were breaking into +the house on all sides, the troopers causing the great gate to be opened, +sallied out, and opening themselves a way through the body of the rebels, +got safe with the rest of the foot soldiers sore wounded to Drogheda.” +This may be accepted as a true, unvarnished account of this much magnified +attack; especially as Tichburne himself, who cannot be accused of +partiality towards the Irish, and who was Governor of Drogheda at the time +of its occurrence, seems to have been Carte’s authority for it, as appears +from a reference to a letter written by Tichburne to Ormond, but not given +in the collection of Letters mentioned above. There is no question here of +quarter given, or of faith broken; no cold-blooded murders, no gruesome +picture of gory corpses unburied, nor of fiendish glee on the part of +rebels dancing round their watch-fires in presence of their stark and +naked victims strewn around!!! Pity such absurdity should be believed or +repeated in our time, when it should have been relegated to the same +lumber-heap as the story of the ghosts of the Bann!</p> + +<p>We have yet another account from a paper or Report published in London by +two parties who only give their initials, T. A. and P. G. It was “printed +by Edward Blackmore, at the Angel, in Paul’s Churchyard, in 1642,” and is +now to be found in the <i>Contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland</i>, so +ably edited by Sir John Gilbert, at Vol. I., Part II., p. 420. There is a +discrepancy in the dates, but that is immaterial, as only one attack is +said to have been made. It tells us, “That on the same day (April 30), +three or four hundred rebels came before Mellifont, three or four miles +from Drogheda, where Lord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> Moore had left on Tuesday before a garrison of +four-score foot and about thirty horse; the rebels plaid hotly upon them +until the horse were ready within; but as soon as the horse were ready, +they, with the foot, sallied out, and killed about thirty of the rebels.” +This cannot be far from the truth, as it seems to be free from the +exaggerations in which Tichburne dealt, when recounting the numerical +strength of his and the enemy’s forces, ascribing to the latter +poltroonery and cowardice in action, and crediting them with excessively +heavy losses.</p> + +<p>The predisposing cause, why the Ulster Irish were ready for rebellion was +the misery the native inhabitants endured since the Plantation of the six +forfeited counties, some thirty odd years before. Even the remnants of the +estates allowed them by the Crown were filched from them by the greed and +cunning of unscrupulous Commissioners, who enriched themselves on the ruin +of the Irish. Prendergast (<i>Cromwellian Settlement</i>, pp. 49-50,) thus +describes the condition of the old Irish nobility and gentry +then:—“Little they (the Planters, who got the forfeited estates) thought +or cared how the ancient owner, dispossessed of his lands, must grieve as +he turned from the sight of the prosperous stranger to his pining family; +daughters, without prospect of preferment in marriage; sons, without fit +companions, walking up and down the country with their horses and +greyhounds, coshering on the Irish, drinking and gaming and ready for any +rebellion; most of his high-born friends wandering in poverty in France +and Spain, or enlisted in their armies.” The immediate cause of the +Rebellion is thus stated:—“A letter was intercepted coming from Scotland +to one Freeman of Antrim giving an account that a Covenanting army was +ready to come to Ireland under General Lesly, to extirpate the Roman +Catholics of Ulster, and leave the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> Scots in possession of that province; +that resolutions to that effect had been taken at their private meetings, +as well as to levy heavy fines on such as would not appear at their kirk +for the first and second Sunday, and on failure the third, to hang at +their own doors without mercy, such as remained obstinate” (Carte’s +<i>Ormond</i>, Vol. I., p. 160). This notion prevailed universally amongst the +rebels, and was chiefly insisted on by them as one of the principal +reasons of their taking up arms.</p> + +<p>The Rebellion broke out, then, on the 23rd October, 1641, and the actors +in it were a “tumultuous rabble” as Ormond called them, intent chiefly on +plundering and driving off the English settlers, yet before the end of the +month the principal towns of the North were in their hands. Leland, a +Protestant historian, writes:—“That in the beginning of the insurrection, +it was determined by them that the enterprise should be conducted in every +quarter, with as little bloodshed as possible” (<i>History of Ireland</i>, Vol. +III., p. 101). At p. 131, the same historian writes:—“The Lords Justices +might have stamped out the insurrection at once had Ormond’s advice to +levy a large number of troops been attended to; for the Irish were then +formidable only in numbers, and not six hundred of them had proper arms. +But their purpose was rather to fan it, in order to gratify their personal +greed by extensive forfeitures.” Warner, who has been so often quoted +before, writes at p. 176 of his History:—“It is evident from the Lords +Justices’ letter to the Lord Lieutenant that they hoped for an +extermination, not of the mere Irish only, but of all the old English +families who were Roman Catholics.” They issued a most truculent order to +Ormond “to burn, kill, spoil, waste, destroy, the rebels, their relatives, +houses and property.” One of these Lords Justices is thus referred to by +Carte:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> “He was a man of mean extract, scarcely able to read and write ... +plodding, assiduous, and indefatigable, greedy of gain, and eager to raise +a fortune; which it is not difficult for a man of indifferent parts to do, +when he is not hampered with scruples about the ways of getting it” +(<i>Ormond</i>, Vol. I., p. 190). This same Lord Justice, with three members of +the Privy Council, was put under arrest for disobedience to his Majesty, +King Charles, and for complicity with his enemies, the Parliamentarians of +England. The Lord Justice was deposed and imprisoned, but he retained his +ill-gotten property.</p> + +<p>As has been said, the rebels became masters of the principal towns in the +North without meeting any check, when they attacked Mellifont. Lord Moore +was then in Drogheda with Sir Henry Tichburne, the Governor, with whose +policy and methods he, both before and afterwards, identified himself; +and, as an active agent of the Lords Justices, he was specially odious to +the Irish. During the siege of Drogheda, he more than once, by his +alertness and personal bravery, saved the town from falling into the hands +of the besiegers. With the exception of Lord Moore and a few of the older +families, both the Lords Justices themselves (who governed the country in +the absence of the Lord Lieutenant), and their ruthless instruments were +men of no fortune; or, were such as became enriched by the plunder of the +Irish. Tichburne, in a letter to his lady, alludes to one of the +commissions entrusted to him for execution, in which fiendish work Lord +Moore was associated with him. After his return from the burning of +Dundalk,<a name='fna_9' id='fna_9' href='#f_9'><small>[9]</small></a> which he left a smouldering heap of ruins, he describes the +results:—“There was neither man nor beast to be found in sixteen miles,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +between the two towns of Drogheda and Dundalk; nor on the other side of +Dundalk, in the County of Monaghan, nearer than Carrickmacross, a strong +pile twelve miles distant” (Tichburne’s <i>Siege of Drogheda</i>, p. 320). And +in the same page he says, all this magnificent ruin and desolation were +inflicted on the peasantry “without one penny of charge to the State, and +that for the space of seven months, all under his command subsisted on the +spoils” taken from the unfortunate people in that district. “The country +and fields about Dundalk,” he says, “were abounding in corn, which I +allocated to the several companies, etc.” The ghosts of the Bann must have +been glutted with vengeance!!!</p> + +<p>And now Lord Moore’s career is drawing to a close. After having been +engaged in many successful skirmishes, raids, and minor actions, he burned +with a desire for the honour of measuring swords with the great Owen Roe, +who had defeated all the forces hitherto sent against him, and, according +to O’Neil’s Diary, he affected to despise O’Neil. He was therefore +dispatched with a body of troops to dislodge that consummate strategist +from a position occupied by him at Portlester Mill, within five miles of +Trim. Borlase tells us that Lord Moore was killed in that engagement, +August 7th, 1643, “through the grazing of a cannon bullet which he +foresaw, yet took not warning enough to evade.” The Author of the +<i>Aphorismical Discovery</i>, who is commonly supposed to have been O’Neil’s +secretary, gives another account of his death. It is right to mention that +this author was by no means a monk, nor was he a clergyman at all, as is +evident from his apology in the Introduction, where he tells the reader +that he was by profession a “sworde carrier,” and that it was “alienat” to +that profession to aspire to literary avocations. “The General” (O’Neil), +he writes, “not well pleased with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> gunner, for he perceaved he shooted +too high, and did little hurte, the peace was charged, the Generall tooke +a perspective glasse, and saw wheare my Lord Moore stoode. It being +charged, the Generall did levell the same against Moore, gave fire, his +aime was soe neare home, that he hitted him a little above his corpise, +wherupon all dismembred, presently fell dead, the trunke of his bodie +fallinge downe, and some of his members whisling in the aire to take +possession by flight in some other field, or make such speede to accompany +his soul to hell to be assured for winter quarter next springe.”</p> + +<p>Lord Moore was succeeded by his son Henry, who, when Governor of Dundalk, +in 1645, was more than suspected of plotting with the Parliamentarians to +deliver up that town to Monroe. He was relieved of his charge by Ormond, +who was then Lord Lieutenant, and being a minor, was sent by him to +England (out of harm’s way), to the Court, where he was kindly received by +the King, who ordered livery to be granted him of his father’s lands +(<i>Carte</i>, Vol. IV., p. 154.) Lady Alice, his mother, was, it appears, +inveigled into a plot at the same time to deliver up Drogheda to the +Scots; for a wax impression of the keys of the gates having been given +her, she caused the gunsmith of the troop, which Lord Henry commanded, to +make false keys; but, being discovered, her ladyship, with others, was +sent to Dublin. There, on examination before the Council, they confessed +all. (<i>Ibid.</i>) Her Ladyship’s end was a tragic one, as we read in Lodge’s +<i>Peerage</i>. “Lady Alice, younger daughter of Sir Adam Loftus, Viscount +Elye, who broke her leg near the fort (Drogheda) by a fall from her horse +(occasioned by a sudden grief arising from the first sight of St. Peter’s +Church, Drogheda, where her dear lord lay buried), on Wednesday, 10th +June, 1649, and dying the 13th of a gangrene, was that night buried by him +in the family tomb.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>There is another entry at the same place in Lodge. “Lieutenant-Colonel +Francis Moore, sixth son of the first Viscount Mellifont, and brother to +Lord Charles who was killed at Portlester Mill, who was an officer in the +army for the reduction of Ireland, and in 1654, had a pension from the +then Government of 10/- a week, and five of his brother Charles’ children +had £3 17s. a week in 1665, out of the district of Trim” (Lodge’s <i>Peerage +of Ireland</i>, Vol. II., pp. 99-100). This Francis Moore had been an officer +in the King’s army, but soon after the arrival in Ireland of Jones, the +Parliamentarian General, he went over to him and took the Dundalk troops +with him. It was from Cromwell’s government he had his pension, but the +pensions granted to Lord Charles’ children were continued to them after +the Restoration, and Lord Henry mentioned above, was created Earl of +Drogheda, in 1661,—thus confirming the historic truism, that the +ungrateful Stuarts heaped favours on their enemies and treated their best +and most devoted adherents with cold indifference. As an illustration of +this we have the instance of one of the chief actors in those troublesome +times, Sir John Clotworthy, changing sides three times:—first, fighting +in the King’s name and commission against the Ulster Irish; next, siding +with the Parliamentarians, his Majesty’s deadliest enemies, and going over +to England as the spokesman of a deputation sent to the Parliament of +England to protest against the return of King Charles II., on rumour of +peace and terms being negotiated between them; again, on King Charles’ +arrival in England, hieing over to tender his homages and +congratulations—and lo! the reward of his fidelity and loyalty (?)—he +was created Viscount Massereene. It is only one instance of several +hundreds that may be cited. The unfortunate rebels whose banner bore the +legend, “<i>Vivat Carolus Rex</i>”—“Long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +live King Charles,” and who remained faithful to him to the last, were, by an irony of fate, robbed and +banished by the Cromwellians, who were put in possession of their estates +and confirmed in them by Charles II.!!!</p> + +<p>In the foregoing pages, the authorities quoted are Protestants, and all, +without exception, hostile to the Irish. Their testimony, nevertheless, is +favourable to the rebels, save where the question of religion crops up, +then their prejudice blinds their judgment, and hurries them into most +glaring absurdities. One more fact about that saddest page of our history. +Before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1641, there were 1,200,000 Irish +Catholics in the country; at its close in 1652, the number had fallen to +700,000, and these were ordered under pain of death to transplant to +Connaught—the remnant of a broken and plundered race!!!</p> + +<p>Henry, the first Earl of Drogheda, did not long enjoy his honours; nor did +his son and successor, Charles, who was succeeded by his brother Henry, +the third Earl, who, on the eve of the ever-memorable Battle of the Boyne, +entertained a party, amongst whom was one of King William’s highest +officers. On the morrow, July the 1st, the booming of King William’s fifty +pieces of “dread artillery” echoed along the hills and the valley of the +Boyne, and shook the old abbey walls to their very foundations; and on +that night, the oaken rafters of Mellifont rang to the cheers and toasts +of the “glorious, pious, and immortal memory” of the Prince of Orange, on +whose side Earl Henry commanded that day a regiment of foot. It may be +interesting to mention here, that on the morning of the battle, the Irish +Catholic soldiers wore scraps of white paper on their caps—emblematic of +the livery of France; the followers of the Prince of Orange wore green +boughs torn off the trees.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>Charles, Lord Moore, son of Henry, the third Earl, married Jane, heiress +of Arthur, Viscount Ely, who received as her portion the suppressed Abbey +of Monasterevan, a Cistercian monastery founded by O’Dempsey, in the 12th +century. It was called Rosglas by the Irish, and the Valley of Roses, in +the list of monasteries of the Order in Ireland. When it came into Earl +Charles’ possession, he changed the name to Moore Abbey, and made it his +residence. The sons of this Lord Charles, Henry and Edward, became earls +successively, and Edward, the fifth earl, having settled down permanently +at Monasterevan, sold Mellifont and some of the property in its immediate +vicinity to Mr. Balfour of Townley Hall, in 1727.</p> + +<p>The condition of Ireland at that time was truly deplorable. The Penal Laws +were in full force against the unfortunate Catholics, who were reduced to +a state little better than slavery. Dr. Johnson wrote of them some fifty +years later:—“The Irish are in a most unnatural state; for we see there +the minority prevailing over the majority. There is no such instance, even +in the ten persecutions, as that which the Protestants of Ireland have +exercised against the Catholics. Did we tell them we conquered, it would +be above board; to punish them by confiscations and other penalties was +monstrous injustice” (Boswell, at 1773).</p> + +<p>With the Moore family departed also the very shadow of Mellifont’s +diminished greatness, and “time’s effacing finger” almost completely +obliterated what was once a gorgeous national monument, which stood out +clearly as a finger-post on the ways of time. Gradually the fabric fell +into decay, the owl hooted on the landing of the grand stair-case, and the +daw and martin flitted unmolested through the deserted halls. The gardens +and walks and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> bowers disappeared beneath a crop of tangled brushwood, the +product of neglect. Soon the roof fell in, the walls became seamed with +many rents and toppled over with a crash; then Mellifont, the “Honey +Fountain,” the Monasthir Mor, or Great Abbey, as it was called, the +foundation of saints and kings, the abode of the pious and the learned, +the house pre-eminently of prayer, the asylum of the poor and friendless, +became a shapeless accumulation of rubbish. True, a mill was erected about +100 years ago close to the site of the church, and, no doubt, it was told +to strangers who then visited the ruins by people who professed to know +all about monks, that it had more activity and exhibited more of the +bustle of life than when the silent, slumbering monks dwelt there. But a +mill in that hallowed spot was a huge incongruity and a wanton disregard +for all its honoured associations. In 1884, the few remaining ruins became +vested in the Board of Works, and the excavations which revealed the plan +of the church, as described in Chapter I., were carried out. It only +remains to be said that in Mr. Balfour of Townley Hall, the estimable +gentleman who now owns Mellifont and some of the property formerly +belonging to it, his tenants have found a liberal and generous benefactor, +who enjoys the merited esteem and respect of all who know him.</p> + +<p>As one ascends the hill over Mellifont, and, pausing on its summit, gazes +on the lovely scenery around him, particularly along the valley of the +Boyne, which Young called one of the completest pictures he had ever seen, +then glances at the quiet valley beneath him, and remembers what prominent +parts those who once trod that favoured spot played in our country’s +chequered history, his soul is filled with solemn thoughts too big for +utterance. There, came the firm and gentle, yet <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>dauntless, Malachy side +by side with Oriel’s proud Chief, and hand in hand, they knelt and prayed +and consecrated it to the living God for ever. Thereon, rose up the +magnificent temple on which neither cost nor labour was spared, that it +might be worthy of Him Who deigns to dwell in tabernacles made by man; and +generation succeeded generation of monks, who calmly dwelt in that +peaceful valley, which, by their skill and enterprise, they converted into +a garden of delights and a terrestrial paradise. The bishop and the king +found there a resting-place when life’s weary struggle was over, and their +end was sweetened by the cheering hopes of a glorious immortality. The +poor man and the homeless found there a welcome and a shelter, their wants +being liberally attended to; and the blessings of a free education and of +spiritual consolations were diffused on every side from that centre of +learning and piety. The knight and baron came, the belted man of war made +his home there, enjoyed his ephemeral honours, but he, too, is gone, +severing all connection with it both by name and title, leaving no trace +behind. The king and the knight have been brushed aside; and the old +chess-board, Mellifont, alone remains. Impressed with these reflections, +we take a glance beyond the grave, and there, we behold these actors pass +before the great, most just, and supreme Judge, to receive the requital of +their deeds, and to each is meted out reward or punishment according to +his deserts. We, too, the spectators, are hastening towards that same +goal; our future is indubitably in our own hands, according as we do or do +not now live up to our convictions, and the dictates of our consciences.</p> + +<p>And, now, we cannot help asking ourselves, what shall Mellifont’s future +be? At present it is a blank; but, shall the lamp of piety and learning be +rekindled, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> the light burst forth anew there as in the days of its +splendour? We know not; but we do know that, although God’s ways are +inscrutable, His wisdom and power are infinite. To Him be all glory for +ever and ever. Amen.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX_I" id="APPENDIX_I"></a>APPENDIX I.</h2> +<p class="title">LIST OF ABBOTS OF MELLIFONT.</p> + + +<p>Saint Christian O’Connarchy, Founder and first Abbot, Bishop of Lismore +and Legate of the Holy See, 1150.</p> + +<p>Blessed Malchus, brother of preceding.</p> + +<p>Charles O’Buacalla, 1177, made Bishop of Emly.</p> + +<p>Patrick, term of office not known.</p> + +<p>Maelisa, appointed Bishop of Clogher in 1194.</p> + +<p>Thomas, 1211.</p> + +<p>Carus, or Cormac O’Tarpa, elected Bishop of Achonry in 1219, resigned that +See in 1226, returned to Mellifont where he died.</p> + +<p>Mathew, 1289.</p> + +<p>Michael, 1293.</p> + +<p>William M’Buain.</p> + +<p>Hugh O’Hessain, resigned 1300.</p> + +<p>Thomas O’Henghan.</p> + +<p>Radulph, or Ralph O’Hedian.</p> + +<p>Nicholas of Lusk, 1325.</p> + +<p>Michael, 1333.</p> + +<p>Roger, 1346.</p> + +<p>Reginald, 1349.</p> + +<p>Hugh, 1357.</p> + +<p>Reginald Leynagh, died 15th August, 1368.</p> + +<p>John Terrour, 1370.</p> + +<p>[There is no record of the names of Abbots in this interval.]</p> + +<p>Roger, 1472.</p> + +<p>John Logan.</p> + +<p>Henry.</p> + +<p>John Warren.</p> + +<p>Roger Boly.</p> + +<p>John Troy, 1486-1500.</p> + +<p>Thomas Harvey, died 20th March, 1525.</p> + +<p>Richard Conter, the last regular Abbot, pensioned in 1540.</p> + +<p>As will be observed, the line of succession is incomplete between the +years 1370 and 1472; and it is impossible now to fill in the gaps. The +List is taken from Ware’s <i>Cœnobia Cisterciensia in Hibernia</i>, and +Dalton’s <i>History of Drogheda</i>.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX_II" id="APPENDIX_II"></a>APPENDIX II.</h2> +<p class="title">THE CHARTER OF NEWRY.</p> + + +<p class="note">Copied and translated from the Original in the British Museum, from a +copy given by John O’Donovan in <i>Dublin Penny Journal</i>, 1832-33, p. 102.</p> + + +<p>Maurice M’Laughlin, King of all Ireland, to all his Kings, Princes, +Nobles, Leaders, Clergy and Laity, and to all and each the Irish present +and to come, GREETING.</p> + +<p>Know ye that I, by the unanimous will and common consent of the Nobles of +Ultonia, Ergallia (Oriel), and O’Neach (Iveagh), to wit of Donchad +O’Carroll, King of all Ergallia, and of Murchad his son, King of O’Meith, +and of the territory of Erthur, of Conla, King of Ultonia, of Donald +O’Heda, King of O’Neach (Iveagh), <span class="smcaplc">HAVE GRANTED AND CONFIRMED</span>, in honour of +the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Patrick, and St. Benedict, the Father and +Founder of the Cistercian Order, to the monks serving God in +Nyvorcintracta (Newry) as a perpetual and pure donation, the land of +O’Cormac, whereon was founded the monastery of Athcrathin, with its lands, +woods, and waters, Enancratha, with its lands, woods, and waters, +Crumglean, with its lands, woods, and waters, Caselanagan, with its lands, +woods, and waters, Lisinelle, with its lands, woods, and waters, Croa +Druimfornac, with its lands, woods, and waters, Letri, Corcrach, +Fidglassayn, Tirmorgannean, Connocol, etc. <span class="smcap">These Lands</span> with their <span class="smcap">Mills</span>, I +have confirmed to the aforesaid monks of my own proper gift, for the +health of my soul, that I may be partaker of all the benefits of masses, +<i>hours</i> (<i>i.e.</i> vespers and matins), and prayers that shall be offered in +the Monastery itself, and to the end of time.</p> + +<p>And because I have founded the Monastery of Ybar cintracta (Newry), of my +own free will, I have taken the monks so much under my protection, as sons +and domestics of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> faith, that they may be safe from the molestations +and incursions of all men.</p> + +<p>I will also that, as the Kings and Nobles of O’Neach (Iveagh), or of +Ergallia (Uriel), may wish to confer certain lands on this Monastery, for +the health of their souls, they may do so in my lifetime, while they have +my free will and licence, that I may know what and how much of my Earthly +Kingdom, the King of Heaven may possess for the use of His poor Monks.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><i>The Witnesses and Sureties are</i>:—</p> + +<p>Giolla MacLiag, Archbishop of Armagh, <i>holding the Staff of Jesus in his +hand</i>.</p> + +<p>Hugh O’Killedy, Bishop of Uriel (Clogher.)</p> + +<p>Muriac O’Coffay, Bishop of Tirone (Derry.)</p> + +<p>Melissa Mac in Clerig-cuir, Bishop of Ultonia (Down.)</p> + +<p>Gilla Comida O’Caran, Bishop of Tirconnell (Raphoe.)</p> + +<p>Eachmarcach O’Kane, King of Fearnacrinn and Kennacta (now Barony of +Keenaght, Co. Londonderry.)</p> + +<p>O’Carriedh, the Great; Chief of Clan Aengusa, and Clan Neil.</p> + +<p>Cumaige O’Flain, King of O’Turtray (Antrim.)</p> + +<p>Gilla Christ O’Dubhdara, King of Fermanagh.</p> + +<p>Eachmarcach O’Ffoifylain.</p> + +<p>Maelmocta MacO’Nelba.</p> + +<p>Aedh (Hugh) the Great Magennis, Chief of Clan-Aeda, in O’Neach Uladh +(Iveagh.)</p> + +<p>Dermot MacCartan, Chief of Kenelfagartay (Kinelearty.)</p> + +<p>Acholy MacConlacha, Gill-na-naemh O’Lowry, Chief of Kinel Temnean.</p> + +<p>Gilla Odar Ocasey, Abbot of Dundalethglass (Downpatrick.)</p> + +<p>Hugh Maglanha, Abbot of Inniscumscray (Iniscourcy.)</p> + +<p>Angen, Abbot of Dromoge, and many other Clerics and Laics.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX_III" id="APPENDIX_III"></a>APPENDIX III.</h2> +<p class="title">INVENTORY OF ESTATES OF MELLIFONT.</p> + + +<p>Richard Conter, the last Abbot of Mellifont, was, on the 23rd July, 1539, +seized of two messuages, 167 acres of arable land, 10 of pasture, 5 of +meadow, and 5 of pasture in Clut———, with a salmon weir; £13 13s. 4d. +annual rent, arising from 16 fishing corraghs at Oldbridge, together with +the tithe-corn of the same, all of the annual value, besides reprises, of +£27 18s. 8d.; also a messuage in Shephouse, with the tithe-corn thereof, +of the annual value, besides all reprises, of £4 17s. 8d.; three +messuages, 120 acres of arable land, 20 of meadow,—a fishery, and a boat +for salmon-fishing in Komalane, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of +the annual value, besides all reprises, of £15 3s.; 3 messuages, 2 +cottages, a water-mill,—a fishing-weir, 120 acres of arable land, 3 +closes, containing 6 acres of mountain in Schahinge, together with the +tithe-corn, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of £12 6s. 8d.; 2 +messuages,—20 acres of meadow and pasture in Donnore, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of 115/4; 2 +messuages, 8 cottages, 46 acres of arable land, and 2 of meadow in +Doo——, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of £5; 4 messuages, 18 cottages, 39 acres of arable +land, and 3 of meadow in Glassehalyine, together with the tithe-corn +thereof, of the annual value, besides all the reprises, of £5 18s. 8d.; +—— 124 acres of arable land, and 10 of meadow in Graungethe, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +£14 19s. 4d.; a messuage and cottage, 45 acres of arable land, and 15 of +meadow and pasture, in ——, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the +annual value, besides all reprises, of £3 8s. 4d.; 4 messuages, 9 +cottages, 64 acres of arable land, and 4 in meadow in Balranny, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value of ——, —— messuages, +with 19 acres<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> of arable land in Kordoraghe, together with the tithe-corn +thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of 16/-; 7 messuages, +10 cottages, 186 acres of arable land, 8 of meadow, and 40 of pasture and +brushwood in ——, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of £12 3s.; a messuage, two cottages, 120 acres of +arable land, a fishing-weir, called Bromey’s weir, and the fishery there, +a water-mill in ——, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of £16 5s.; 7 messuages, one cottage, 227 acres of +arable land, and 10 of meadow in Ballyfadocke, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ——; 4 +messuages, 20 acres of arable land, and 4 of meadow in Kinoyshe, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +£10 3s. 8d.; 4 messuages, 46 acres of arable land, and 4 of meadow in +Kellystone, with the tithe-corn thereof, besides all reprises, of the +annual value of £4 5s. 4d.; 2 messuages, 3 cottages, 60 acres of arable +land, 6 of pasture, and 4 of meadow in Oracamathane, together with the +tithe-crown thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ——; 4 +messuages, 8 cottages, 124 acres of arable land, a salmon-weir, called +Monktone, a water-mill in the town-land of Rosmore, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ——; 3 +messuages, 6 cottages, 126 acres of arable land, 6 of meadow, and 6 of +meadow in Gyltone, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual +value, besides all reprises, of £6 4s. 8d; 5 messuages, 8 cottages, 141 +acres of arable land, the fourth part of an acre of meadow, and 6 of +common pasture in Dromenhatt, otherwise, Newton of Knockamothane, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +£8 9s.; 6 messuages, 140 acres of arable land, 4½ of meadow —— in +Radrenage, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of £7 12s.; 3 messuages, 8 cottages, 120 acres of +arable land, 6 of meadow, 6 of pasture in Calm, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> value, besides all reprises, of £6 +17s.; 3 messuages, 60 acres of arable land, 60 of pasture, and 4 of meadow +in Starenaghe, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides +all reprises, of £5 5s. 8d.; the tithe-corn of the townland of +——inserathe and Balregane, near Donnore and below the parish of +Mellifont, of the annual value of £2; the tithe-corn of the town of +Monamore, of the annual value of £2 13s. 4d.; the rectory of Balrestore, +of the annual value of ——; and the chapels of Grangegeythe and +Knockamothane, parcel of the rectory of Mellifont, of the annual value of +—— all the said rectories being appropriated to the Abbot and his +successors, and, together with the said lands, etc., are lying and +situated in the Co. of Meath. The Abbot was also seized of a small house +in the town of Drogheda, in the tenure of Thomas Tanner, annual value +13/4, and also of another house in the tenure of Roger Samon, of the +annual value of 8/-, with 2/- rent from the Mayor and commonalty of +Drogheda.</p> + +<p>The above is from the <i>Monasticon Hibernicum</i>. It by no means contains a +full inventory of the possessions of Mellifont at the time of its +suppression, only the property belonging to it in the County Meath. In the +same <i>Monasticon</i> we read, “By an inquisition taken 14th June, 1612, the +possessions of this Abbey were found as follow:—The site, a water-mill, a +garden, an orchard, a park called Legan Park, the old orchard containing +two acres, the silver meadow 9 acres, the wood meadow 10 acres, and the +doves’ park; 80 acres of underwood; Killingwood, being great timber, +containing 12 acres; Ardagh, 20 acres, being the demesne lands, and the +grange and town of Tullyallen, containing 27 messuages and 260 acres; +Derveragh, 5 messuages and 213 acres; Mell, 2 messuages and 60 acres; +Ballymear, alias Ballyremerry, 2 messuages and 60 acres; Sheepgrange, no +tithe, 8 messuages and 245 acres; Little Grange, 4 messuages and 62 acres; +Beckrath, 2 messuages and 63 acres; Cubbage, 4 messuages and 103 acres; +Ballygatheran, no tithe, 6 messuages and 132 acres; Salthouse, 7 messuages +and 238 acres; Staleban, 11 messuages and 160<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> acres; Vinspocke, 6 +messuages and 90 acres; Morragh, no tithes, 11 messuages and 120 acres; +Ballypatrick, 8 messuages and 120 acres; in Collon, a water-mill and 23 +acres, £6 13s. 4d. annual rent out of the said town, and the tithes +thereof; Ballymacskanlan, a castle, no tithe, and 120 acres; Cruerath, +Ballyraganly and Donnore, in the parish of Mellifont, with the tithes and +altarages, all in this county” (Louth). Here follow the possessions +belonging to the Abbey in the County Meath, and which have been given.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">THE END.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><strong>Footnotes:</strong></p> + +<p><a name='f_1' id='f_1' href='#fna_1'>[1]</a> The “Tourist Company” have recently fitted up a compartment of the old +mill, where a cheap and substantial lunch can be had by visitors who may desire it.</p> + +<p><a name='f_2' id='f_2' href='#fna_2'>[2]</a> See Illustration, p. <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_3' id='f_3' href='#fna_3'>[3]</a> See Illustration, p. <a href="#Page_24">23</a>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_4' id='f_4' href='#fna_4'>[4]</a> See Illustration, p. <a href="#Page_36">35</a>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_5' id='f_5' href='#fna_5'>[5]</a> See Illustration, p. <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_6' id='f_6' href='#fna_6'>[6]</a> See Illustration, p. <a href="#Page_48">47</a>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_7' id='f_7' href='#fna_7'>[7]</a> The <i>Annals of Ulster</i> simply state “for the monks of Ireland did +banish him (Auliv) out of their abbacy, through lawful causes.” <i>The Four +Masters</i> tell us it was the monks of Drogheda who had expelled him from +the abbacy for his own crime. A writer in the <i>Dublin Penny Journal</i>, +1835-36, says this Auliv was Abbot of the monastery of St. Mary de Urso, +near the West Gate, Drogheda. He quotes some old Annals without +particularising them. And Dalton, in his History of Drogheda, tells us +that Auliv had been Abbot of that same Abbey of St. Mary’s, Drogheda, and +was expelled. Dalton evidently confounds this monastery with Mellifont. No +Cistercian Community had power to depose their abbot, such power being +vested in the General Chapter of the Order.</p> + +<p><a name='f_8' id='f_8' href='#fna_8'>[8]</a> It is not generally known that it was an Irishman who, on the fatal +day of Aughrim, as St. Ruth rode to victory waving his cap, pointed him +out to the gunner whose faithful shot deprived St. Ruth of his head and +the Irish Army of a valiant General.</p> + +<p><a name='f_9' id='f_9' href='#fna_9'>[9]</a> The Puritans admitted that Sir Phelim O’Neil did not commence his +alleged massacres until after the sacking and burning of Dundalk.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. 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Louth, by Anonymous + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth + Its Ruins and Associations, a Guide and Popular History + + +Author: Anonymous + + + +Release Date: February 27, 2012 [eBook #38999] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH*** + + +E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38999-h.htm or 38999-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38999/38999-h/38999-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38999/38999-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/mellifontabbeyco00dubl + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + The original text includes intentional blank spaces. This is + represented by ____ in this text version. + + + + + +[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW. _From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin._] + + +MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH: + +Its Ruins and Associations. +A Guide and Popular History. + + + "A house of prayer, once consecrate + To God's high service--desolate! + A ruin where once stood a shrine! + Bright with the Presence all divine!" + (_W. Chatterton Dix._) + + +Permissu Superiorum. + + + + + + + +Published by +James Duffy & Co., Ltd., Dublin, +for the Cistercians, +Mount St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea. +1897. + +Printed by +Edmund Burke & Co., +61 & 62 Great Strand Street, Dublin. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In the following pages an attempt is made to describe the ruins of +Mellifont as they now appear, and to explain the uses, or probable uses, +that the buildings yet remaining must have served when the monks dwelt +there. Obviously, some important structural alterations were made when +changing the venerable Abbey into a fortified residence; nevertheless the +ruins exhibit, on the whole, the characteristics of the primitive plan and +style in which Mellifont, as well as all the Cistercian monasteries both +in this country and on the Continent, were built. The explanation is +founded on reliable authority, being gleaned from most authentic sources, +such as, _Les Monuments Primitifs de La Regle Cistercienne_, which is a +copy of the Rule drawn up by the Founders of the Order; the _Monasticon +Cisterciense_; _Violet Le Duc_; _Jubainville, Etudes sur l'Etat interieur +des Abbayes Cisterciennes au XII. et au XIII. siecle_; _Meglinger, Iter +Cisterciense_; _La Vie de Saint Bernard_, by Vacandard, etc. + +As no Records, or Chronicles of Mellifont now exist, the historical part +of the compilation has been derived from different sources, chiefly from +our old Annals--_The Annals of the Four Masters_; those of _Boyle_, of +_St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin_; _Clyn and Dowling's_; and of _Clonmacnois_; +Ware's _Bishops_, etc.; _the Miscellany of the Archaeological Society_; +Ussher's _Sylloge_; Morrin's _Calendars of Patent Rolls_, etc. The part +relating to disciplinary subjects was drawn principally from Martene's +_Thesaurus Anecdotorum_, Vol. IV., which contains the Decrees of the +General Chapter of the Cistercian Order, also, from the _Constitutiones et +Privilegia, Menologium_, and the _Fasiculus Sanctorum Ordinis +Cisterciensis_, by Henriquez; _Originum Cisterciensium_, tom. I, +Janauschek; _l'Histoire de La Trappe_, Gaillardin, etc. The vindication of +monks in general, from the aspersions cast on them by their enemies, and +the facts appertaining to the Rebellion of 1641, are borrowed exclusively +from Protestant sources,--Dugdale's _Monasticon Anglicanum_, Tanner's +_Notitia Monastica_, Maitland's _Dark Ages_, Leland's _History of +Ireland_, Temple's _History of the Insurrection_, 1641, Tichborne's +_History of the Siege of Drogheda_, Carte's _Ormond_, etc. + +These by no means exhaust the list of authors consulted and utilised, but +they show how far apart the pieces lay which have been stitched together +to form a consecutive narrative. The compiler has endeavoured to compress +the matter into the smallest possible space in order to make the little +book accessible to all at a moderate price; and he has preferred to allow +others to speak rather than to thrust his own opinions on the reader. +Finally, he has borne in mind throughout, the trite saying, _Magna est +Veritas et praevalebit_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + + THE RUINS 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + + ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT 33 + + + CHAPTER III. + + AN EPITOME OF THE RULE OBSERVED AT MELLIFONT AT ITS + FOUNDATION, AND FOR ABOUT A CENTURY AND A HALF + AFTERWARDS 41 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + MELLIFONT TAKES ROOT AND FOUNDS NEW HOUSES OF THE + ORDER 50 + + + CHAPTER V. + + MELLIFONT CONTINUES TO FLOURISH UNDER SUCCESSIVE + EMINENT SUPERIORS 58 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + MELLIFONT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES 67 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE SUPPRESSION OF MELLIFONT 85 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + MELLIFONT BECOMES THE HOME OF A NOBLE FAMILY--IS + SOLD, AND IS DELIVERED UP TO RUIN AND DECAY 101 + + + APPENDIX. + + I.--LIST OF ABBOTS OF MELLIFONT 128 + + II.--CHARTER OF NEWRY 129 + + III.--INVENTORY OF ESTATES OF MELLIFONT 131 + + + + +List of Illustrations. + + + GENERAL VIEW OF MELLIFONT _Frontispiece_ + + PLAN OF CLAIRVAUX _At_ p. 4 + + PLAN OF MELLIFONT ABBEY 5 + + GATEWAY (PORTER'S LODGE) 15 + + NORTH WINDOW OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 19 + + DOORWAY OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 23 + + INTERIOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 35 + + INTERIOR OF LAVABO (OCTAGON) 43 + + ARCH OF LAVABO (OCTAGON) 47 + + SOUTH WALL OF LECTORIUM 63 + + + + +MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH: + +Its Ruins and Associations. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE RUINS. + + "Look, stranger; where these stones in ruin lie. + Here in the old, grey times a holy thing + Rose up--a cloistered pile; but time swept by + And smote the sanctuary with his reckless wing." + (_From the Swedish, by J. E. D. Bethune._) + + +Of the many historic ruins which dot our country and attest its former +greatness, few attract so much attention, and invite so close a study as +our monastic remains, pre-eminent amongst which are those of the ancient +historic Abbey of Mellifont. In countless pages of our Annals the name +appears. In the records of sieges, battles and insurrections, from the day +on which a colony of St. Bernard's monks from world-famed Clairvaux, came +and settled in its tranquil valley, till having passed through many +vicissitudes, as an abode of piety and wide-spread beneficence, it became +a baronial residence, and finally lost its prestige as the site of a mill, +whose remains contrast incongruously with those of such a precious +memorial. + +And what was Mellifont? It was the first house of the Cistercian Order in +Ireland; founded, endowed and enriched by native princes and saintly +prelates; the mother of saints and scholars; and at one time, the +admiration of our land, as a gem of rare architectural beauty. + +Before going back to the shadowy past, let us endeavour to trace amongst +its ruins the outlines of the ancient buildings, and to explain the +special use and meaning of each in the monastic economy, when white-robed +monks trod its cloisters, and knelt and prayed before the altars in its +church. Each of the Cistercian churches and monasteries was built upon a +uniform plan, with some slight modifications, arising perhaps in all +instances from peculiarities of site and local difficulties. Around the +whole pile of monastic buildings, and girdling an area of some thirty +acres or more, comprising gardens, orchards, meadows, ran a high wall, +called the "Enclosure Wall," which served to isolate the denizens of the +cloister, and prevent as far as possible all ingress of the world. +Entrance within the precincts of the monastery was obtained through a +spacious and lofty gate-house occupied by a trusty Lay-Brother, whose duty +it was to receive visitors, and dispense hospitality to the poor and the +way-farer; thus he formed a connecting link between his brethren within +and the world without, from which they were cut off. Extending on either +side of this gate-house, or "Porter's Lodge," as it was known in monastic +language, was a range of buildings for the exclusive use of strangers of +every grade. There were the Hospice proper, an infirmary for the sick +poor, with stabling also, in the immediate vicinity, for the horses of +travellers:-- + + "Whoever passed, be it baron or squire, + Was free to call at the abbey and stay; + No guerdon or gift for his lodging pay, + Though he tarried a week with its holy choir." + +The old tower which is passed as one approaches the ruins of Mellifont, +was the "Porter's Lodge," and right under it ran the avenue which led to +the abbey, but which was converted into a mill-race when Mellifont had +reached its last stage of degradation. The present road-way was +constructed in order to give access to the mill. The remains of old walls +can still be traced stretching on both sides of the tower, and prove its +ancient purpose in connection with Cistercian usage, as described above. +Some gate-houses of Continental monasteries, which have till now subsisted +intact from the eleventh or twelfth century, bear a striking resemblance +to this one at Mellifont. That of Aiguebelle, in particular, near Grignan, +in the Department of Drome, France, most closely resembles it. + +There can be no doubt that a pile of buildings once occupied and enclosed +the whole space from the old gateway to the church, forming a rectangle, +of which the church was the fourth side. The precise purposes these +buildings served at Mellifont can now be only conjectured; for, in +different monasteries, local wants determined in a great measure the +allocation of this site to uses which varied with the circumstances of +each community. That is not, however, to be understood of what are called +the "Regular Places;" for these were held to be indispensable, and +occupied almost the same position in every monastery. The intervening +space here between the gate-house and the church is now covered over with +the debris of ancient buildings, which local tradition says once occupied +the side of the hill on which, and about where, a few modern cottages now +stand. + +Approaching nearer to the ruins, a modern mill obtrudes itself upon the +scene, and one cannot help wishing it transported beyond the plane of his +observation.[1] + +[Illustration: PLAN OF CLAIRVAUX BY DOMMILLEY 1708 + + 1. Entrance. + 2. Abbot's House. + 3. Guest House. + 4. Stables. + 5. Church. + 6. Sacristy. + 7. Cell for Books (Common Box). + 8. Stairs leading to Dormitory. + 9. The Chapter-House. + 10. Parlour. + 11. Former Novitiate. + 12. Cloisters. + 13. Stairs to Dormitory. + 14. Calefactory. + 15. Refectory. + 16. Kitchen. + 17. Lavabo (Octagon). + 18. Cemetery. + 19. St. Bernard's Cell. + 20. The Prior's Chambers. + 21. Chapel of the Counts of Flanders. + 22. Scriptoria. + 23. Lesser Cloister. + 24. Hall for Theses. + 25. Theological School. + 26. Infirmary. + 27. Common Room of the Infirm. + 28. Novitiate. + 29. Abbots' Council Chamber. + 30. Garden.] + +[Illustration: MELLIFONT ABBEY GROUND PLAN] + +Arrived at what is now the entrance gate, the visitor beholds in front of +him the four remaining sides of what was once an octagonal building, and +somewhat nearer on his left, a small roofless edifice. These are commonly, +but erroneously, called the "Baptistery" and "St. Bernard's Chapel." Their +true purposes shall be explained further on. Immediately at his feet now, +extend the sites of the church, and of the once magnificent cloisters. Of +these latter not a trace remains, except a mere outline on the green +sward, and a few squares of concrete to indicate the position once +occupied by them. The plan of the church extends to right and left: the +western portion of the nave running towards the river (see Plan), and the +entire length is dotted at intervals with blocks which mark the sites of +the piers. These concrete blocks were laid by order of Sir Thomas Deane, +under whose direction the excavations were made here some few years ago. +The length of the nave cannot now be ascertained with certainty, but +judging from the position occupied by some very old walls at the +south-western side, it may be roughly stated to have been 120 feet; while +54 feet 6 inches was the width of the whole church, including the aisles. +These latter were each 10 feet wide. The nave had seven bays, and like all +Cistercian churches, it was divided into two parts by the Rood-loft and +Choir-screen, which stood about midway. This Rood-loft served a twofold +purpose; on it was a lectern, where the Lessons of the night-offices were +read by the monks in rotation, and thereon the Abbot announced the Gospel +proper to each festival, chanting or reading it, according as the office +was sung or merely recited, after which, with crosier in hand, he gave his +solemn benediction. It answered, too, as a partition between the choir of +the monks and the stalls of the Lay Brethren; the former on the +eastern, the latter on the western side of it. This Choir-screen formed a +sort of reredos to the two altars, which were invariably found in this +position in the churches of the Order. On these altars were offered up +daily Masses for living and deceased benefactors--a practice which +continues in the Order and which dates back to the foundation of the +Cistercian Institute. Further west was a tribune or gallery, where guests +and the dependants of the monastery assisted at Divine Service, Office and +Mass. Inside the Rood-loft, was the Choir proper, which extended thence to +the Chancel, or "Presbytery Step," as it is called in monastic parlance. A +small space was provided between the Choir and the Chancel, in order to +allow a passage to those who proceeded from the Sacristy to the High Altar +within the Chancel. Two rows of stalls ran down on each side the length of +the nave. These stalls were generally of carved oak, and were artistically +finished. The outer rows were for the novices, and the backs of their +stalls formed the desks used by the professed monks, whereon they rested +the ponderous tomes containing the sacred psalmody. During the High Mass +the stalls next the Chancel were used, and the place of honour, that is, +the first stall on the Epistle, or south side, was given to the Abbot. The +Prior, as second superior, occupied the first on the opposite, or Gospel +side. The other monks according to seniority occupied the stalls on either +side. On the other hand, at Matins and at all the offices, except that in +connection with High Mass, the Abbot's and Prior's stalls were farthest +from the Chancel, and next the Rood-loft, and the order of the monks was +reversed. In token of his jurisdiction the Abbot's crosier was fixed at +his stall. The Cistercian monks call this Rood-loft the "_Jube_," from the +first word spoken by the reader when he asks the blessing before +commencing the Lessons. The whole nave here at Mellifont seems to have +been paved with beautiful tiles; a few of which may yet be seen in their +position near the great pier on the north side. At the intersection of the +transept with the nave, is the space called the "Crossing," or "Lantern." +Over this rose the bell-tower, which was supported on solid piers, from +two of which sprang the Chancel arch, and from the two others, that of the +nave. These piers were formed of clustered columns, but their remains +(about five feet high), vary both in dimensions and in style, manifesting, +thereby, the partial renovation that took place from time to time. The +material of which the whole building was constructed is a buff-coloured +sandstone not found in the vicinity of Mellifont, but brought, it is said, +from Kells, some twenty miles away; a thing not very difficult, seeing +that the river is so convenient. Some, again, are of opinion that the +stone was brought from Normandy; which seems to be improbable. + +The total length of the transepts is 116 feet; the width 54 feet. The +northern one is some four feet longer than the southern. They seem to have +had aisles, an unusual arrangement in churches of the Order. In the +northern transept were six chapels, the piscinas of which are still to be +seen in the piers adjoining. The number of these piscinas cannot fail to +strike one as something very singular. Their presence is accounted for in +this way. At the date of the foundation of Mellifont and for centuries +later, it was the custom for priests of the Order to wash their hands at +the foot of the altar before commencing Mass, the server pouring water on +his hands, which he dried with a towel that had been previously laid on +the altar. The water used was then cast into the piscina. It was also the +custom with them, at that time, to descend from the altar when they had +consumed the Sacred Species out of the chalice and to wash their fingers +over the piscina. + +This northern transept seems to have been a favourite spot for interments; +for during the excavations numerous skulls were found there. At Clairvaux, +the corresponding site was strewn with the graves of bishops, who selected +it as the place wherein to rest after life's weary struggle. No record or +memorial of these survives, or of any of the dead interred at Mellifont, +to point out the occupant of a single grave. In the northern wall of this +transept is a beautiful door-way with jambs of clustered columns. Hard by, +the wall was pierced to make a loop-hole when Mellifont was transformed +into a fortress. On one side of the door-way are the remains of what must +once have been a superb chapel; on the opposite side are a few steps of a +spiral stair-case, formed in the thickness of the wall, which led up to +the tower, as is to be seen at Graignamanagh, Co. Kilkenny, and other +houses of the order in Ireland. The level of the floor here is some five +or six feet lower than the adjacent road-way which was raised by the +accumulated rubbish of former buildings that extended along the hill-side +where the cottages now stand. + +The southern transept may have had its six altars also. The aisle seems to +have been built up, and when the alterations which took place in the whole +fabric in the fifteenth century were made, a large portion of this +transept would appear to have been allocated to the uses of a sacristy. No +trace of a sacristy remains elsewhere, and this would be a very convenient +place to utilise as one. The remains of some walls lead us to suppose such +an arrangement probable. In Cistercian monasteries, a stair-case in this +transept near the cloister led thence to the dormitory, but no remains of +such a stairs have been discovered at Mellifont. When Sir Thomas Deane +had the earth and rubbish, or, as he calls it, the "grassy mound," +removed, he discovered the foundations of two semi-circular chapels in +each transept, in a line with the site occupied by the High, or principal +Altar. (See the dotted lines in the Ground Plan). Describing them, Sir +Thomas writes: "Within the circuit of the external walls are the +foundations of an earlier church which indicate four semicircular chapels, +and two square ones between. Of this church we have no distinct record, +but the bases of semi-detached pillars would indicate the date given for +the erection of Mellifont." These four semi-circular chapels in line with +the High Altar, formed an exact counterpart of the church of Clairvaux +which was erected in 1135, and which by St. Bernard's express wish, served +St. Malachy as the model for Mellifont. + +The chancel terminated in a square end, and was 42 feet deep by 26 feet +wide. It was raised about six inches over the floor of the nave, and a +slab of limestone extended the entire width with which the tiled pavement +was flush. Almost in the centre of the chancel, that is to say, nearly +midway between the two piers, are two sockets sunk in sandstone blocks. +What uses they served cannot be affirmed with certainty. However, it may +be conjectured that they served to receive the supports on which a violet +curtain was suspended during Lent, screening the "Sanctuary." This curtain +spanned the space from pier to pier. The custom is still preserved in the +Order. Here on this central spot, a lectern was placed, at which the +sub-deacon at Solemn Masses sang the Epistle. Here, too, the celebrant of +the Community Mass on Sundays blessed the water with which he sprinkled +the brethren, who presented themselves two by two before him. It was here, +also, that the Abbot blessed the candles, ashes, and palms, on +Candlemas-day, Ash Wednesday, and Palm Sunday respectively. This was +called the "Presbytery Step," and the whole space within the chancel, the +"Sanctuary." + +The basis on which the High Altar was built still remains. It is distant +some few feet from the eastern wall, in order to allow a passage for the +monks, who on Sundays and Festivals received Holy Communion at this altar, +after which they walked around it in single file, and passing on by the +Gospel, or northern corner, returned to their stalls in the nave. The +basis is ten feet long by three and one half feet wide. On the Epistle, or +southern side, are the piscina surrounded with a dog-tooth moulding, and +the remains of the sedilia or stalls, which were occupied by the +celebrant, deacon, and sub-deacon at High Mass. Under these sedilia a tomb +was discovered during the excavations. A skull and some bones, together +with a gold ring, were raised from their resting-place; the bones were +replaced and covered with the slab of concrete now seen at this spot, but +the ring was sold by a workman and could never be recovered. No +inscription or tradition identifies the occupant of the hallowed grave. +Could it have been that of the famous Dervorgilla? She was certainly +buried at Mellifont, but unfortunately, we do not know the spot where her +remains were laid when "life's fitful fever" was over; or it may have been +the resting-place of Thomas O'Connor, or of Luke Netterville, both, +successively, Archbishops of Armagh; for they, also, were buried at +Mellifont. + +On the opposite, or Gospel side, is an arched recess having an ornamental +moulding around it. This would seem to have been the Founder's tomb, or +rather, the remains of it. In the Cistercian Constitutions no special +place was allotted for the tombs of Founders, and only the indefinite +permission was given, that they, kings and queens, bishops and such like +exalted dignitaries, might be buried within the churches of the Order. A +general custom, however, prevailed in Ireland of appropriating to the +Founder's tomb a space in the northern wall of the chancel, and directly +at right angles with the High Altar. Others, besides Founders, were buried +on the north side in the chancel. Thus, in the Annals of St. Mary's Abbey, +Dublin, we are told that Felix O'Ruadan, who had been a great benefactor +to that house, was buried in the chancel of the abbey church, on the north +side. And Felix O'Dullany, the first Abbot of Jerpoint, and afterwards +Bishop of Ossory, was interred on the north side of the High Altar, at +Jerpoint. + +The door on this side of the chancel is a puzzle, as in no other church of +the Order is one found in this position. There is no evidence of a +building having adjoined with which this door communicated, so that its +use is unknown. Quite close to this door there is a shallow recess in the +wall, which may have been a provision for the Abbot's throne, when he +officiated pontifically, as that is the site usually occupied by it. Some +five or six feet high of the chancel walls is all that is left standing; +and, though not up to the window level, what remains of the cut stone and +water-tabling gives an idea of the beauty of the whole, and what a loss we +have sustained by its destruction. + +In the original church, that is, the one erected in St. Malachy's time, +there were ten altars we are told, but on the ground plan seven only are +shown. Two more at least were in front of the Rood-loft or _Jube_, and the +remaining one very probably was in one of the aisles. The church of +Mellifont was remarkable, not so much for its vast dimensions, as for its +architectural beauty; yet, in this it was surpassed by St. Mary's Abbey, +Dublin. Sir Thomas Deane writes: "From the fragments of the church which +remain, it is easy to trace the vicissitudes the building underwent. I +have great doubt that any portions of the structure above ground are those +of the earliest church erected on the site, or date as far back as 1157, +which is given as the year of its consecration.... The details of the +piers (the older ones) are in my opinion a century or more later in date. +They still indicate a foreign type, and the arrangements and obvious plan +show that the transepts as well as the nave had aisles.... Portions of the +piers discovered are of the fifteenth century, other parts of the church +of the fourteenth.... A second portion dates probably from 1260, another +from 1370, and another from 1460. I am not prepared to follow from the +history of the Abbey the causes of such restorations; but it is certain +that rebuildings of portions of the church occurred from time to time, and +that violence or decay was the cause." Neither to violence nor to decay +can the alterations be attributed, which the church underwent at the three +periods mentioned by Sir Thomas, but rather to the practice then common to +the whole Order, chiefly in the monasteries of Great Britain and Ireland, +of adopting the advancing changes in the Gothic style, and to the laudable +efforts of the monks to make the House of God worthy of Him as far as art +and skill could be made subservient to that purpose. Thus in the Annals of +Fountains and Furness, there are abundant proofs of this constant change +going on in those monasteries even down to the date of their suppression. +One Abbot considered the eastern window too low and narrow, and had it +enlarged; another thought the tower rested on too slender a basis, and he +built substantial piers and flanked them on the outside with buttresses, +and so with others. + +To better understand the surroundings, it will be necessary to bear in +mind the general plan on which all Cistercian monasteries were built. On +this subject there is a good deal of misapprehension, even on the part of +those who seem to have given close attention to the matter. The church and +buildings necessary for large communities were so arranged as to form a +square, thereby combining simplicity with economy. It is said that the +monks borrowed this idea from the form of a Roman villa. The church formed +the first or northern side (for in temperate and cold climates the other +buildings, as they lay to the south, were sheltered by the church.) The +sacristy, chapter-house, and other halls were on the east; the +calefactory, refectory, and kitchen on the south; and the _Domus +Conversorum_ completed the square on the west. Within this square were the +cloisters, always contiguous to the main buildings, and forming a +communication with all the parts of the monastery. They were a sort of +covered ambulatory, whose roof rested on the one side against the main +buildings, and on the other was supported by open ornamental arcades, +which, however, in these climates were glazed. The cloisters were often +vaulted in richly moulded stonework, and were fitted up with benches for +reading, chiefly on the side adjoining the church. The space or +quadrilateral area enclosed by them was called the Cloister-Garth, in the +centre of which a statue or handsome fountain stood. + +The cloisters were generally entered from the church by the south aisle, +at the point where it adjoins the transept; but here, at Mellifont, the +entrance was direct from the south transept itself. This a glance at the +ground-plan will show; though it may have been otherwise in the primitive +church; for, when it underwent alterations, the transepts were widened by +the addition of an aisle to each; and, the cloister being thus encroached +on, a change was necessary in it also. + +Adjoining the transept, and at right angles with the cloister, on the +left, was a narrow hall or cell which contained books, chiefly the Sacred +Scriptures, and the writings of the Fathers. This cell, which had no +window, was called the "Armarium Commune," or "Common Box;" for its +contents were common to all the monks. Its situation was convenient to the +reading-cloister, which lay along the south wall of the church. In this +cell the monks were provided with an abundant supply of good books, but +treatises on the Canon and Civil Laws were forbidden to be kept in it: the +Prior was charged with the custody of these. Behind this cell, and +communicating only with the church, the Sacristy was placed; but, as +before observed, there is no trace of one here. Some writers on monastic +ruins, confidently assure their readers that this cell was a prison, and +that it was called the "Lantern;" casting upon the monks all +responsibility for the name, and supposing them to have formed it on the +_lucus a non lucendo_ principle, seeing the cell was dark. The error was +all their own; for the Lantern, as has been already shown, was in the +tower over the crossing of the church; and the true use of this cell has +just been stated above. + +Here (at Mellifont), in close proximity to the transept, is the ruined +two-storied building we saw as we approached, and which, from its present +striking appearance, must have been one of the most beautiful within the +ancient abbey's precincts. This is commonly, but erroneously, known as +"St. Bernard's Chapel." Why it was reputed to have been a chapel, must be +from the close resemblance it bears to one. It was, in reality, the +Chapter-house. That it was, is quite evident to anyone who has studied the +plans of Cistercian monasteries: (_a_), from the position it occupies, and +(_b_), from the internal arrangement and decorations such as are found in +other like edifices of the Order in Ireland. A stone bench ran around the +inside of the building, and which, when covered with a rush mat, served as +a seat for the monks. In Graignamanagh Abbey, Co. Kilkenny, the ancient +Chapter-house still remains, closely resembling this one at Mellifont, +both in style and ornamentation, as well as in dimensions. The historic +Chapter-house of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, which was unearthed a few years +ago, exhibited in every detail a striking resemblance to this also. That +at Graignamanagh was remarkable for its beauty. At the entrance to it from +the cloister, was a magnificent arched door-way, containing within it +three smaller arches of blue marble, beautifully carved. A grand central +column, called by the inhabitants of the district, the "Marble Tree," +supported the roof. It stood eight feet high from base to capital, whence +the branches spread to meet the corresponding ribs on the groined roof. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY (PORTER'S LODGE.) See page 2. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +Sir William Wilde describes the Chapter-house at Mellifont, as he saw it +in 1850. He says: "It must have been one of the most elegant and highly +embellished structures of the Norman or Early English pointed style in +Ireland." He calls it a Crypt; for it was overlaid, and surrounded up to a +high level by heaps of rubbish. He goes on to say: "It has a groined roof +underneath another building evidently used for domestic purposes, and was +probably part of the Abbot's apartments. The upper room, which contains a +chimney, must have been a pleasant, cheerful abode, and its windows +commanded a charming prospect down the valley, with a view of the distant +hills peeping up from the south-west. The building is 30 feet long, by 19 +feet wide. There are no remains of mullions or tracery of the east window. +At present, there are two lights on each side; but upon a careful +examination of the masonry both within and without the building, it is, we +think, apparent that in the original plan, the upper window on each side +alone existed, the others being evidently subsequent innovations. The +original windows[2] are still beautiful, deeply set, and, though their +stone mullions are rather massive, each forms, with the tracery at the +top, a very elegant figure. The internal pilasters, which form an +architrave for the northern window, spring from grotesque heads, +elaborately carved, and which appear as if pressed down by the +superincumbent weight. A fillet of dog's-tooth moulding surrounds the +internal sash. A projecting moulding courses round the wall, about two +feet from the ground, which, while it dips down to admit the splayed sill +of the upper or original windows, continues unbroken by the lower ones, an +additional proof that the latter did not exist in the original plan of the +building. Three sets of short clustered columns, four feet high, one in +the centre, and one in each angle, spring from this course, and terminate +in elaborately carved floral capitals, which differ slightly one from the +other. The centre rod of this cluster descends as far as the floor. From +these spring the ribs, which form the groining of the roof.... The grand +architectural feature, and most elaborate piece of carving, was the +door-way, formed of a cluster of columns, very deeply revealed on the +inside, but apparently plain on the outside.... Nearly the whole of the +western end has fallen, so that nothing but the foundations of this very +splendid door-way now remain. A figure of it has, however, been preserved +in Wright's _Louthiana_ (reproduced here),[3] published in 1755, where we +read that it was 'all of blue marble, richly ornamented and gilt,' but +'which,' the author adds, 'I was informed was sold and going to be taken +to pieces when I was there.' All the pillars and carved stone work of this +building were at one time painted in the most brilliant colours, the +capitals light blue, the pillars themselves red; portions of this paint +still remain in the curves and amongst the foliage." + +The Chapter-house[4] is little changed since Sir William Wilde penned the +foregoing, and time seems to have dealt leniently with this magnificent +ruin. One of the windows has had its mullions restored under the Board of +Works; a number of curious objects--capitals, corbels, and portions of +arches and cut stone, flooring tiles, etc., has been collected there, and +a gate to guard them has been erected by Mr. Balfour, the owner of the +ruins and surrounding property. It is very dubious that the upper story +ever served as a part of the Abbot's lodgings, as these are generally +found further east. This room may have been the muniment room. It has two +port-holes remaining, relics of the days when Mellifont was turned into a +fortified castle, and the cry of fierce, contending men was heard on this +hallowed spot, over the graves of the sainted dead. In the first volume of +_The Dublin Penny Journal_, there are very interesting articles from the +pen of a Mr. Armstrong, a native of the locality. He tells us that this +Chapter-house was converted into a banqueting-hall by the Moore family, +and that in his time (1832), it was used as a pig-sty. + +[Illustration: NORTH WINDOW OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 17. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +Another account of the fate of the beautiful arched door-way of blue +marble is, that it was lost at a game of piquet, and the lucky winner, +whose name, unfortunately, has not been handed down to us, had it removed +to his mansion, and set up as a chimney-piece. The floor of the +Chapter-house is now laid with some of the tiles which were found in the +church during the excavations, in order to preserve them from destruction +or appropriation by "relic-hunters." Abbots, generally, chose the +Chapter-house of their abbeys for their burial place; but, as no grave was +found here, when the rubbish was removed, during the excavations, we may +conclude that the Abbots of Mellifont were buried either in the church, or +in the cemetery with their monks. + +The glazed tiles and their manufacture were a specialty with the old +Cistercians, in these countries. Similar tiles are seldom met with amongst +the ruins of other churches. Here at Mellifont, those found are red and +blue, and the vast majority have the legend _Ave Maria_ inscribed on them; +others are impressed with a Fleur de lis, a cock, or some typical device. +It is well known, that specimens of tiles found at Fountains, in +Yorkshire, bear a close resemblance to these. There, the motto of that +monastery was impressed on the tiles discovered--"_Benedicite fontes +Domino_,"--"Ye fountains bless the Lord." No doubt, here, too, some bore +the motto of Mellifont, if only they could be found. + +A very pertinent question arises now: how could this small building give +sitting accommodation, not only to one hundred and fifty monks, which this +monastery is said to have had, but even to a third of that number? It +seems impossible. It may be that, on becoming numerous, they used as +Chapter-house some other building no longer standing. At Graignamanagh, +the monks, finding their Chapter-house too small, converted the eastern +window of it into a door, and built a large and spacious hall, as a new +Chapter-house, the old one serving as an ante-chamber to it. No such +addition had been made here; for the window remains intact. + +What a change has come over this grand old Chapter-house since it saw its +Abbot, who ranked as a peer of the realm, walk up its centre with solemn +and stately tread, and mount the steps which led to his seat, on the east; +and the grave assemblage of white-robed monks enter in silence, and take +their places on either side, while one of them sang at the Lectern, the +Martyrology, and a chapter of St. Benedict's Rule! From this custom of +having a _chapter_ of the Rule sung there every morning, this apartment +derives its name. In the interval, between the singing of the Martyrology +and the chapter of St. Benedict's Rule, one of the priests gave out +certain prayers, to which all responded. These prayers were chiefly +petitions to the Lord, that He would deign to bless and guard them during +the coming day; for the hour of chapter, or of the assembling of the +Brethren, was generally about 6 A.M.. The Abbot then explained the chapter +which had been sung, dwelt on the obligations incumbent on his hearers, by +their profession, to observe the teaching which St. Benedict inculcated by +his Rule; then called for the public self-accusations of breaches of +monastic discipline (external faults only), and imposed penances +commensurate with each transgression. The Chapter-house was the hall +wherein were held the deliberations or councils relative to the +administration of temporalities, and here novices were elected or rejected +by secret ballot. + +On leaving the Chapter-house one finds himself again on the site of the +eastern walk or alley of the Cloister, as it is called, and proceeding +along it southward, one sees a wall some seven or eight feet high without +door or window of any sort. It is doubtful that this was portion of the +ancient building; for then Mellifont would not have followed the general +plan of all the houses of the Order. That it was not one of the original +buildings is probable, both because the masonry is more modern, and the +remains of an old building running at right angles with it were found when +the excavations were made a few years ago in the potato garden, at the +rere of this wall. That old structure measured about fourteen feet wide. +It is shown on the ground plan. In the plan of Clairvaux, of which +Mellifont is said to have been a counterpart, a long narrow hall ran off +the Cloister here, parallel with the Chapter-house. It was called the +"Auditorium" or "Parlour." It was there that each choir monk's share in +the manual labour was assigned him every day by the Prior. There, too, +confessions were heard, and the monks might speak to the Prior or Abbot on +necessary matters; for the adjoining Cloister was a place of strict +silence. As at Clairvaux, the novitiate was placed further south where the +novices were trained in their duties by a learned and experienced monk, +who, according to St. Benedict, "would know how to gain souls to God." + +Over the buildings on the ground story, that is, over the Sacristy, +Chapter-house, Parlour, and Novitiate, was the Dormitory, which was +entered by a stair-case, in the south-eastern angle of the transept, on +one side, and by another stairs at the junction of the east and south +walks of the Cloister. When the monastery at Mellifont was changed and +remodelled after Clairvaux (for this latter underwent a substantial change +in 1175), the monks may have used the old Parlour as a passage leading to +other buildings which covered that plot of ground beyond the +Chapter-house, now a potato garden. In the plan of Clairvaux, all the +space in that direction is covered with buildings. (See plan of +Clairvaux.) In the general view of Mellifont, given in frontispiece, the +plot whereon these buildings stood is that where the man is seen tilling +the garden. But if one ascend the hill, keeping close to the ruins, it +will be evident how suitable a place it was for building on, and the +remains of walls peep up here and there over the surface. The level at +that spot is, indeed, much higher than in the Cloister, or Chapter-house, +but that is partially caused by the debris of ruined buildings which has +accumulated there. + +[Illustration: DOORWAY OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 18. _A. Scott & Son, +Architects, Drogheda._] + +At the extreme end of this eastern walk of the Cloister and at right +angles with it, are the remains of what was once a spacious building. It +had a fire-place at the eastern end, and a door which led out into another +building that formerly adjoined it. It is 96 feet long by 36 feet wide. No +idea can be formed now as to its original use. In some monasteries of the +fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, chiefly the more considerable ones, +there was a spacious room or hall located as this was, and furnished with +benches and writing-desks, where the monks studied and wrote. It was +called the "Lectorium" or Reading room. It must not, however, be +confounded with the Scriptorium, which was the official quarters of the +copyist. It is well to remark here that the plot of ground lying north of +this building was not dug up during the excavations, but only skimmed over +in order to trace the course of some walls which at intervals appeared +above the surface; but, even this slight investigation was sufficient to +reveal the outlines of numerous buildings that once extended in that +direction and covered that whole area. Again comparing the site with +Clairvaux, we find that the Infirmary and its surroundings would lie in +that direction. + +At the extreme end of the eastern walk of the Cloister where it joins the +southern one, are the remains of a stairs, which formerly led up to the +Dormitory from this part of the monastery, as at Clairvaux. Near it is +what is commonly called a vault, an arched chamber measuring sixteen feet +by fourteen. It has a chimney, and it would seem to have had a narrow +window also on the outer or southern end. Here is where the Calefactory +stood in almost all the old Cistercian monasteries. This Calefactory was +heated by a stove, at which the monks warmed themselves after their long +vigils in winter; but their stay there was restricted to one quarter of an +hour. Pope Eugenius III., when a monk at Clairvaux, under St. Bernard, had +charge of the stove there, as was commemorated by an inscription over the +door of the Calefactory. A son of the King of France discharged the same +lowly office afterwards at Clairvaux, as the Annals of the Order testify. + +Adjoining this vault is a covered passage, having an entrance into the +next building, which runs parallel with it. Its purpose cannot now be +known. It may be that the vault or Calefactory had been converted in later +times into a store-room for necessaries which were brought thence by this +covered way into the Refectory, which is the next building. The Refectory +measures 48 feet by 24. A few coarse flags remain in their original +position, from which it may be inferred that the whole floor was once +formed of them. In its western wall was the turnstile, through which the +food was served from the kitchen that adjoined the Refectory on that side. + +Now, we come to the great puzzle, the remains of the octagon building, +which was commonly called the Baptistery. Sir William Wilde, who saw it as +it was in 1848, calls it the oldest and by far the most interesting +architectural remains in the whole place; and he goes on to describe +it:[5] "This octagonal structure, of which only four sides remain, +consists of a colonnade or series of circular-headed arches, of the Roman +or Saxon character, enclosing a space of 29 feet in the clear, and +supporting a wall which must have been, when perfect, about 30 feet high. +Each external face measures 12 feet in length, and was plastered or +covered with composition to the height of 10 feet, where a projecting band +separates it from the less elaborate masonry above. The arches[6] are +carved in sandstone, and spring from foliage-ornamented capitals, to the +short supporting pillars, the shaft of each of which measures 3 feet 5 +inches. The chord of each arch above the capitals is 4 feet 3 inches. Some +slight difference is observable in the shape and arrangement of the +foliage of the capitals, and upon one of the remaining half arches were +beautifully carved two birds; but some Goth has lately succeeded in +hammering away as much of the relieved part of each, as it was possible. +The arches were evidently open, and some slight variety exists in their +mouldings. Internally a stone finger-course encircled the wall, at about +six inches higher than that on the outside. In the angles between the +arches there are remains of fluted pilasters at the height of the +string-course, from which spring groins of apparently the same curve as +the external arches, and which, meeting in the centre, must have formed +more or less of a pendant, which, no doubt, heightened the beauty and +architectural effect. Like the pillars and stone carvings in the +Chapter-house, this building was also painted red and blue, and the track +of the paint is still visible in several places. The upper story, which +was lighted by a window on each side of the octagon, bears no +architectural embellishment which is now visible." He then adds, how +Archdall, in his _Monasticon_, asserted that a cistern was placed on the +upper story, whence water was conveyed by pipes to the different parts of +the monastery; but shows how such an arrangement would have been +impossible, on account of the weakness of the walls, and the position of +the windows. + +This building was known, in monastic terminology, as the "Lavabo." A +fountain of water issued in jets from a central column, and fell into a +basin, in which the monks washed their hands, before entering the +Refectory for their meals. It is quite easy, from the construction of the +roof, to imagine a number of branches springing from the capital of the +column, and meeting the ribs of the groined roof, in the same manner, as +the "Marble Tree," in the Chapter-house of Graignamanagh. Drains in +connection with this building were discovered when the excavations were +made, and Sir Thomas Deane is of opinion, that it was surrounded on the +outside by a wooden verandah, or shed. Certainly, in the plan of +Clairvaux, a low building is shown, adjoining the Lavabo, at its east and +west ends; but no use is assigned it. Very probably it was the Lavatory. +Petrie thinks the Lavabo may have been built as far back as 1165, but that +can hardly be held; for Clairvaux had not been remodelled till 1175, and +it had no such ornamental structure in the time of St. Bernard. He +remarks, too, that fragments of bricks were discovered in the building, +and says they were never employed earlier in any other building in +Ireland. It is now certain, that it was the monks of Mellifont who first +manufactured bricks in this country. This Lavabo was not isolated or +detached from the Cloister, but, as at Clairvaux, a door led from one into +the other, opposite the entrance into the Refectory; and, since the +excavations, portions of the door-way are visible. Some small shafts and +their bases remain. Even at the present day, in one of the most recently +constructed monasteries of the Order (near Tilburg, Holland), what might +be termed a semi-octagonal Lavabo, having its fountain and basin, has been +built. It answers the same purpose as those in ancient times. + +By keeping the Lavabo before one's mind, one can form an idea of the +Cloister itself; which, consisting of arcades, closely resembled this in +every detail, except that these were glazed, and in all probability its +walks had a lean-to roof. The site of the east walk of the Cloister is +easily traced, and the places occupied by the piers being now concreted, +mark their positions. This eastern walk was 21 feet 6 inches wide. The +opposite, or western one, was some 19 feet 6 inches; that on the south, 14 +feet; and the north one, adjoining the church, and which was usually the +Reading-Cloister, may also have been 14 feet. Thus, we would have an +enclosed space or Garth, 100 feet square. + +Beside the Refectory lay the Kitchen, which was a small building, and +around it are the ruins of smaller structures, which may have been +store-rooms in connection with it. Under the Kitchen ran a copious stream +of water which carried off all the refuse. It is remarkable that at +Clairvaux similar remains are found in exactly the same position +relatively to the Kitchen there. With the Cistercians, the Kitchen was +always square; with the Benedictines, it was round. To the rere of the +Kitchen, and almost directly opposite the covered passage, is the old well +which was covered over for a long time, but was discovered, and re-opened +in 1832. Near it a portion of the old wall fell in, but the masonry, owing +to the singularly cohesive character of the mortar, holds together despite +the action of the elements. + +Of the western walk of the Cloister no trace remains, and only a tottering +wall of the _Domus Conversorum_, which once adjoined it, is standing. +There is no trace either of the northern walk, though this was the most +important of all. There the monks read and copied, in cells called +"carrols," which were placed near the windows. When not employed in +chanting the Masses and Offices in the church, or busied with domestic +concerns, or working in the fields, the monks passed all their intervals +here occupied with study. The Abbot had a chair here also; and, from a +raised pulpit opposite it, one of the monks read aloud every evening, the +lecture before Compline, at which the whole community assisted. + +Turning westward and approaching the River Mattock, we enter, at the left, +an enclosed space, bounded by the river on one side, and by the remains of +the outer wall of the _Domus Conversorum_ on the other, we find ourselves +in a potato garden, which, on close observation, appears strewn with +pieces of bones. This was "God's Acre" at Mellifont, the cemetery of the +monks. Some forty or fifty years ago, a Scotchman, who then rented the +mill and a farm adjoining it, perceiving that the clay of this old +cemetery was particularly rich and loamy, dug a spit off it a foot deep or +more, and carted it out on his fields for top-dressing. Amongst the stuff +so carted were human bones of all kinds, skulls, etc.!!! This was done in +a Christian land, and no protesting voice was raised against the horrid +profanation!! The cemetery is shown in the general view at the extreme +left, where the plot of ground appears laid out in ridges and surrounded +by a wall. + +The River Mattock flows peacefully still by the old abbey as it did over +seven centuries ago, when its course being first arrested, it was +harnessed and compelled to take its share in many useful and profitable +industries. One old solitary yew tree casts its shadow on its water and +bears it company amid the surrounding ruin and desolation--sad and +sympathising witnesses of Mellifont's fallen greatness. No bridge now +spans the river here, though formerly it was probably arched over, and the +slopes upon the Meath side were laid out in terraces and gardens. The +present mill was built over one hundred years ago, together with some +out-offices; the latter, being situated almost midway in the nave of the +church, were removed when the excavations were made. The mill has not been +worked during the last thirty years. When Mr. Armstrong wrote his +interesting papers on Mellifont, in the _Dublin Penny Journal_, 1832-33, a +few cabins nestled under the shadow of the old ruins. + +The last building that deserves notice is the small ruined edifice on the +hill, which, after the suppression of the monastery, was used as a +Protestant place of worship. Sir William Wilde was of opinion that it +dates from the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The western gable which +rises in the centre into a double belfry contains a pointed door-way, and +above, but not immediately over this, is a double round-arched window. One +small narrow light occupies the eastern gable. At a few paces in front of +this building there stood, at the time Sir William examined it, two very +plain and very ancient crosses, one having a heart engraven on it +encircled by a crown of thorns, and the other having a fleur de lis on the +arm. The latter cross has disappeared, but the former can still be seen +prostrate on the ground, in that half of the old cemetery beyond the +road-way, that is, on the side to the south. After the suppression, this +was used as a Protestant burial-ground, though the presence of Catholic +emblems would go to prove that it was once Catholic. Of late years the +interments here have been but few. We are nowhere told, nor does any +tradition still linger to indicate the former use of this ancient +building, but it is most probable, that it was the church in which the +tenants and dependants of the Abbey assisted at Mass and other religious +functions--in a word, that it was the parish church of Mellifont, which +was _served by the monks_. This seems to be the most likely explanation; +for the law of "Enclosure," that law of the Church which debarred females +from entering within the monastic enclosure, ("_Septa monasterii_" as it +is called), was in full force at the Dissolution of monasteries, as +appears from the Decrees of the General Chapters of the Order about that +time, and also from the Episcopal Registers of some of the English +dioceses which have lately been published. In these latter are found +reports of the bishops, who, either officially or by delegation, visited +some monasteries and adverted to the law of enclosure as an important +point of monastic discipline. This old structure, then, would have been +constructed purposely outside the wall for the use of the tenants. Such a +chapel is still to be seen outside the enclosure at Bordesley Abbey, an +old Cistercian monastery in Worcestershire, of which we are expressly +told, that it was the place in which the monks, tenants, domestics, etc., +attended Mass. Another purpose may be assigned to this old chapel at +Mellifont, as that attached to the College, or Seminary, which once +flourished there. The surrounding hill is locally and traditionally known +as College-Hill, and the old road which passes over it and leads to +Townley Hall, is called the College Road. + +Little more remains to be said of the ruins or of the site itself. +Standing on this hill and looking into the valley beneath, we are struck +by its singular natural features. It would seem as if the waters of the +Mattock had been suddenly dammed up, and that the pent-up waters, +bursting their barriers, hollowed out this sheltered little valley, after +the angry element had cleared away the rocks and other obstructions; and +having swept it clear of the rubbish, made it a fit and proper place +whereon to rear a temple to the true God, in which praise and sacrifice +might for ever be offered to Him. No buildings seem to have been +constructed on the Meath side, as no traces of them remain. In this, +Mellifont differed from Clairvaux, whose buildings filled the valley and +spread out wings high up the hills on either side of the River Aube. + +Just due south from where we have been standing, on the hill, and distant +about a few hundred yards, the Guide will show a singular earth-work, +shaped like a moat, and having an elevated mound in the centre. From the +presence here of old conduits built with masonry, there can be no doubt +that this was a reservoir to contain a copious supply of water which +flowed from wells on the hill. Lower down than this moat, that is, at the +rere of the Chapter-house, lies buried beneath some feet of soil the +Abbot's house, where Mellifont's puissant rulers received their guests, +and whose hospitable board was honoured by the presence of kings and +bishops, as well as chiefs and warriors bold in all their pomp and +panoply. It is doubtful that any vestige of the enclosure wall remains, +nor can it be conjectured even, what, or how much, space it embraced. As +we ponder over the scene, Keats' words find an echo in our hearts:-- + + "How changed, alas! from that revered abode + Graced by proud majesty in ancient days, + Where monks recluse those sacred pavements trod, + And taught the unlettered world its Maker's praise." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT. + + "Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer + Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice + Rise like a fountain for me night and day, + For what are men better than sheep and goats, + That nourish a blind life within the brain, + If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer + Both for themselves and those who call them friend? + For so the whole round earth is every way + Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." + (_Lord Tennyson._) + + +At the time that Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen Harding were laying +the foundation of the Cistercian Order, in the dense forest of Cistercium, +or Citeaux, whence the Order derives its name, or to be more precise, in +1098, a lovely little boy eight years old, with golden hair and dove-like +eyes, and with nobility of birth stamped in every lineament of his +features, was playing in his father's chateau at Fontaines, near Dijon, in +France. This child of predilection was the great St. Bernard, who is +justly styled the Propagator of that Order which was then in a struggling +condition. It has become a proverb, "that the child is father of the man," +and a very clever writer exclaims--"Blessed is the man whose infancy has +been watched over, kindled, and penetrated by the eyes of a tender and +holy mother." It was St. Bernard's singular privilege to have such a +mother, one who sedulously watched over his youthful days, and inspired +him with a love of all virtues. Hence we are told, that even in early +childhood, he evinced a love of piety that was remarkable, and that he +constituted his mother the grand model which he was bound to copy. He +considered it the summit of his ambition to do all things like his +mother--to pray like her, to give alms and visit the sick poor like her; +for this noble lady was wont to go along the roads unattended, carrying +medicine and nourishment to the indigent. He distinguished himself at the +public school where he received his education, and returned to the +paternal mansion where he soon after experienced his first great sorrow in +the death of his loving mother. He was now approaching manhood, and he +must needs select a state of life befitting his high birth. At that time, +only two professions were worthy of the consideration of young +noblemen--the Church or the Army. With Bernard's distinguished talents, a +bright and rosy future presented itself before his youthful imagination, +and then the eloquent persuasions of his relatives, who promised him their +powerful patronage, were not wanting to arouse his ambition; but, the +image of his saintly mother dispelled all dreams of promotion, and her +pious instructions, which sank deep into his young heart, acted as potent +antidotes against the allurements of worldly pomp and short-lived honours. +After much reflection he made up his mind to renounce all honours, and to +become a monk. By his irresistible pleadings he gained over his four +brothers, with other relatives and friends, to the number of thirty, and +at their head, presented himself at the gate of the Abbey of Citeaux, +where St. Stephen Harding joyfully admitted them. Two years later we find +him leaving that monastery as the Abbot of a new colony, on his way to +found Clairvaux, being then in his twenty-fifth year. Here, his light +could no longer remain hidden, but burst forth into a luminous flame +whose splendour aroused and powerfully influenced the whole Christian +world. The Bishop of Chalons, in whose diocese Clairvaux was situated, was +the first to discover the transcendent abilities and eloquence of the +youthful Abbot. At his request, St. Bernard consented to deliver a course +of sermons in the churches of his diocese, which were productive of +incalculable good, and spread the fame of the zealous preacher. Priests as +well as laymen, attached themselves to him and accompanied him to +Clairvaux on his return from those missions. One of the Saint's +biographers cries out--"How many learned men, how many nobles and great +ones of this earth, how many philosophers have passed from the schools or +academies of the world to Clairvaux to give themselves up to the +meditation of heavenly things and the practice of a divine morality." His +fame reached even to Ireland, and we are told that in this country the +little children were wont to ask for the badge of the Crusaders which the +Saint distributed. In a word, his voice was the most authoritative in +Europe. Kings and princes dreaded him, and accepted him as arbitrator in +their quarrels. Even Popes themselves sought his counsel. In his lifetime, +his own disciple, Bernard of Pisa, occupied the Chair of Peter, as +Eugenius III. It may be truthfully said, that St. Bernard reformed Europe +and infused a new spirit into the monastic orders. Even Luther does not +hesitate to place him in the forefront of all monks who lived in his time; +of him he writes: "Melius nec vixit nec scripsit quis in universo coetu +monachorum." + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 18. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +Whilst the Church in France was reaping the benefit of the holy Abbot's +preaching and example, a zealous Irish prelate was actively and +successfully engaged in eradicating vice which sprang up in this country, +as a consequence of the long-protracted wars with the Danes, and the +demoralising effects of intercourse with that people. Nevertheless, +Ireland had then its saints and scholars, and the ancient seats of +learning, such as Armagh, Bangor, Lismore, Clonard, and Clonmacnoise were +once more inhabited by numerous communities. This saintly prelate was St. +Malachy, who, being on his way to Rome, heard of the sanctity of the great +St. Bernard, and would fain pay him a visit. This visit would St. Malachy +have gladly prolonged; for then and there sprang up a mutual affection, +which, writes our own Tom Moore, "reflects credit on both." St. Malachy +was so enamoured with what he witnessed at Clairvaux, and particularly +with the wise discourses of the learned Abbot, that he determined to +become one of his disciples. Innocent II., who then ruled the flock of +Christ, on the Saint seeking his permission to retire to Clairvaux, would +not hearken to his request, but giving him many marks of his esteem, +appointed him his Legate in Ireland, and commanded him to return thither. +If St. Malachy might not live at Clairvaux in the midst of the fervent men +whom he there beheld earnestly intent in the great work of mortification +and expiation, he resolved, at least, to have a colony of them near him in +his own country, that by their prayers and example, they might promote +God's glory, and in a measure, repeat the glorious traditions of the +ancient monastic ages in Ireland. In furtherance of this happy project, he +singled out four of his travelling companions, whom he gave in charge to +St. Bernard, with these words: "I most earnestly conjure you to retain +these disciples, and instruct them in all the duties and observances of +the religious profession, that, hereafter they may be able to teach us." +On receiving an assurance of a hearty compliance from St. Bernard, he +took cordial leave of his friend and returned to Ireland. Not long after +he sent more of his disciples to join those whom he had already left at +Clairvaux, and on their arrival, St. Bernard wrote as follows: "The +Brothers who have come from a distant land, your letter and the staff you +sent me, have afforded me much consolation in the midst of the many +anxieties and cares that harass me.... Meanwhile, according to the wisdom +bestowed on you by the Almighty, select and prepare a place for their +reception, which shall be secluded from the tumults of the world, and +after the model of those localities which you have seen amongst us." The +place selected by St. Malachy as the site of the future monastery, was the +sequestered valley watered by the River Mattock, situated about three and +one half miles from Drogheda, Co. Louth, and much resembling Clairvaux, +which, too, was located in a valley, shut in by little hills on all sides. +Donogh O'Carroll, Prince of Oriel, the lord of the territory, freely +granted the site to God and SS. Peter and Paul, munificently endowed the +monastery with many broad acres, and supplied wood and stone for the +erection of the buildings. This grant was made in either 1140 or 1141. The +charter of endowment by O'Carroll has not been found. + +It would appear from another letter of St. Bernard to St. Malachy, that he +had sent some monks from Clairvaux to make preparations for those who were +to immediately follow, and that already their number was augmented at +Mellifont by the accession of new members from the surrounding district, +who had joined them on their appearance in that locality. In this same +letter St. Bernard writes: "We send back to you your dearly-beloved son +and ours, Christian, as fully instructed as was possible in those rules +which regard our Order, hoping, moreover, that he will henceforth prove +solicitous for their observance." This Christian is commonly supposed to +have been archdeacon of the diocese of Down. He was certainly first Abbot +of Mellifont, and his name shall turn up in connection with important +national events later on. With Christian came a certain Brother Robert, a +Frenchman, a skilful architect, who constructed the monastery after the +model of Clairvaux. + +That these were the pioneers of the Cistercian Order in Ireland cannot for +one moment be doubted, both from the very important fact, that the Abbot +of Mellifont took precedence of all the Abbots of his Order in this +country, and also, because it is an historical fact, that St. Mary's +Abbey, Dublin, the other claimant for priority, did not exchange the +Benedictine for the Cistercian Rule till, at earliest, 1148, when the +Abbot of Savigni in France, with the thirty houses of his Order +(Benedictine) subject to his jurisdiction, were admitted into the +Cistercian family by Pope Eugenius III., who presided at the General +Chapter of the Cistercians that year. St. Mary's was founded from +Buildewas, in Shropshire, and this latter was subject to Savigni. + +Various reasons are assigned for the adoption by these ancient monks of +the name Mellifont, which signifies "The Honey Fountain." Some are of +opinion it had a spiritual signification, and had reference to the +abundance of blessings which would flow, and be diffused over the whole +country from this centre, through the unceasing and fervent intercessory +prayer of its holy inmates; for next to their own sanctification, their +neighbour's wants claimed and received their practical sympathy. Like +divine charity it gushed forth from hearts totally devoted to God's +service and interests, and this zeal would be halting and incomplete did +it not embrace the spiritual and temporal concerns of their fellow +mortals. Others derive the name from a limpid spring which supplied the +monks with a copious, unfailing stream of sweet water, which had its +source in Mellifont Park about one quarter of a mile distant, and which +was conducted by pipes through the various parts of the monastery. This +seems a very plausible account, and as the spring rose at a high level, it +had sufficient pressure to obviate the necessity of a cistern as was +erroneously supposed in connection with the Lavabo. + +It was customary with the old Irish Cistercians to give their monasteries +symbolical names at their foundation, and these names often denoted some +local feature or peculiarity. Thus, Newry was called of the "Green Wood," +from the abundance of yew trees around the monastery there; Corcomroe, Co. +Clare, was known under the title of the "Fertile Rock;" Baltinglas, Co. +Wicklow, as the "Valley of Salvation," etc. + +It is said that the "Honey Fountain" had its source in Mellifont Park, but +it seems that few of the present generation living in the vicinity of +Mellifont know or appreciate its virtues. In the Ordnance Survey, it is +stated that it rose in Mellifont Park, which was formerly a wood, and that +to the north of the well, a few trees still remained at the time of the +Survey, when the farm belonged to a Mr. James Curran. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +AN EPITOME OF THE RULE OBSERVED AT MELLIFONT AT ITS FOUNDATION AND FOR +ABOUT A CENTURY AND A HALF AFTERWARDS. + + "Here man more purely lives; less oft doth fall; + More promptly rises; walks with stricter heed; + More safely rests; dies happier; is freed + Earlier from cleansing fires; and gains withal + A brighter crown." + (_Saint Bernard._) + + +In the foregoing verses St. Bernard summarises the manifold advantages +accruing from the profession and practice of the rule which he and his +fellow abbots drew up for their followers. In that age of chivalry and +wide extremes, men's minds were profoundly moved by the world-wide +reputation and discourses of an outspoken, fearless monk, who confirmed +his words by incontestable and stupendous miracles. Then, it was nothing +unusual to see the impious sinner of yesterday become a meek repentant +suppliant for admission into some monastery to-day, where he could expiate +and atone for his former grievous excesses. The innocent, also, sought the +shelter of the cloister from the contaminating influences of a corrupt and +corrupting world; and in the spirit of sacrifice presented themselves as +victims to God's outraged justice. At that same period, that is, about the +middle of the twelfth century, there was witnessed an unwonted movement +towards monasticism in its regenerated condition, as the Church Annals +abundantly testify. This happy tendency was mainly due to St. Bernard's +influence and popularity, and was well illustrated by the saying of the +historian: "The whole world became Cistercian." + +In essaying to reform St. Benedict's Rule, the first Fathers of the +Cistercian Order sought only to restore its primitive simplicity and +austerity, but they, nevertheless, added some wise provisions which +established their reform on a firm basis, and which the experience of ages +proved to be indispensable. First of all, it was ordained, that all houses +of the Order should be united under one central controlling power, and +that all the Superiors should meet annually for deliberation on matters +appertaining to the maintenance of discipline and the correction of +abuses. This assembly was called the General Chapter, over which the Abbot +of Citeaux presided as recognised head of the Order. Till then, no such +institution existed, and an Abbot General, as we may call him, had it in +his power, from incapacity or any other cause, to disorganise a whole +Order. Under the General Chapter such a catastrophe was impossible. +Besides this wise enactment, St. Stephen drew up what he called the "Chart +of Charity," by which it was ordained that the abbot of a monastery who +had filiations (that is, offshoots or houses founded directly from that +monastery) subject to him, should visit them annually either in person or +by proxy, and minutely inquire into their spiritual, disciplinary, and +financial condition. The abbots of those filiations were bound to return +the visit during the year; but they did so in quality of guest and not as +"Visitor," the official title of the Abbot of the Parent House; or, +"Immediate Father," as he is called. Thus the bands of discipline were +kept tightly drawn, and harmony, with uniformity of observance, was +maintained throughout the entire Order. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF LAVABO (OCTAGON.) See p. 26. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +The denizens of the Cloister at that time consisted of two great classes, +who, indeed, enjoyed alike all the advantages of the state, but differed +in their functions and employments. One was busied with the cares of +Martha, the other was admitted to the privilege of Mary. The former were +employed chiefly in domestic duties, and various trades, and were +entrusted with the charge of the granges or outlying farms. These were the +Lay Brothers. Frequently their ranks were augmented by the noble and the +learned, who, unnoticed and unknown till their holy death, guided the +plough, delved the soil, or tended the sheep and oxen in the glades of the +forest. The other class resided in the monastery and devoted their time to +the chanting of the Divine Office, alternating with study in the Cloister +and manual labour in the fields and gardens. These were the choir monks. +Their dress was white. By vigorous toil and strict economy, these good old +monks wrested a competency from their farms, and freely shared their +substance with the needy and the stranger. They exhibited to an astonished +world a practical refutation of its corrupt maxims and habits. Thus by +their very lives, they preached most efficaciously; for by their contempt +of worldly honours and pleasures they gave proof abundant of the faith +that enlightened them to recognise the sublimity of the Gospel truths; of +the hope that sustained them to courageously endure temporal privations +for the sake of future rewards; and of the charity that prompted them to +liken themselves to Jesus Christ, their Master, who, being rich, became +poor for their sakes. Some may be inclined to consider all this as the +effect of monkish extravagance, weak-mindedness, and folly; but modern +investigation, instituted and carried to a successful issue by honest +Protestant writers, has brushed aside such calumnies as hackneyed +catch-words, and has proved that beneath the monk's cowl, there were found +hearts as warm and minds as broad as in any state or grade of society. It +must also be remembered, that for centuries the monks were the teachers +who moulded and fashioned the youth of the upper and middle classes. + +Two o'clock A.M. was the usual hour for rising, when the monks, obedient +to the Sacristan's signal, rising from their straw pallets and slipping on +their sandals (for they slept fully dressed, as the poorer classes of the +time are said to have done,) they left the Dormitory by the stairs that +led down to the southern transept, and proceeding noiselessly, they +reached the Choir where they immediately renewed the oblation of +themselves to God. Then the Office of Matins was commenced, and it with +Lauds occupied about one hour. On solemn festivals the monks rose at +midnight, and the Office lasted over three hours; for then the whole of it +was sung. Matins and Lauds over, they proceeded to the Reading-cloister to +study the Psalms, or Sacred Scripture, or the Fathers: some prolonged +their devotions in the church, where with clean, uplifted hands, they +became powerful mediators between God and His creatures; too many of whom, +alas, ignore their personal obligations. At that time, too, the priests +might celebrate their Masses, as the ancient Rule gave them liberty to +select that hour if they felt so inclined. We do not know how many priests +were amongst the Religious at Mellifont soon after its establishment, but +they must have numbered about twenty, since there were ten altars in the +church. And judging by the number of priests in other monasteries of the +Order at that period, this figure is not too high. We know that in 1147, +there were fifty priests at least at Pontigny, one of the four first +houses of the Order. About five o'clock the monks assembled in Choir for +Prime, after which they went to Chapter, where the Martyrology and portion +of the Rule were sung, as has been already explained. Chapter over, they +entered the Auditorium, where they took off and hung up their cowls, and +each went thence to the manual labour assigned him by the Prior. In +winter, nearly all went out to work in the fields, grubbing up brushwood +and burning it, and so preparing the ground for cultivation. After some +hours spent in labour, they returned to the monastery where they had time +for reading; they then went to Choir for Tierce and High Mass. During +winter the Mass was sung before going out to work. In summer they dined at +11.30, after which an hour was allowed for repose, and None being sung +they resumed their labour in the fields. In winter, dinner was at +half-past two; the evening was spent in study and in chanting the Offices +of Vespers and Compline, and at seven they retired to rest. In summer the +hour for repose was eight o'clock. The Office of Completorium or Compline +always closed the exercises of the day, and all passed before the Abbot, +from whom they received holy water as they left the church. Each went +straight to his simple couch where sweet repose awaited him after his day +of toil and penitential works. His frugal vegetable fare, without +seasoning or condiment, barely sufficed for the wants of nature, and even +this was sparingly doled out to him; for during the winter exercises, that +is, from the 14th of September to Easter, he got only one refection daily +except on Sundays, when he always got two. Wine, though allowed in small +quantities at meals in countries where it was the common drink, was not +permitted here, but in its stead, the monks used beer of their own +brewing. Their raiment consisted of a white woollen tunic of coarse +material and a strip of black cloth over the shoulders, and reaching to +below the knees, gathered in at the waist with a leathern girdle. Over +these, when not employed in manual labour, was worn the long white garment +with wide sleeves, called the cowl. The tunic was the ordinary dress of +peasantry in the twelfth century, and was retained by the reformers of St. +Benedict's Rule, partly because it was the prescribed dress of the monks, +and partly as an incentive to humility; a mark of the perfect equality +which reigned in monasteries, and which removed all distinction of class. + +[Illustration: ARCH OF LAVABO (OCTAGON.) See p. 26. _From Photo by W. +Lawrence, Dublin._] + +Such was the ordinary routine of life led at Mellifont, but then certain +officials filled important offices which necessarily brought them in +constant contact with the outer world. Such, for instance, was the +Cellarer, who had charge under the Abbot of the temporalities of the +monastery, and catered for all the wants of the community. Some were +deputed to wait on the guests and strangers, while others cared the sick +poor in the hospice with all charity and tenderness. For the maintenance +of the sick poor large tracts of land or revenues arising from +house-property were very often bequeathed by pious people, and the monks +were then their almoners; but, with or without such a provision from +outside, the monks did maintain these establishments from their own +resources. + +The Abbot entertained the guests of the monastery at his own table, +dispensing to them such frugal fare as was in keeping with the Rule; for +meat was not allowed to be served, except to the sick. He had his kitchen +and dining-hall apart, but in every other respect, he shared in all the +exercises with his brethren. Though he occupied the place of honour and of +pre-eminence in the monastery, yet he was constantly reminded in the +Rule, that he must not lord it over his monks, but must cherish them as a +tender parent. His object in all his ordinances should be to promote the +welfare of the flock entrusted to him, for which he should render an +account on the last day. + +From this relation of the manner of life at Mellifont, we see that it was +in strict conformity with St. Bernard's definition of the Cistercian +Institute, when he writes: "Our Order is humility, peace, and joy in the +Holy Ghost. Our Order is silence, fasting, prayer, and labour, and above +all, to hold the more excellent way, which is charity." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +MELLIFONT TAKES ROOT AND FOUNDS NEW HOUSES OF THE ORDER. + + "Even thus of old + Our ancestors, within the still domain + Of vast Cathedral or Conventual church, + Their vigils kept; where tapers day and night + On the dim altars burned continually, + In token that the House was evermore + Watching to God. Religious men were they: + Nor would their reason tutored to aspire + Above this transitory world, allow + That there should pass a moment of the year + When in their land the Almighty's service ceased." + (_Wordsworth._) + + +The history of Mellifont may be justly said to reflect the concurrent +history of Ireland. It is so intimately connected and interwoven with that +of our country, that they touch at many points, and we can collect matter +for both as we travel back along the stream of time and observe the +footprints on the sands, where saint, and king, chieftain, bishop, and +holy monk, have left their impress and disappeared, to be succeeded later +on by the baron and his armed retainers. How different the Ireland of +to-day from the Ireland that Christian, the first Abbot of Mellifont, +beheld when he and his companions settled down in the little valley, in +the land of the O'Carroll! How many changes have passed over it since, +leaving it the poorest country in Europe, though one of the richest in +natural resources! But these considerations appertain to the politician; +they do not lie within the scope of the present writer. Next to building +their church and monastery, the first care of the monks on their immediate +arrival at Mellifont, was to prepare the soil for tillage; for, judging +from the nature of the surroundings, it must have been overrun with dense +brushwood, unbroken, save at distant intervals, by patches of green sward. +Most houses of the Order in Ireland had to contend with similar conditions +at their foundation; of Dunbrody, Co. Wexford, we are expressly told, that +the monk sent by the Abbot of Buildewas to examine the site of the future +monastery, found on it only _a solitary oak surrounded by a swamp_. But +these old monks were adepts in the reclamation of waste lands, and soon +the hills rang with the instruments of husbandry. Pleasant gardens and +fertile meadows rewarded their toil, and their example gave a stimulus to +agriculture, which, till then, was neglected by a pastoral people. At the +same time, they manufactured bricks in the locality, and employed them in +their buildings. Then rumour on her many wings flew far and near, and +spread the fame of the new-comers to that remote valley, and soon the +monastery was crowded with visitors intent on seeing the strangers and +observing closely their manner of life. The sight pleased them. The ways +of these monks accorded with the traditions handed down of the inhabitants +of the ancient monasteries, before the depredations of the Danes, and the +hearts of a highly imaginative race, with quick spiritual instincts, were +attracted towards St. Bernard's children. Immediately began an influx of +postulants for the Cistercian habit, and every day brought more, till the +stalls in the Choir were filled, and Abbot Christian's heart overflowed +with gladness. In consultation with St. Malachy, Abbot Christian decided +on founding another monastery, as his own could no longer contain the now +greatly-increased community. A new colony was sent forth from it, and thus +in two years from the foundation of Mellifont, was established "Bective on +the Boyne." Some say that Newry, which was endowed by Maurice M'Loughlin, +King of Ireland, at St. Malachy's earnest entreaty, was the first +filiation of Mellifont. The charter of its (Newry) foundation happily has +come down to us, but it bears no date. However, O'Donovan, who translated +it into English from the Latin original in MS. in the British Museum, says +it was written in 1160. As it is the only extant charter granted to a +monastery by a native king before the Invasion, a copy of the translation +is given in the Appendix. + +Under the patronage, then, of St. Malachy and the native princes, and by +the skill, industry, and piety of its inmates, Mellifont rose and +prospered, and merited an exalted place in popular esteem. The monastery +was in course of construction, and their new church nearing completion, +when a heavy trial befell the monks in the death of their unfailing +friend, wise counsellor, and loved father, St. Malachy, which took place +at Clairvaux, in the arms of St. Bernard, A.D. 1148. St. Bernard delivered +a most pathetic discourse over the remains of his friend, and wrote a +consoling letter to the Irish Cistercians, condoling with them on the loss +they and the whole Irish Church had sustained on the death of St. Malachy. +He, later on, wrote his life, and willed, that as they tenderly loved each +other in life, so in death they should not be separated. Their tombs were +side by side in the church of Clairvaux, till their relics, enshrined in +magnificent altars, with many costly lamps burning before them, were +scattered at the French Revolution, and the rich shrines were smashed and +plundered. Portions of their bodies were, however, preserved by the good, +pious people of the locality, and their heads are now preserved with +honour in the cathedral of Troyes, France. The writers of the Cistercian +Order claim St. Malachy as having belonged to them; for, they say that +being previously a Benedictine, he received the Cistercian habit from St. +Bernard during one of his visits to Clairvaux. They add that St. Bernard +exchanged cowls with him, and that he wore St. Malachy's ever after on +solemn festivals. The Saint's life is so well known that it needs no +further notice here. Before his death, he saw three houses founded from +Mellifont, namely, Bective, Newry, and Boyle. + +Two years after St. Malachy's death, that is, in 1150, the monks of +Mellifont experienced another serious loss when their venerated Abbot, +Christian, was appointed Bishop of Lismore, and Legate of the Holy See in +Ireland, by Pope Eugenius III., who had been his fellow-novice in +Clairvaux. Christian's brother, Malchus, was elected to the abbatial +office in his stead. Malchus proved himself a very worthy superior, and +Mellifont continued on her prosperous course, so much so, that in 1151, or +nine years from its own establishment, it could reckon as many as six +important filiations, namely, Bective, Newry, Boyle, Athlone, Baltinglas, +and Manister, or Manisternenay, Co. Limerick. + +In 1152, St. Bernard passed to his reward, after having founded 160 houses +of his Order, having edified Christendom by the splendour of his virtues, +and astonished it by his rare natural gifts, which elevated him far above +all his contemporaries. From the moment that he accepted the pastoral +staff as Abbot of Clairvaux, till his death, that is, during the space of +forty years, he was the figurehead of his Order in whom its whole history +was merged during that long period. In fact, he became so identified with +the Order to which he belonged, that it was often called from him, +Bernardine; or, of Claraval, from his famous monastery; and it was in a +great measure owing to his influence, and in grateful acknowledgment of +the splendid services which he rendered the Church in critical times, that +Sovereign Pontiffs heaped so many favours on it. He was the fearless and +successful champion of the oppressed in all grades of society, and all +looked up to him as their guide and instructor. And yet this paragon of +wisdom, this stern judge of the evil-doer, was remarkable for his +naturalness and affectionate disposition. On the occasion of his brother +Gerard's death, he attempted to preach a continuation of his discourses on +the Canticle of Canticles, but his affection for his brother overcame him, +and after giving vent to his grief, he delivered a most touching panegyric +on his beloved Gerard. To the last moment of his life he entertained a +most vivid recollection of his mother, and cherished the tenderest +affection towards her memory. It may be doubted, that any child of the +Church ever defended her cause with such loyalty and success. One stands +amazed on reading what the Rev. Mr. King writes in his _Church History of +Ireland_, where he taxes St. Bernard with superstition, because the Saint +relates in his Life of St. Malachy, how that holy man wrought certain +miracles. So evident were St. Bernard's own miracles, that Luden, a German +Protestant historian, calls them "incontestable." 'Twere supreme folly to +accuse a man of St. Bernard's endowments and culture, of the weakness that +admits or harbours superstition, which generally flows from ignorance, or +incapacity to sift matters, and to test them in their general or +particular bearings. On the whole, Protestant writers speak and write +approvingly of him. + +In that year (1152), a Synod was held at Mell, which, according to Ussher, +is identical with Mellifont, though now a suburb of Drogheda is known by +that name. Other Irish writers say that this Synod was held at Kells. At +it Christian, then Bishop of Lismore and Legate of the Holy See, presided. +In the _Annals of the Four Masters_ it is related, that a "Synod was +convened at Drogheda, by the bishops of Ireland, with the successor of +Patrick, and the Cardinal, John Paparo," etc. O'Donovan, quoting Colgan, +tells us that Mellifont was known as the "Monastery at Drogheda." + +In this same year occurred the elopement of Dervorgilla, wife of Tiernan +O'Rourke, Prince of Brefny, with Dermod M'Murchad, King of Leinster. She +is styled the Helen of Erin, as it is commonly supposed that her flight +with Dermod occasioned the English Invasion. When O'Rourke heard of her +departure, he was "marvellously troubled and in great choler, but more +grieved for the shame of the fact than for sorrow or hurt, and, therefore, +was fully determined to be avenged." It is mentioned in the _Annals of +Clonmacnois_ that O'Rourke had treated her harshly some time previous, and +that her brother M'Laughlin connived at her conduct. Dervorgilla (which +means in Irish, The True Pledge), was forty-four years of age at the time, +whilst O'Rourke (who was blind of one eye) and M'Murchad, were each of +them sixty-two years old. O'Rourke was the most strenuous opponent of the +English at the Invasion, and was treacherously slain by a nephew of +Maurice Fitzgerald at the Hill of Ward, near Athboy, in 1172. He was +decapitated, and his head hung over the gates of Dublin for some time. It +was afterwards sent to King Henry, in England. + +From 1152 to 1157 the monks attracted no attention worth chronicling; for +during these five years they passed by unnoticed in our Annals. It is, +however, certain that they were busily engaged in the completion of their +church and in making preparations for its solemn consecration. And what a +day of rejoicing that memorable day of the consecration was, when +Mellifont beheld the highest and holiest in Church and State assembled to +do her honour! This ceremony far eclipsed any that had been witnessed +before that in Ireland. What commotion and bustle filled the abbey, the +valley, and the surrounding hills! A constantly increasing crowd came +thronging to behold a sight which gladdened their hearts and aroused their +piety and admiration. For, there stood the Ard Righ (High King) of Erin, +surrounded by his princes and nobles in all the pride and pageantry of +state, the Primate Gelasius, and Christian, the Papal Legate, with +seventeen other bishops, and almost all the abbots and priests in Ireland. +Then the solemn rite was performed, and many precious offerings were made +to the monks and to their church--gold and lands, cattle, and sacred +vessels, and ornaments for the altars, were bestowed with a generosity +worthy of the princely donors. O'Melaghlin gave seven-score cows and +three-score ounces of gold to God and the clergy, for the good of his +soul. He granted them, also, a townland, called Finnabhair-na-ninghean, a +piece of land, according to O'Donovan, which lies on the south side of the +Boyne, opposite the mouth of the Mattock, in the parish of Donore, Co. +Meath. O'Carroll gave sixty ounces of gold, and the faithless but now +repentant Dervorgilla presented a gold chalice for the High Altar, and +cloths for the other nine altars of the church. + +Mellifont looked charming on that propitious occasion, and presented a +truly delightful picture, with its beautiful church and abbey buildings +glistening in the sun in all the purity and freshness of the white, or +nearly white, sandstone of which they were composed. Yet, beautiful as +were the material buildings, far more so were those stones of the +spiritual edifice, the meek and prayerful cenobites, who were gathered +there to adore and serve their God in spirit and in truth. From that +valley there arose a pleasing incense to the Lord--the prayers, and hymns, +and canticles, which unceasingly resounded in that church from hearts +truly devoted to God's worship, and dead to the world and themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +MELLIFONT CONTINUES TO FLOURISH UNDER SUCCESSIVE EMINENT SUPERIORS. + + "This is no common spot of earth, + No place for idle words or mirth; + Here streamed the taper's mystic light; + Here flashed the waving censers bright; + Awhile the Church's ancient song + Lingered the stately aisles along, + And high mysterious words were said + Which brought to men the living Bread." + (_W. Chatterton Dix._) + + +After the consecration of their church the monks settled down to their +ordinary quiet way. The erection of the monastic buildings had hitherto +kept them occupied; now that these were completed, they devoted their +attention to the improvement of their farms, which they tilled with their +own hands, and to the embellishment of their immediate surroundings. Even +at this early period of her history, Mellifont was a hive of industry +where all the trades flourished and many important arts were encouraged. +At that time hired labour was sparingly employed by the monks; for they +themselves bore a share in the work of the artisans as well as in the +ordinary drudgery of tillage. Labour placed all on a footing of equality +whilst it gave vigour to the body by healthy exercise in the open air. +Perhaps, this healthy exercise was one of the secrets of the longevity for +which the monks were remarkable. Regularity of life continued for years +contributes to a state of health which dispenses with physicians. Wherever +monks settled down they immediately erected mills for grinding corn, for +preparing and finishing the fabrics of which their garments were made, +etc. St. Benedict enjoined on his monks the necessity of practising all +the trades and arts within the walls of the monastery, so that they need +never leave their enclosure for the purpose, or under the pretext, of +having their work done by externs. + +Eleven years passed without Mellifont receiving any notice from our native +chroniclers, and then at the year 1168, it is recorded, that Prince Donogh +O'Carroll, the Founder, died and was buried in the church there. Ware +tells us that his tomb and those of other remarkable personages had been +in the church. As it was an almost general custom in Ireland, that the +Founders of religious houses were interred on the north, or Gospel side of +the High Altar, so it may be justly inferred that he was buried within the +chancel, and that the recess on the north side is where his monument was +erected. Thus, King Charles O'Connor's tomb occupies the same place in +Knockmoy Abbey, Co. Galway, of which he was Founder. So, too, in Corcomroe +Abbey, Co. Clare, the tomb of Conor O'Brien, King of Thomond, grandson of +the Founder of that abbey, is still to be seen in a niche in the wall on +the north side of the High Altar. No doubt they were buried under the +pavement. The ancient Statutes of the Order permitted kings and bishops to +be buried in the churches, but assigned no particular part as proper to +them. + +In 1170, a monk named Auliv, who had been expelled[7] from Mellifont, +instigated Manus, the King of Ulster, to commit an "unknown and attrocious +crime," as the _Annals of the Four Masters_ call it; that is, to banish +the monks whom St. Malachy brought to Saul, Co. Down, and to deprive them +of everything they were possessed of. Instances of wicked men deceitfully +entering monasteries, at that time and at other periods of monastic +history, are given, but invariably the guilty party is severely censured, +and it is related that his fellow-monks rid themselves of him. St. Bernard +himself was deceived by his secretary, Nicholas, who afterwards left the +Order. "He went out from us," said the Saint, "but he did not belong to +us." + +The Order was spreading rapidly in Ireland, and the filiations from +Mellifont in their turn sent out new filiations, till most of the +picturesque valleys in this country sheltered and nurtured thriving +establishments; so much so, that O'Daly tells us "there were twenty-five +grand Cistercian abbeys in Ireland at the Invasion." But then a new era +dawned on this unhappy nation, and might usurped the place of right, cruel +unending strife and fierce jealousies were imported into the country, and +it became one vast battle-field. Ireland would have assimilated the two +contending races, but their amalgamation would have been detrimental to +English interests in this kingdom, and hence by statute, by bribe, by all +means available, the representatives of that Crown only too successfully +kept the feuds alive. Fain would they have made the Church an instrument +for the furtherance of these ulterior purposes, but, whilst she stood firm +as an integral part of Peter's Rock, neither English bribes nor English +wiles could subjugate her. True, Englishmen were appointed to the richest +benefices within the Pale to which the English kings had the right of +presentation, and these strove, with as much zeal as the knight or baron, +to extend the boundaries of the shire-lands. But the Irish prelates, by +their disinterestedness, and their personal and episcopal virtues, saved +the Church from the degradation that imperilled her. We shall see the +result of this policy as we proceed. + +Judging, by analogy, from the progress of society in other countries, and +from the relative number of monasteries founded in them and in Ireland +before the Invasion, it may be conjectured that the monastic system in all +its branches would have produced in this country the same fruits in +agriculture, in learning, and in the arts, as are attributed to it in the +history of other nations; and, in a special manner, it would have helped, +by the unity of government enforced in Religious Orders, to bind together +the discordant elements of society. Quite different, however, was it in +Ireland; for the sphere of action of each monastery was cramped, and +confined within a certain radius, beyond which its influences were not +felt, nor regarded otherwise than in a hostile spirit, or at best as an +object of suspicion. + +In 1172, the Abbot of Mellifont was sent to Rome on an embassy by King +Roderic O'Connor. We are not told its nature. + +In 1177, Charles O'Buacalla, then Abbot of this monastery, was elected +Bishop of Emly, where he died within a month after his consecration. In +1182, King Henry II. granted to the Abbot and community of Mellifont a +confirmation of their possessions, and three years later, King John, at +that time styled Lord of Ireland, renewed the confirmation while he was +residing at Castleknock, during his brief visit to this country, in 1185, +the thirty-second year of his father's reign. A copy of the Charter may be +seen in the Miscellany of the Archaeological Society, Vol. I., page 158. +The original, which is one of the earliest of the Anglo-Irish documents +that have come down to us, is preserved in Trinity College, Dublin. By +this Charter King John confirmed to the monks of Mellifont the "donation +and concession" which his father made to them. By it he confirmed to the +monks "the site and ambit of the abbey, with all its appurtenances, +namely, the grange of Kulibudi (not on the Ordnance map), and Munigatinn +(Monkenewtown), with its appurtenances, the granges of Mell and Drogheda +(in Irish Droichet-atha, that is, bridge of the ford) and their +appurtenances, and Rathmolan (Rathmullen) and Finnaur (Femor), with their +appurtenances, the grange of Teachlenni (Stalleen), and the grange of +Rossnarrigh (Rossnaree), with their appurtenances, the townland of Culen +(Cullen) and its appurtenances, the grange of Cnogva (Knowth), the grange +of Kelkalma (not known now), with their appurtenances, Tuelacnacornari +(not known), and Callan (Collon), with their appurtenances, and the grange +of Finna (____) with its appurtenances." He also confirms the grants of +two carucates of land made to the monks by Hugh de Lacy, viz., of Croghan +and Ballybregan (?), and also one carucate of land given by Robert of +Flanders, called Crevoda, now Creewood, two miles west of Mellifont. + +[Illustration: SOUTH WALL OF LECTORIUM. _From Photo by W. Lawrence, +Dublin._] + +In 1186, St. Christian O'Connarchy, or Connery, who had been the first +Abbot of Mellifont and afterwards Bishop of Lismore and Legate of the +Holy See, died, and was buried at O'Dorney, Co. Kerry, a monastery of his +Order, which was founded in 1154, from Manister-Nenay. He had resigned all +his dignities six years before, in order the better to prepare himself for +a happy death. He was enrolled in the Calendar of the Saints of the +Cistercian Order, and his festival was kept in England in pre-Reformation +times, on the 18th March. In the eulogy of him in the Cistercian Menology +it is said, "that he was remarkable for his sanctity and wonderful +miracles, and that next to St. Malachy, he was regarded by the Irish +nation as one of its principal patrons," even down to the time that that +was written, A.D. 1630. An Irish gentleman who visited Italy in 1858, +wrote from Venice to a friend, that he had seen amongst the fresco +paintings which covered the wall of the beautiful church of Chiaravalla, +the first Cistercian monastery founded in Italy, a painting of St. +Malachy; also one entitled, "_S. Christianus Archieps. in Hibernia +Cisterciensis_"--"St. Christian, a Cistercian monk, and Archbishop in +Ireland." The error in ranking him as Archbishop probably arose from his +having succeeded St. Malachy as Legate. It was in his Legatine capacity +that he presided at several Synods, chiefly the memorable one convened by +King Henry at Cashel, in 1172. + +About the same time, there died at Mellifont, a holy monk named Malchus, +who is said to have been St. Christian's brother and successor in the +abbatial office, as has been related above. Ussher, quoting St. Bernard, +positively asserts that he was St. Christian's brother. And Sequin, who, +in 1580, compiled a Catalogue of the Saints of the Cistercian Order, +mentions Malchus in that honoured roll, and styles him "a true contemner +of the world, a great lover of God, and a pattern and model of all +virtues to the whole Order." He says, "he was one of St. Malachy's +disciples in whose footsteps he faithfully followed, and that he was +renowned for his sanctity and learning, as well as for the many miracles +he wrought." His feast was kept on the 28th of June. + +In 1189, Rudolph, or Ralph Feltham, Abbot of Furness, died and was buried +here. And in the same year, died Murrogh O'Carroll, cousin of the Founder, +near whom he was interred. + +In 1190, Pope Clement III. issued a Bull addressed to the General Chapter +of the Cistercian Order, dated July 6th of that year, enrolling St. +Malachy in the Calendar of Saints, and appointing the 3rd of November for +his festival. + +At that same General Chapter, it was decreed that the Irish Abbots be +dispensed from attending the General Chapter annually, and it was decided +that they should be present every third year; and a few years later, the +Abbot of Mellifont was charged to select three of their number who should +repair thither every year. + +In 1193, Dervorgilla died at the monastery of Mellifont. The _Annals of +the Four Masters_ and other Annals simply relate the fact of her having +died there in the 85th year of her age, without alluding to the place of +her sepulture. + +In that year, also, portions of the Relics of St. Malachy were brought to +Mellifont and were distributed to the other houses of the Order in +Ireland. Several of our Annals say that the Saint's body was brought over +from Clairvaux, but that is obviously a mistake; for until the French +Revolution, the bodies of St. Malachy and St. Bernard occupied two +magnificent altar-tombs of red marble within the chancel, at Clairvaux. A +charter, dated 1273, is still extant, whereby Robert Bruce, the rival of +John Baliol for the Scottish Crown, conveys his land of Osticroft to the +Abbot of Clairvaux for the maintenance of a lamp before St. Malachy's tomb +in that church. And the General Chapter of the Order held in 1323, when +raising the Saint's festival to a higher rank, expressly mentioned that +his body "rested" at Clairvaux. Meglinger, a German Cistercian monk, who +visited Clairvaux in 1667, and wrote a description of that famous abbey as +he beheld it, says that he was shown the heads of Saints Malachy and +Bernard, which were preserved in silver cases. He also mentions the superb +altar-tombs of the two Saints. Later on, the two celebrated Benedictine +monks, Dom Martene and Dom Durand, when in quest of MSS., called at +Clairvaux, and were shown the tombs and heads of the Saints. It is +scarcely necessary to remark that this respect and veneration were +entertained for the tombs only because they contained the bodies of the +holy men. + +In 1194, Abbot Moelisa, who then governed Mellifont, was made Bishop of +Clogher. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MELLIFONT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. + + "But I must needs confess + That 'tis a thing impossible to frame + Conceptions equal to the soul's desires; + And the most difficult of tasks to keep + Heights which the soul is competent to gain." + (_Wordsworth._) + + +Sixty years of uninterrupted prosperity have passed over Mellifont, during +which period it has been honoured by princes and people alike, and even +the English Kings have marked their esteem for it by heaping fresh favours +on it. It was still flourishing in 1201, when Thomas O'Connor, Archbishop +of Armagh, whom the Annals of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, style "a noble and +worthy man," chose it as his burial-place, and was buried there with great +honour. He was brother to Roderick O'Connor, King of Connaught. It was at +his instance that Joceline wrote his Life of St. Patrick. + +In 1203, King John "of his own fee" granted a new charter confirming that +given by his father some years before, and also giving the monks free +customs, together with the fishery on both sides of the Boyne. + +In 1206, Benedict and Gerald, monks of Mellifont, were deputed by Eugene, +Archbishop of Armagh, to wait on the King and to tender him, on the +Archbishop's behalf, three hundred marks of silver and three of gold for +restitution of the lands and liberties belonging to that See. It was the +King's custom to appropriate the revenues of the vacant bishoprics, and on +the confirmation by the Pope of the bishop-elect, he issued a writ of +restitution of the temporalities, or episcopal possessions and rights. The +King, in order to keep the temporalities the longer, often refused his +"_conge d'elire_," without which an election was invalid by the civil law. +Soon after the Invasion, King Henry II. held in his possession, pending +the appointment of new prelates, one archbishopric, five bishoprics, and +three abbeys, here in Ireland. + +In 1211, Thomas was Abbot, and seven years later, Carus, or Cormac +O'Tarpa, Abbot, and presumably immediate successor to Thomas, was made +Bishop of Achonry, which See he resigned in 1226, and returned to +Mellifont, where he died that same year, and was buried there. Some +two-and-one-half miles north of Mellifont, and one-half mile east of +Collon, between that village and Tinure, there is a crossing of the roads +still popularly known as "Tarpa's Cross." Local tradition has it that this +Cormac O'Tarpa, when Abbot, was wont to walk daily from the monastery to +this spot. + +About that time, or in 1221, Mellifont, from some unrecorded cause, fell +from its first fervour, but only for a very brief period; for the remedy +applied effected a thorough reform. In the Statutes of the Order for that +year, the General Chapter authorised the Abbot of Clairvaux to set things +right by bringing in monks from other monasteries, and so, as it were, +infuse new and healthier blood into the monastic life there. As no further +mention is made of the matter, the trouble, whatever its nature was, must +have been permanently removed. + +In 1227, Luke Netterville, Archbishop of Armagh, was buried here. It was +he who, three years previous, founded the Dominican monastery in Drogheda, +of which, now, only the Magdalen Tower remains. And in that year (1227), +Gerald, a monk of Mellifont, was elected Bishop of Dromore. + +In 1229, the King granted to the Abbot and Community of Mellifont a +Tuesday market in their town of Collon. + +In 1233, the General Chapter authorised all the Abbots of the Order to +have the Word of God preached on Sundays and festivals, to their servants +and retainers, in some suitable place. And in 1238, the King gave a new +confirmation to the monks of Mellifont. + +In 1248, the General Chapter granted permission to the English and Irish +Abbots of the Order, to hold deliberations on important local matters in +their respective countries. The Abbots of Mellifont, of St. Mary's Abbey, +Dublin, and of Duiske, Co. Kilkenny, were empowered to convoke all the +other Irish Abbots of the Order for consultation; the assembly thus +somewhat partaking of the nature of a Provincial Chapter. + +In 1250, no Englishman would be admitted to profession at Mellifont. In +1269, David O'Brogan, who had been a monk of this house, and afterwards +Bishop of Clogher, was buried here. In 1272, Hore Abbey, near Cashel, was +founded from Mellifont. In 1275, the General Chapter decreed that in the +admission of novices into the Order there should be no question of +nationality. + +Hitherto, the Cistercians confined themselves, in discharging the offices +of their sacred ministry, to their guests, servants, and the sick poor in +the hospitals at their gates; but now, the altered circumstances of the +times demand a change in their usages and impose fresh burdens on them, +for which they get no credit. The new Orders of St. Francis and St. +Dominic had settled down in this country, and were attracting a large +percentage of the young men, who, till then, entered the ranks of the Lay +Brethren, and managed the granges, or outlying farms, under the Cellarer. +In consequence, therefore, of the insufficiency of their numbers to work +the farms profitably, it was found necessary to lease these granges to +tenants, and hence the origin of many villages and towns that, in several +instances, arose on the site of the granges. The chapel attached to the +grange (for every grange had its chapel for the use of the Brothers in +charge) was converted into a parish church for the new population that +clustered around it. Of this church the monks became the pastors, except +when it lay at too great distance to be served from the monastery; in +which case, the monks employed secular priests. They built schools also, +where the children of the tenants and dependants received _gratuitously_ +from the monks themselves, an education similar to that at present +imparted in our primary schools. + +Though the study of Sacred Scripture, Theology, and Canon Law was +encouraged in the Order from its foundation; yet it was not until 1245 +that studies were fully organised by drawing up a curriculum that should +be obligatory. In that year it was ordained by the General Chapter that in +every Province there should be a central monastery to which the monks +should repair to read the prescribed course of studies under members of +the Order, who had graduated at some university. We are not told which of +the Irish monasteries was selected as the House of Studies; but, in 1281, +the General Chapter decided and decreed that in all the larger abbeys such +Houses of Studies should be established. + +There is an entry in the Annals of St. Mary's Abbey, at the year 1281, +giving the price of cattle at that time. As it is interesting it is given +here: viz., twenty shillings each for a horse, a cow, or a bullock. + +In 1306, Mellifont first experienced the baleful effects of racial +jealousies and bickerings; for the monks could not, or would not, agree to +elect an Abbot; and during their dissensions, the King seized the +possessions of the monastery. We are not informed how matters terminated +on that occasion. + +In 1316, the General Chapter ordered that the English, Welsh, and Irish +Abbots should send some of their monks, in proportion to the number in +their respective monasteries, to the University of Oxford, to be educated +there. A few years previous, the Earl of Cornwall endowed at Oxford the +College of St. Bernard (now St. John's), for the Cistercians. How far the +Irish monks availed of this college cannot be known; probably those within +the Pale did largely benefit by it. One who obtained an unenviable +notoriety by his intemperate invectives against the Mendicant Orders, was +educated there--Henry Crump, an Englishman, and monk of the Abbey of +Baltinglas. But it is very dubious that the "_mere_ Irish" ventured to +cross its threshold. They would abstain from doing so from prudential +motives. + +The fourteenth century was ushered in by the repetition of feuds between +the Anglo-Irish and the Irish; and, as it grew older, the former fought +amongst themselves, with Irish auxiliaries on both sides. It may be here +remarked, as a curious historical fact, that it was the Irish who fought +the battles for the English Crown in Ireland; it was they, too, who +retained their country subject to that dominion, according to Sir John +Davis (_Discoverie_, p. 639); for no army ever came out of England from +the time of King John, except the expeditionary army of Richard II. The +few forces subsequently sent over, until the twenty-ninth year of Queen +Elizabeth, were to quell the rebellions of the English settlers. + +The most disastrous calamity in Ireland in this century, next to the great +plague of 1348, or the "Black Death," as it was called, was Bruce's +invasion in 1315. Friar Clyn tells us in his Annals, that Bruce and his +followers "went through all the country, burning, slaying, depredating, +spoiling towns and castles, and even churches, as they went and as they +returned." As a result the country was visited by a dreadful famine, and, +moreover, the Pope, writing to the Archbishops of Dublin and Cashel in +1317, alludes to scandals, murders, conflagrations, sacrileges, and +rapine, as following from that invasion. Though Bruce failed in his object +to overthrow the English power in Ireland, yet he so far succeeded, that +he weakened it considerably. + +In the year 1316 (according to Ussher), O'Neill addressed his famous +Remonstrance to Pope John XXII., in which, amongst other complaints, he +remarked, that the religious communities were prohibited by the law from +admitting anyone not an Englishman into monasteries within the Pale. In +response to this, the Pope sent two Cardinals to investigate the matter, +and also wrote a letter to King Edward II., exhorting him to adopt +merciful measures towards the Irish. The letter had not much effect, and +the cruelties and injustice continued; but, about twenty years later, +there was exhibited an unprecedented tendency on the part of the +Anglo-Irish and the Irish towards incorporation. The Irish people clung to +the great Geraldine family with a romantic affection which that chivalrous +race fully reciprocated. So, too, did they lean towards the rivals of the +Geraldines, the Ormondes, and to other Anglo-Irish barons, who, likewise, +had adopted Irish customs and sirnames. English power in this country had +grown to be regarded as merely nominal, and the administration of the law +and the office of Lord Deputy could no longer be committed to one or other +of the two principal families (the Geraldine or Ormonde), to whom the +Deputyship had been usually entrusted. To preclude the danger of these +haughty noblemen attempting to arrogate the state of the independent +native chieftains, and to firmly establish the English power, a +Parliament, which assembled at Nottingham, in the seventeenth of Edward +III. (1343), enacted laws for the reformation of the Irish Government. A +few months previous to the sitting of this Parliament, Sir Ralph Ufford +had been sent over as Lord Deputy, to stamp out this incipient spirit of +independence, and to impede the fusion of the two races. This nobleman, by +rigid and cruel measures, executed the nefarious intentions of the English +Parliament. He appropriated the goods of others, plundered, without +discrimination, the clergy, the laity, the rich and the poor; assigning +the public welfare as a pretext. He broke down the pride of the Earl of +Desmond, and for a while seized his estates; but, on Ufford's recall to +England and the appointment of Sir Walter Bermingham as his successor, +Desmond was restored to royal favour. Gradually the old animus was +revived, and old dormant jealousies between the two races were awakened, +until, in the year 1376, the "Statute of Kilkenny" threw the whole nation +into a state of commotion and chaos, and aroused a fierce hatred between +the Anglo-Irish and the later arrivals from England, who were styled by +that Act, "the English born in England." The latter despised the former +and called them "Irish Dogg;" the Anglo-Irish retorted, giving them the +name of "English Hobbe," or churl. These bickerings were reprobated by +the said Statute, which, at the same time, banned the whole race of the +native Irish. Sir John Davis writes of it: "It was manifest from these +laws that those who had the government of Ireland under the Crown of +England intended to make a perpetual separation between the English +settled in Ireland and the native Irish, in the expectation that the +English should in the end root out the Irish." And another Englishman +writes of this Statute: "Imagination can scarcely devise an extremity of +antipathy, hatred, and revenge, to which this code of aggravation was not +calculated to provoke both nations" (Plowden, _Historical Review of the +State of Ireland_.) The foregoing summary of the condition of affairs in +Ireland in the fourteenth century has been given, in order to illustrate +and explain the bald historical facts handed down to us having reference +to Mellifont during the same period. + +It will be remembered that in the year 1316, O'Neil complained to the Pope +that Irishmen were by law excluded from entering monasteries within the +Pale; accordingly, we read that in 1322, the monks of Mellifont, amongst +whom the English element then prevailed, would admit no man to profession +there who had not previously sworn that he was not an Irishman. Cox, who +derives his information from some old document in the Tower of London, +tells us that in 1323, the General Chapter of the Order strongly denounced +this pernicious practice, but there is no such decree, nor is there any +allusion to it in Martene at that date. That spirit seems to have been +gratifying to King Edward II.; for, in 1324, he complained to the Pope of +the violation of the law of exclusion, and Nicholas of Lusk, who was then +Abbot, was superseded; very likely, was summarily deposed, for the +infraction of it. + +At that very time, some of the other Cistercian monasteries under the +protection of the native chieftains, and totally composed of Irishmen, +were in a most prosperous condition, and merited the genuine esteem of +princes and people. Thus, the Abbey of Assaroe, or Ballyshannon, under the +fostering care of the Princes of Tyrconel, attained celebrity by the +regularity of its monks and the learning and sanctity of its Abbots, three +of whom were made Bishops at no distant intervals. Of Boyle Abbey, Co. +Roscommon, the same can also be said; for it throve and flourished without +royal favour or charter. On the other hand, Mellifont had a plethora of +charters, for which the monks there must have paid dearly. But, surrounded +as it was by covetous and not over-scrupulous neighbours in lawless times, +such safeguards were decidedly necessary. So, in 1329, Edward III. granted +them a confirmation of all former privileges, together with the right of +free warren in all their manors; and again in 1348, he gave them a fresh +confirmation, with the right to erect a prison in any of their lands in +the Co. Meath, and also the power to erect a pillory and gallows in their +town of Collon. The Abbot then, as a temporal lord over his own manors, +had power of life and death over his vassals therein; but he never +exercised the authority so vested in him by condemning anyone to death, +nay, even, he refrained from adjudicating on civil matters, as is seen by +dispensations granted by Popes to Irish Cistercian Abbots freeing them +from the obligation of acting as Justices. + +It is recorded that in 1329, in the battle in which the Louth men killed +their new Earl, John Birmingham, "there fell Caech O'Carroll, that famous +tympanist and harper, so pre-eminent that he was a phoenix in his art, and +with him fell about twenty tympanists who were his scholars. He was +called Caech O'Carroll because his eyes were not straight, but squinted; +and if he was not the first inventor of chord music, yet of all his +predecessors and contemporaries, he was the corrector, the teacher, and +director." + +How it fared with Mellifont during the fearful pestilence that ravaged all +Europe in 1348, is not related. Friar Clyn, the Franciscan Annalist, wrote +of it:--"That pestilence deprived of human inhabitants, villages and +cities, and castles and towns, so that there was scarcely found a man to +dwell therein." The mortality in the religious houses was very great, and +in some instances, only a few monks were left out of large and numerous +communities. It is said that in these countries the religious Orders never +recovered from the loss of the best and most learned of their members who +were then swept away. + +In 1351, Abbot Reginald was charged, as if it were a crime, and found +guilty, of having within two years collected of his own money, and from +the Abbots of Boyle, Knockmoy, Bective, and Cashel, and of having remitted +the sum of 664 florins to the Abbot of Clairvaux, while war was being +waged between England and France. But there was no treason or treasonable +intent in that; for the money was to defray the current expenses of the +Order, and was levied off every monastery in proportion to the resources +of each. Richard, Coeur de Lion, Alexander II. of Scotland, and Bela IV. +of Hungary had, in their day, contributed largely to this fund. + +In 1358, the Abbot of Mellifont made good his claim to three weirs upon +the Boyne, at Rosnaree, Knowth, and Staleen; but, in 1366, he was indicted +at Trim, for erecting an unlawful weir at Oldbridge, when the Jury found +against him, and he was ordered to reduce the weir to a certain breadth +and space, and he, himself, was sentenced to a term of imprisonment; but, +on his paying a fine of L10 to Roland de Shalesford, the sheriff of the +Co. Meath, this sentence was commuted. Ten years later, John Terrour, +successor to this Abbot, was sued for obstructing the King's passage of +the Boyne. + +In the years 1373 and 1377, the Abbot was summoned to attend Parliaments +held at Dublin and Castledermot respectively. In the former Parliament, +one hundred shillings were ordered to be levied from him, as his portion +of the subsidy granted to the Lord Justice, William de Windesore, by the +same Parliament. In 1380, the King gave a special mandate that no _mere_ +Irishman should be admitted to profession in this abbey. In 1381 and 1382, +the Abbot attended Parliaments held in Dublin, and in 1400, the King +granted a royal confirmation of all the land, manors, and liberties, +bestowed on the abbey by former charters; and in 1402, he pardoned the +Abbot and monks for their having admitted Irishmen to profession. However, +they were mulcted in the sum of L50. In 1415, Leynagh Bermingham, William +Davison, and John D'Alton were committed to the custody of the Abbot to be +kept by him as hostages for the allegiance of their respective fathers. In +1424, the Abbot, with the Archbishop of Armagh and Nicholas Taaffe, was +appointed Justice and Conservator of the Peace for the Co. Louth. + +The allusions to Mellifont during the remainder of this century are very +few and uninteresting. Whether, or not, it shared the fate of many other +Irish monasteries at that time and had no regular Abbot, but one who was +called Abbot _in commendam_, is not known; but the presumption is that it +had not a regular Abbot. These Abbots _in commendam_ were not monks, or +members of any Religious Order; but secular clerics, not necessarily in +Holy Orders. Sometimes, especially when the abuse had reached its greatest +height in the fifteenth century, they were even laymen; nevertheless, they +enjoyed the revenues of the abbeys committed to them, with the style and +title of Abbots, but exercised no spiritual jurisdiction in their abbeys. +This latter was confided to regular Priors who were selected by their own +Religious superiors. When laymen held the abbeys _in commendam_ they +commonly resided in them with their wives, families, retinues, servants, +etc., to the distraction and interference with the monks in their regular +observances, and finally, to the complete subversion of discipline. At +that very time this pernicious practice had brought the whole Order to the +brink of ruin; for we find the General Chapter on several occasions +deploring the injuries inflicted on religion, and lamenting the havoc +wrought by it, and they decided to send three of their number to Rome to +implore the Pope's protection against the growing evil. Still, it +survived, more or less, in these countries till the Reformation. Scotland +suffered more from it, apparently, than Ireland did, as can be seen from +the lists furnished by Brady in his _Episcopal Succession_. + +In 1476, the Abbot of Mellifont complained, that "owing to oppressions and +extortions within the County of Louth and Uriell, his monastery was +greatly indebted and impoverished." Certain it is, that for some time +previous, it had fallen from its former regularity and fervour; but, +through the zeal and tact of Abbot Roger who then governed it, it regained +its wonted prominence amongst the most observant monasteries. In 1479, +this same Roger having set forth to the King that he had "Jurisdiction +Ecclesiastical of all persons within his lands, as well secular as +ecclesiastical, the King, out of his love to the Cistercian Order, +granted to the Abbot and his successors, the _Jus de excommunicatis +capiendis_, and episcopal jurisdiction," (Stat. Roll. 19 Ed. IV., c. 5.) +The former privilege refers to the concession made to the Church by the +first clause of the Statute of Kilkenny, and which had been confirmed by +subsequent Parliaments for centuries after its first enactment. Under the +heading--"The Church to be free--Writ _De Excommunicato capiendo_," the +clause proceeds to ordain, "that Holy Church shall have all her franchises +without injury, ... and if any (which God forbid) do to the contrary, and +be excommunicated by the Ordinary of the place for that cause, so that +satisfaction be not made to God and Holy Church by the party so +excommunicated within a month after such excommunication, that then, after +certificate thereupon being made by the said Ordinary into the Chancery, a +writ shall be directed to the Sheriff, Mayor, Seneschal of the franchise, +or other officers of the King, to take his body, and to keep him in prison +without bail, until due satisfaction be made to God and Holy Church, etc." +By episcopal jurisdiction is here meant the civil rights and privileges +appertaining to the episcopal office, and enjoyed at that time by bishops +over their subjects, lay and clerical. And as to the spiritual, +quasi-episcopal jurisdiction--the Abbots of the Order had that as well as +exemption in relation to their own monks from the very foundation of the +Order; but by a Decree dated 28th September 1487, Pope Innocent VIII. +granted to all Cistercian Abbots quasi-episcopal jurisdiction over their +tenants, vassals, subjects, and servants. By this Decree, the Pope "took +all the Abbots, Abbesses, Monks and Nuns of the Order under his special +protection, together with all their goods, vassals, subjects, and +servants, and exempted and freed the same from _all jurisdiction, +superiority, correction, visitation_, subjection and power of Archbishops, +Bishops and their Vicars, etc., ... and subjected them immediately to +himself and the Holy See." This Decree is given in full in the _Privilegia +Ordinis Cisterciensis_, p. 179. + +That the Abbots of the Order exercised that privilege in this country +cannot be doubted. We read an instance of it in the _Triumphalia_, so ably +edited by the late Father Denis Murphy, S.J., where, even after the +Council of Trent and so recently as 1621, a certain secular priest, who +had been appointed by the Abbot of Holy Cross to the pastoral charge of +the parish attached to that abbey and of one or more outlying parishes +subject to the same Abbot, denied after some time, that he had his +faculties from the said Abbot, but rather from the Archbishop, or his +Vicar. The controversy lasted long, but finally, it was decided in the +Abbot's favour, and Dr. Kearney, then Archbishop of Cashel, acknowledged +the Abbot's title. And again, in the _Spicelegium Ossoriense_ there is a +letter from Dr. O'Reilly, Archbishop of Armagh, written to the Propaganda +in 1633, in which he complained that the Cistercians claimed the privilege +of "_Visitation, Correction, Summoning to Synods, Approbation to hear +confessions, together with entire and absolute episcopal jurisdiction_." +And a further proof in favour of the practice is found in the fact that +laymen who acquired the suppressed monasteries of the Order claimed and +exercised that same privilege. Thus, in 1622, Archbishop Ussher in a +Report of Bective parish said it belonged to Bartholomew Dillon, Esq. of +Riverstown, his Majesty's farmer of the impropriate property. "This church +belongeth to the Abbey of Bectiffe, in the possession of the said Mr. +Dillon, who pretendeth to have an exemption from the Lord Bishop's +jurisdiction, and doth prove wills and grant administrations." And in +1744, Harris writes of Newry, where once was a Cistercian Abbey also: "A +mitred Abbot formerly possessed the lordships of Newry and Mourne, and +exercised therein Episcopal Jurisdiction, which after the dissolution of +the Abbey was done by the temporal proprietor, and at the present Robert +Needham, Esq., to whom the town and manor belong, enjoys an exempt +Jurisdiction within the said manors, and the seal of his court is a Mitred +Abbot in his Albe sitting in a chair, and supported by two yew trees with +this inscription: '_Sigillum exemptae Jurisdictionis de Viride Ligno alias +Newry et Mourne_.'" Which in English means, the seal of the Exempt +Jurisdiction of Newry and Mourne. Verily! this savours of Popery; for, it +was from the Pope the monks received their exemption. A modern example of +this Papal concession, exercised in the Anglican Church, is to be found in +the case of the Dean of Westminster who is immediately under the +jurisdiction of her Gracious Majesty the Queen, and consequently exempt +from that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is as successor to the Abbot +of Westminster that he claims and is allowed that privilege of exemption; +for the Abbot was immediately subject to the Pope in pre-Reformation +times. + +The Abbot of Mellifont was implicated in the rebellion of Lambert Simnel; +for in 1488, he received pardon from the King for his offences in that +connection. The close of the fifteenth century found Mellifont recovering +and maintaining its old prestige amongst the Religious Orders of this +country, and with the dawning of a new century, it had regained its former +level, from which a host of circumstances had conspired to drag it down +and to degrade it. These circumstances have been already detailed and need +not be here repeated. + +In civil matters, Ireland in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, +presented the same, or nearly the same, condition as she did more than +three centuries before, when the English first landed on her shores. The +Pale was literally bounded by the Liffey and the Boyne, and the old feuds, +the long-protracted wars between the Anglo-Irish and the natives still +subsisted. The regular administration of the law was limited to the four +counties adjoining the capital, called the "Four Obedient Counties." It +seems incontestable that religion was in a flourishing condition in this +country during the period; for an unwonted activity and fervour animated +both clergy and people, as can be inferred from the number of religious +houses established; the frequency of Synods held denoting zeal and +regularity on the part of the prelates convening them; and the common +practice, so much then in vogue, of visiting, through a spirit of penance +and devotion, the Holy Places at home and in far-off countries. Our Annals +prove this to demonstration. But, it must be borne in mind that the spirit +of exclusion was still in full force amongst the Anglo-Irish clergy, and +no Irishman was eligible for benefices within the Pale. Learning, which is +ever the handmaid of true piety, found its home as in ancient times +amongst the two classes of the clergy, the secular and regular. The number +of learned works published at that time clearly proves it. Amongst the +many eminent men who then adorned the Church in Ireland, Maurice O'Fihely, +Archbishop of Tuam, ranks foremost. His biographers, for he had many, +inform us, that he "was eminent for his extraordinary knowledge in +Divinity, Logic, Philosophy, and Metaphysics," that he published a +Dictionary of the Holy Scriptures, and was styled by his contemporaries at +home and abroad, "The Flower of the World." He had been a Franciscan +Friar before his promotion to the See of Tuam, but did not long survive +his appointment. + +Now, capital has been made by some writers out of a description of the +Church in Ireland taken from the State Papers, Part III., Vol. II., pp. +15, 16. If it reflected a true picture, a Reformation would indeed have +been needed, but not the kind introduced by Henry VIII., nurtured by +Edward VI., and propagated with fire and sword by Elizabeth. The Report +states: "Some sayeth, that the prelates of the Church and the clergy is +much the cause of all the mysse order of the land, for there is no +archbyshop, ne bysshop, abbot, ne prior, parson ne vicar, ne any other +person of the church, high or lowe, greate or smalle, Englysh or Irishe, +that usythe to preach the worde of Godde, saveing the poor fryers +beggars."... "Some sayeth"--Who were these "Some," or what was their +assertion worth? Were they parties who benefited by the disturbance of the +old order of things at the Suppression, and so suspected of having been +partial, and eager to seek any and every palliation for the State Church +as by law established. Now every student of Irish history, as contained in +our Annals, knows that that anonymous statement is unwarranted by fact. It +will suffice to take two instances, as we find them recorded in Dowling's +_Annals_ about this time, to show the fallacy of the accusation of +wholesale neglect of preaching the Word of God. Of Nicholas Maguire, +Bishop of Leighlin, 1490-1512, Dowling (Protestant Chancellor of Leighlin) +writes: "When he was Prebendary of Ullard, he preached and delivered great +learning with no less reverence, being in favour with the King and +nobility of Leinster, who, together with the Dean and Chapter, elected him +Bishop of Leighlin." And of Maurice Deoran, or Doran, who a few years +later succeeded him in Leighlin, Dowling again writes: "He was a most +eloquent preacher." It cannot be denied that at that time some Church +dignitaries affected the airs and magnificence of worldly magnates, nor +that they gave scandal to their flocks by their absenteeism. Other abuses, +no doubt, existed, but the watchful providence of God had made provision +for their removal through His authorised ministers. But, alas! a new +condition of affairs shall soon arise. The most powerful political engine +ever fabricated for the extension of the English power in Ireland shall be +introduced, one which shall eventually break up the tribe lands, +annihilate the sway of the ancient chieftains, and reduce their +impoverished descendants to the condition of serfs and menials. And this +shall be called reforming the Church! Even in this revolution, Mellifont +shall play her part, and become revolutionized and misappropriated. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SUPPRESSION OF MELLIFONT. + + "No more shall Charity with sparkling eyes, + And smiles of welcome, wide unfold the door, + Where pity listening still to nature's cries, + Befriends the wretched and relieves the poor." + (_Keats._) + + +The Religious Orders, which succeed each other in the Catholic Church, are +subject to laws similar to those that govern the productions of nature. +They grow from feeble and imperceptible seeds, increase, flourish, and +bear fruit; then decrease, fade, and fall to the ground. But they have +produced a fruit, which contains within it the germs of a new seed-time, +and which bursts forth vigorously from the decaying sheath to reproduce +its never-failing kind. This work of reproduction and subsequent expansion +is aided, directed, and encouraged by him, to whom is divinely committed +the government of the Church; and when pseudo, self-styled reformers essay +the difficult task, their true character is unmasked in the inevitable +ruin and desolation which follow, instead of the order and rehabilitation +which were promised. Bluff King Hal, or the Merrie Monarch, as Henry VIII. +was familiarly and affectionately called by his loving subjects in the +beginning of his reign, was in need of money to squander on his passions +and pleasures. In his newly assumed character, therefore, of Head of the +Church in his dominions (which, by Act of Parliament, he made it high +treason to deny), he suppressed the lesser monasteries whose annual income +did not exceed L200. This was done, forsooth, in the interests of +religion!!! The proceeds of the confiscation were soon dissipated, and the +wily Cromwell, whom the King had appointed his _Vicar General_, suggested +the suppression and appropriation to the King's uses, of all the +monasteries within the realm. Again it is his zeal for the promotion of +God's glory that is pleaded as his motive for the nefarious deed. Three +years before, when addressing the Houses of Parliament in behalf of the +measure for the suppression of the lesser monasteries, he publicly gave +thanks to God, that in the large communities "religion is right well kept +and observed." And yet, what a metamorphosis in such a short space! All +had now fallen away, and had inexplicably sunk into all manner of +iniquity! Spelman, in his _History of Sacrilege_, tells the mode adopted +by this model Reformer to carry his motion for investing in the Crown the +property of all the Religious Orders. "The King sent for the Commons," he +tells us, "and informed them he would have the Bill pass, or take off some +of their heads." This they knew to be no empty threat; and pass the Bill +they did on that memorable day of May 13, 1539. The Lords, as a body, +voted for it; partly through a feeling of jealousy towards the Churchmen, +who enjoyed no inconsiderable share of the monarch's confidence and +favour, and so they rejoiced at whatever promised to destroy this good +understanding between them; and partly through cupidity, for they hoped +for a share in the booty. The Bishops at that juncture are blamed for +their weakness in complying with so unjust a proceeding; but they were +divided in their councils; some considering it the less of two evils to +sacrifice the Religious houses, in the hope that the misunderstanding +between the King and the Pope would be soon adjusted and the monks +restored, yielded to the King; others, unworthy of their office, as it +must be admitted, worldly men, courtly prelates, who dreaded the King's +displeasure, obsequiously obeyed his mandate. + +Besides his greed for gold, the King had another potent motive for +suppressing the monasteries, one that gave a zest to this disgraceful act: +he wanted the further to spite the Pope by inflicting such an unheard-of +injury on religion. Other motives, too, were not wanting, such as state +policy, so the King alleged, and the want of constant affection towards +his person on the part of the Religious, particularly in his new capacity. +This, Lord Herbert (who was no friend of the monks) admits in his Life of +the King. His Lordship writes: "The monks were looked upon as a body of +reserve for the Pope, and always ready to appear in his quarrels." +Perhaps, their opposition to the King's assumption of spiritual power +precipitated matters. At all events, one of them, zealous for God's law, +had the courage to reproach him to his face in a sermon preached at +Greenwich before the King's marriage with Anne Boleyn. This fearless +champion of justice, this intrepid son of St. Francis, thus addressed the +dissolute monarch:--"I am that Micheas, O King, whom you will hate because +I must tell you truly that this marriage is unlawful; and I know that I +shall eat the bread of affliction and drink the water of sorrow; yet, +because our Lord has put it in my mouth, I must speak it." And when he and +another faithful brother friar were brought before the King's council, who +rebuked them, and declared them deserving of being shut up in a sack, and +thrown into the Thames, for the boldness of their language in the matter +of the King's marriage, his companion smiling said: "Threaten these things +to the rich and dainty persons, who are clothed in purple, and fare +deliciously, and have their chiefest hope in this world; for we esteem +them not, but are joyful, that, for the discharge of our duty we are +driven hence; and, with thanks to God, we know the way to heaven to be as +ready by water as by land." (Stowe, _Church Chronicle_.) + +It was not, then, for dissoluteness of morals, nor for illiteracy, nor for +backwardness in preaching the Word of God, nor yet for being drones in +society, that the monks were turned from their peaceful homes. The true +cause was, that the King knew, and his criminal advisers also knew, that +the monasteries were as impregnable fortresses, which in defence of truth +and justice, would hold out firm against seductive bribes, and the most +appalling threats; hence they must be swept away under plea of general +corruption of morals, etc., and their properties held up as a bait to draw +over proselytes to the new order of things. The historian, Lingard, +writing of the attitude of the monks towards the King's supremacy in +spiritual matters, says: "Secluded from the world, the Religious felt +fewer temptations to sacrifice their consciences to the commands of their +Sovereign, and seemed more eager to court the crown than to flee the pains +of martyrdom." + +Here, in Ireland, one of the King's advisers counselled him to suppress +some of the monasteries, and to convert them into residences for young +noblemen, who would promote and defend the King's interests. Patrick +Finglas, created by Henry VIII. Chief Baron of the King's Exchequer, and +afterwards Lord Chief Justice, wrote a book entitled: "A Breviate of the +getting of Ireland and of the decay of the same," in which he recommends +the suppression of the monasteries bordering on the Pale, "because they +were giving more aid and supportacion to the Irish than to the King." "Let +the Abbeys," he goes on to say, "be given to young lords, knights, and +gentlemen out of England, which shall dwell upon the same." This advice +seemed good to the King, and it was literally carried out, but to far +greater extent than this astute lawyer had anticipated. + +Mellifont, in common with the other Religious establishments in Ireland +within grasp of the King (for in Ulster, they were free from molestation +under O'Neil and O'Donnell), must have heard with dismay the rumours +afloat about a general suppression, and grief and consternation must have +filled the hearts of the monks. Was it possible, they asked, that the +King, whose person they respected, whose laws they obeyed, would drive +them forth, wanderers over the world, which many of them had renounced in +early youth; and now, without adequate provision, were they, in their +declining years, to perish by the roadside? Were their beautiful church, +their loved cloister, their shady groves, no more to shelter them, and +were they to sever connection with a spot endeared to them by so many holy +associations? Yes, it is true, alas! for the Abbot of St. Mary's, Dublin, +being nearer authentic sources of information, has heard it and has sent +word, that sentence is passed on all, and their doom has sounded; for the +following Royal Commission was forwarded to the Deputy, with peremptory +orders to have it executed forthwith:-- + +Royal Commission directed to John Allen, Chancellor; George, Archbishop of +Dublin; William Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; Robert Cowley, Master of the +Rolls; and Thomas Cusacke, Esq.; reciting, "That from the information of +trustworthy persons, it being manifestly apparent that the monasteries, +abbeys, priories, and other places of Religious or Regulars, in Ireland, +are at present in such a state, that in them, the praise of God and the +welfare of man are next to nothing regarded; the Regulars and nuns +dwelling there being so addicted, partly to their own superstitious +ceremonies, partly to the pernicious worship of idols, and to the +pestiferous doctrines of the Roman Pontiff, that unless an effectual +remedy be promptly provided, not only the weak, low order, but the whole +Irish people, may be speedily infected to their total destruction. To +prevent, therefore, the longer continuance of such Religious men and nuns +in so damnable a state, the King (having resolved to resume into his hands +all the monasteries and Religious houses, for their better reformation, to +remove from them the Religious men and women, and to cause them to return +to some honest mode of living and to true religion,) directs the +Commissioners to signify this his intention to the heads of Religious +houses; to receive their resignations and surrenders willingly tendered; +to grant to those tendering it liberty of exchanging their habit and of +accepting benefices under the King's authority; to apprehend and punish +such as adhere to the Roman Pontiff and contumaciously refuse to surrender +their houses; to take charge for the King's use of the possession of those +houses, and assign competent pensions to those who willingly surrender." +(_Patent and Close Rolls, Chancery, Ireland_, Morrin, 1539-40, April 30, +Henry VIII., 30o, p. 55.) + +Most marvellous, indeed, and sudden, and quite unprecedented in history, +was this utter decadence from godliness to "idolatry and the pestiferous +doctrine of the Roman Pontiff" on the part of 100,000 persons within the +space of three short years! But, behold! the godly monarch will reform +them (supposing they needed reform) in the fashion recorded in the old +English proverb: "The devil amended his dame's leg; when he should have +set it right, he brake it quite in pieces." That the Deputy, Lord Gray, +did not consider the monks and nuns an effete body, addicted to evil +practices, will appear evident from the letter he addressed to Cromwell, +and which was signed by his Council. It bears date 21st May 1539:-- + +"May it please your honourable Lordship to be advertised, that by the +report of Thomas Cusacke and others repaired lately out of the realm of +England into this land, it hath been openly bruited the King's grace's +pleasure to be, that all the monasteries within this land should be +suppressed, none to stand. Amongst which, for the common weal of this +land, if it might stand with King's most gracious pleasure by your good +Lordship's advertisement, in our opinion it were right expedient that six +houses should stand and continue, changing their habit and rule into such +sort as the King's grace shall will them: which are namely, St. Mary's +Abbey, adjoining Dublin, a house of white monks (Cistercians); Christ +Church, a house of canons situated in the middle of the City of Dublin; +Grace Dieu Nunnery, in the County Dublin; Connell, in the County Kildare; +Kenlys or Kells, and Jerpoint (this latter Cistercian also), in the County +Kilkenny. _For in these commonly, and in others such like_, in default of +common inns, which are not in this island the King's Deputy and all others +his Grace's Council and Officers, also Irishmen and others resorting to +the King's Deputy in these quarters is and hath been most commonly lodged +at the cost of the said houses. _Also, in them, young men and children, +both gentlemen's children and others, both of man kind and woman kind be +brought up in virtue and in the Englishe tongue and behaviour to the great +charge of the said houses_; that is to say, the woman kind of the whole +Englishie of this land, for the most part, in the said nunnery, and the +man kind in the other houses." + +And the Abbot of St. Mary's, petitioning soon after for exemption from the +general suppression, pleads in a letter to the same Cromwell: "Verily we +be but stewards and purveyors to other men's uses for the King's honour, +keeping hospitality, and many poor men, scholars and orphans." + +All petitions are unavailing; the King is inexorable; and St. Mary's and +Mellifont, and the others included in the original list must go down +before the despot's unholy will, untried, unheard, but with the nation's +regret, those alone excepted, who thirsted for and shared the sacrilegious +booty. Before the lamp of piety and learning be extinguished for ever in +Mellifont, let us take a parting glance at it, so that the contrast may be +the more marked as we note its vicissitudes later on. + +In that bright July morning (1539), when the bell summoned the monks of +Mellifont to matins for the last time, the sun rose over as fair a picture +as could well be conceived, when its brilliant rays shot floods of light +through the woods and valley, and gilt the quivering tree-tops with +lustrous gold. And the enormous piles of white masonry looked whiter for +the glinting of the sun-beams, and many a fantastic shadow was cast on the +tesselated pavement in the church by the "dim religious light" of the +gorgeous stained glass windows. The statues of the Twelve Apostles looked +down patronisingly from lofty pedestals, and bore the minds of the +beholders aloft, to where the guerdon awaits the faithful soldier of +Christ when his term of service here below shall have expired. Loud rose +the rhythmic measure of the majestic Gregorian Chant rendered by over one +hundred full-voiced singers on that beautiful morning, ere yet the skylark +shook the dew-drops from his wings, or intoned his early carol o'er the +meadows by the Boyne. The pealing of the organ sounded loud and louder as +they chanted their solemn Mass, but to many who then took part in that +sacred function, its plaintive notes presaged the speedy end of their +time-honoured establishment, which at any moment may receive the fatal +visit of the Commissioners. In its internal economy it was wisely and +worthily governed, its community numbered 150 Choir monks, besides Lay +Brothers and familiars, its schools were prosperous, and from their +widespread reputation, merited the title of "famous" which was accorded +them. The children of the monks' tenants received a free education here; +moreover, the monks conducted a school, which we would now call a +seminary, where gentlemen's children and others were taught the higher +branches suited to prepare them for their career in after-life. Their +peaceful valley was screened on every side from wintry blasts by tasteful +plantations, useful and ornamental; for a thickly planted orchard, chiefly +of apple and pear trees, which covered both sides of the River Mattock +from the mill to where the bridge now spans the river, survived till +within the memory of many still living who describe it as having been so +dense that one could cross the valley on the tops of them. The grounds +surrounding the monastery were laid out with commendable taste; the lands +yielded plentiful crops, and supported numerous herds of cattle. The hill +south-east of the abbey was covered over with oak of gigantic size--the +growth of centuries--and on the Meath side were screens of valuable +timber. Their tenants were contented and prosperous; for the monks were +indulgent landlords. Their rents were paid in kind, and for the rest, they +found a ready market always at the abbey, where a huge supply of +provisions was constantly needed for the strangers and the poor who sought +and found a ready welcome there. + +The spiritual wants of the tenants and dependants were attended to by one +of the monks, John Byrrel, whose name occurs first in the list of those +belonging to Mellifont to whom pensions were granted. He is styled Parson +of Mellifont. It is probable, too, that others of the abbey priests +ministered to Tullyallen parish (though it is scarcely probable that the +present parish is conterminous with the old one), to Monknewtown and +Donore; for in the English Episcopal Registers, twelve volumes of which +have been recently published, it is noted that their brethren in England +served the parishes in the immediate vicinity of the monasteries; and, +moreover, we find in the list of pensioners of other Cistercian houses in +Ireland, the names of three or more, in the same monastery, who are called +parsons. Medical advice and medicine were dispensed gratis at the Abbey. +The sick poor were visited and cared for in their homes by physicians +employed by the monks; they were also admitted into the hospital at the +gate. On fixed days weekly, the poor of the locality came for and received +loaves of bread which were specially baked for them, and meat in +abundance, with beer, was distributed to them. In those days there were no +poor laws; for the monks provided for all the wants of the indigent. The +monks were in constant touch with all classes of society, at least the +principal officers were, and they were the advisers, as well as the +instructors, of all. The History of the English Abbeys of the Order, or +the fragments that have survived the vandalism of the Dissolution, and +which have been published by impartial Protestants, clearly prove that +this picture of far-reaching and ungrudging beneficence is by no means +fanciful. (_See Ruined Abbeys of Britain, by Frederick Ross._) The Abbot +of Mellifont took a prominent place in the councils of the nation. He +ranked as a Peer, and had a seat in the House of Lords before all the +other Religious superiors, twenty-three more of whom were privileged to +sit there. He was bound to supply a certain number of horsemen for the +King's musters, and to maintain them at his own charge. Tradition has it +that he could ride on his own territory from the sea at Drogheda to the +Shannon at Athlone, but this requires confirmation. He owned some 4,000 +acres at the suppression, extending on the south side of the Boyne from +Drogheda to Rossnaree, and on the north, to Slane, including the fisheries +and five salmon weirs on the river. He rented the fishing of sixteen +corraghs at Oldbridge, for which he got L13 13s. 4d. annually. The _town_ +of Tullyallen belonged to him. It was then in a flourishing condition, but +has fallen since from its rank as a town to that of a mere village, +composed of a few scattered cottages. The district was then populous; for +another village grew up near the Abbey occupied by tradesmen and +dependants who were constantly employed by the monks. It was called Doagh. +It is now level with the field. It stood a quarter of a mile north-west of +Mellifont, beyond the Mattock. Its site is an elevated plateau, locally +known as the Doagh Meadows. The entire annual revenue of the Abbey was +estimated at L316, which, allowing for the difference in value of money +since, would be equivalent to an income of close on L4,000 at the present +day. On that the monks maintained themselves and a large staff of +servants, "kept hospitality, and many poor men, scholars, and orphans." +The Abbot entertained his guests daily at his own table in a spacious +building apart from the monks' quarters, and was a man of light and +leading, unlike the helpless imbecile portrayed by Scott in his novels. +The Abbot was chosen, often from some distant monastery, for his aptitude +"in governing souls," which was the paramount consideration with St. +Benedict in the selection of a superior. He should be learned, and sound +both in doctrine and morals, to be entrusted with such a charge. It is +only too true that unworthy persons, contrary to the Canons, were +sometimes intruded into the position by powerful relatives, and they, +alas! generally brought disgrace on religion. + +As to the spiritual condition of Mellifont at the time of its suppression, +it was certainly on a high level. No charge was brought against that +community, on that score, even by its worst enemies; none but the general +ones mentioned in the Commission. In truth and in fact, the observances +then in force at Mellifont were identical with those introduced by Abbot +Christian and practised at Clairvaux by St. Bernard and his saintly +companions. If they were "idolatrous," and "superstitious," and savouring +of the "pestiferous doctrines of the Roman Pontiff," so must have been the +ancient practices of the Cistercians; and wonderful indeed was it, that +till King Henry and his advisers discovered it, our ancestors, for four +hundred years at least, approved of and took part in these same practices +without a suspicion of the "pernicious" errors they were now found to +contain! In the matter of discipline alone was there any decadence, and +then the altered conditions of the times demanded some modifications. The +use of flesh meat three days in the week was introduced, and instead of +manual labour, other duties were substituted, such as teaching, copying, +study, etc. In their daily lives, we are told by Rev. Dr. Gasquet, O.S.B., +perhaps the greatest living authority in such matters, that the +Cistercians at that time differed little from the Benedictines. + +Such was the condition of Mellifont on that fatal day, the 23rd July +1539, when the Commissioners, with an armed band, demanded admission and +surrender, in the King's name. Remonstrance with them was vain, and the +usual formality was gone through. They seized on the charters, registers, +ledgers, etc., together with the keys of the treasury and store-rooms; +took an inventory of all the possessions of the monastery, and sealed the +Library and strong room. They, then, summoned the Abbot and all the monks +to the Chapter-house, to sign the Act of Surrender. In the Calendar of +Patent and Close Rolls, Chancery, Ireland, Henry VIII. (edited by James +Morrin), the synopsis of it is given as follows at p. 135:--"Surrender of +the Abbey or House of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Mellyfount, in the County +of Louth, by Richard Contoure, Abbot, with the consent of the Convent; and +of the church, belfry, cemetery, manors, lands, and all its possessions in +the counties of Dublin, Kildare, and Carlow, with all charters, evidences, +muniments, goods, utensils, ornaments and jewels."--July 23, 31o. (1539). +"Endorsed on the preceding surrender is a memorandum that the Abbot and +Convent, assembled in the Chapter-house, voluntarily acknowledged the +preceding surrender, delivered it into the hands of the Lord Chancellor, +and prayed it might be enrolled in Chancery, _in perpetuam rei memoriam_. +Witness, George, Archbishop of Dublin; Wm. Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; +Robert Cowley, Master of the Rolls." July 23, 31o. + +How often have these "voluntary" surrenders been flaunted by writers +hostile to the monks, as if the farce of signing the document which made +them beggars were a free act! They were anxious, forsooth, to shake off +the burden of their religious obligations, through the facile dispensation +so liberally accorded by the new Head of the Church, in the flush of his +accession to ecclesiastical supremacy! The late scholarly and +liberal-minded Dean Butler, Protestant Rector of Trim, wrote thus on the +subject:--"The form of surrender then executed omitted no property which +could belong to the house.... There were added their charters, evidences, +writings and manuscripts, their goods, chattels, utensils, ornaments, +jewels, and debts, all these were granted to the King, to be disposed of +at his good pleasure, without appeal or complaint, and the unhappy men +_were forced to declare_, that they thus deprived themselves of house and +home _of their own free will_, and that they put an end to a venerable +institution, to which they were bound by so many solemn obligations, +certain just and reasonable causes thereto moving their minds and their +consciences." (_Register of the Priory of All Hallows._ Preface, p. xxix.) + +The next step was, there and then, to auction off all the moveables of the +monastery, except the jewels of the rich reliquaries, chalices, and other +sacred vessels, with the plate and bells, which formed the King's special +perquisite. The whole artistic woodwork of the church (choir and +wainscotting) was smashed in pieces, and even the very tombs of the +founders and others interred there, were sold and carted off. For a +description of the work of destruction, as related by an eye-witness of +such vandalism at the suppression of an English Cistercian monastery, see +_The Irish Cistercians_, p. 45. The sale realised L141 7s. 3d., but no +detailed account is given of the sum that each article fetched. According +to another Commission addressed to John Allen, Chancellor; William +Brabazon, Vice-Treasurer; and Robert Cowley, Master of the Rolls; dated +May 20, 1539, the proceeds of such sales were ordered to be allocated "to +pay the officers and servants of the Crown." When the church and monastery +were dismantled, and every article of value, no matter how trifling, had +been removed, the order to clear out the monks was promptly given and +executed; and the gates were shut behind them. Whither they went nobody +cared, and whither to go was a problem to themselves difficult to be +solved; for without money or provision, they were in a worse condition +than the most destitute of beggars. The hoary old walls caught up their +groans and lamentations on that day, as with breaking hearts they looked +upon each familiar spot for the last time. This is one of the secrets the +old stones of the few remaining buildings yet withhold from us. Mellifont +beheld many moving spectacles during the four centuries of her existence, +but none, perhaps, so deeply affecting as when her 150 children, amongst +whom were the aged, tottering on the brink of the grave and leaning for +support on some younger brethren, turned their back upon their happy home +where they enjoyed an anticipated paradise. As the sad procession slowly +gained the top of the hill, many a time they turned to take a last +farewell look at their beloved monastery, till it faded from their view +for ever. A few shillings each were allowed them for their immediate +wants, but of that multitude only thirteen and the Abbot received +pensions. This grant was fixed for them three days after their expulsion, +after which they all disappear from the scene as effectually as if the +Boyne had engulphed them. + +The following entries are found in the Patent and Close Rolls Calendar, +Henry VIII., pp. 59, 60: "Pension of L40 Ir. to Richard Contour, late +Abbot of Mellyfount, payable out of the parishes of Knockmohan, Donowre, +and Monkenewton, with clause of distress."--Sept. 10, 1539. And at p. 60, +_ibid._, "Pension to John Byrrell, late parson of Mellifount, L3 6s. 8d.; +to Thomas Bagot, L4; to Peter Rewe, 40/-; to Thomas Alen, 53/4; to +William Norreis, 40/-; to Robert Nangle, 40/-; to Patrick Contour, 53/4; +to William Veldon, L3 6s. 8d.; to Patrick Lawles, 40/-; to John Ball, +40/-; to Clement Bartholomewe, 20/-; to Phelim O'Neil, 20/-; payable out +of the rents and lands of the parishes of Knockamowan, Donower, and +Montnewton" (Monknewtown), 26 July, 1539. + +Thus, then, were these fourteen provided for, but, of the others, not one +received a single shilling, except, as has been said, a mere pittance that +sufficed to procure them a few nights' shelter. This is no picture drawn +from fancy; it is a well-authenticated fact, that where a peaceful +surrender was not given or signed, no provision whatsoever was made for +those who so refused. They were given a trifle at their expulsion, and +turned adrift to swell the army of beggars, or to perish, as they did in +hundreds, of hardships to which they were unaccustomed. The imagination +cannot now well conceive the heartless, wanton cruelty then practised on +the expelled Religious; who, if they had betrayed their consciences and +taken the oath of Supremacy, might have staved off, at least for a time, +the calamities that befell them. But only for a time; for in some +instances where the monks, through mistaken notions, obeyed the Royal +mandate, they shared the fate of their more steadfast brethren, owing to +the insatiable rapacity of the King and his advisers. To those of the +expelled who were priests, the hope was held out to them, in case of "free +surrender," that they should be promoted to the first vacant benefices. As +not one of the Religious expelled from Mellifont is enrolled on the list +of those promoted to vacancies during that or the subsequent reigns, it is +obvious that they held fast to their principles, and denied the King's +Supremacy, an acknowledgment of which was indispensable before +promotion. All honour to them for their generous sacrifices, which made +them worthy to be the last who saw the venerable institution reel and fall +beneath the despot's blows. Their noble attitude was befitting the close +of a work which was inaugurated with such splendour amid a nation's +rejoicing. Like the setting sun, Mellifont disappeared in a halo of glory. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +MELLIFONT BECOMES THE HOME OF A NOBLE FAMILY--IS SOLD, AND IS DELIVERED UP +TO RUIN AND DECAY. + + "Mute is the matin bell, whose early call + Warn'd the grey fathers from their humble beds; + No midnight taper gleams along the wall, + Or, round the sculptur'd saint its radiance sheds." + (_Keats._) + + +The long line of distinguished men being thus rudely and abruptly +terminated at Mellifont, with the suppression of the monastery, all +memorials of their history were lost, and no trace of them has been left. +Not a book, nor cross, nor chalice, register, nor chartulary remains. It +appears that Mellifont had its Annalist and its Annals like _all_ the +other monasteries of the Order in Ireland; for Bishop Nicolson, who wrote +his "Irish National Library" in 1724, says: "The Annals of Ireland from +the foundation of this Abbey in 1142 to the year 1500, are, or were +lately, in the hands of some of the learned men of this kingdom." He does +not tell us the name of the compiler, but only the fact that they had +been written at Mellifont. These are not cited by later writers, so they, +also, must have perished long since. At the suppression of monasteries, +the archives, chronicles, and registers were carefully sought by the +Commissioners, because they contained correct information on the value and +extent of the possessions of each house respectively; and the more +extensive these were, the more sedulously were the records sought for. +Hence it is that because the Cistercian Order had large possessions, the +manuscripts were all seized and handed over with the monasteries to the +grantees. The monks could not possibly take one away with them. So their +history is now derivable from other sources, which, at best, are very +meagre. Mellifont, which occupied so prominent and respected a position +during its career, would not be found inferior to other houses of the +Order in the number of its learned and remarkable men, were its ancient +documents now available; and, judging from the long roll of distinguished +men, who in every department of knowledge rendered the Order illustrious +in other countries, we may safely allot a respectable quota of the same to +Mellifont. De Visch compiled his _Writers of the Cistercian Order_ in +1656, and Sartorius published a large tome in 1700, each containing +notices of the illustrious men of the Order. No less than sixty-three +large folio pages of this latter work are occupied with the names of the +learned men, and the dates at which they flourished. He places all in +distinct categories, and so we have St. Bernard heading the list, after +whom come the Grammarians, next follow the Poets, Orators, Historians, +Philosophers, Mathematicians, Astronomers, Musicians, then Doctors of +Canon and Civil Law, and Doctors of Theology; finally, Professors in +universities, and others, whose general attainments precluded +classification. As these works were written after the suppression of the +monasteries in these countries, the materials relating to the Irish and +English monasteries having passed into hostile hands or been destroyed, +were no longer accessible. Ireland was ever remarkable for the thirst for +learning displayed by her children, and for the singular proficiency +attained by them, when the opportunity for it was afforded; we may, then, +justly conclude that learning and the polite arts found a home at +Mellifont. For this latter branch, the beautiful buildings would, of +themselves, suffice as an argument in favour of an advanced state of +culture and refinement. + +It is worthy of note, that neither the Irish people, nor the +representatives of the Government in this country, brought, much less +substantiated, any direct charges against the Irish monks, prior to the +suppression. Hence it is, that their maligners had to import, for use +against them, the staple arguments commonly used in England, and there +only by venal scribblers, and those who profited by the downfall of the +monks. To such the learned and impartial Protestant historian, the Rev. +Doctor Maitland, adverts, when after giving credit to the monks for their +having been benefactors to mankind, he writes in his preface to the _Dark +Ages_:--"In the meantime, let me thankfully believe that thousands of the +persons at whom Robertson, and Jortin, and other such very miserable +second-hand writers, have sneered, were men of enlarged minds, purified +affections, and holy lives, that they were justly reverenced by men, and, +above all, favourably accepted by God, and distinguished by the +highest honours which He vouchsafes to those whom He has called into +existence, that of being the channels of His love and mercy to their +fellow-creatures." And in our own time, the _Guardian_, an English +Protestant newspaper, when reviewing the Rev. Doctor Gasquet's, O.S.B., +learned work, _Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries_, approvingly +cites, amongst others, the following paragraph:--"The voices raised +against the monks were those of Cromwell's agents, of the cliques of the +new men and of his hireling scribes, who formed a crew of as truculent and +as filthy libellers as ever disgraced a revolutionary cause. The later +centuries have taken their tale in good faith, but time is showing that +the monasteries, up to the day of their fall, had not forfeited the +goodwill, the veneration, the affection of the English people." Mr. Lecky, +too, with his usual candour and liberality, writes:--"Monastic +institutions were the only refuges of a pacific civilisation; the only +libraries, the only schools, the only centres of art, the only refuges for +gentle and intellectual natures; the chief barriers against violence and +rapine; the chief promoters of agriculture and of industry." (_The +Political Value of History_, p. 14. London, 1892.) + +The monks being now expelled, Mellifont was delivered up to desecration +and ruin; the silence of the tomb reigned supreme, and the voice of prayer +was heard no more; no longer did the bells from the tower send forth their +cheering notes over the surrounding district to raise the hearts of the +toiler to Heaven. These sweet toned bells, the gift of some princely +benefactor, had been, with all the other moveable property, carried off by +the spoiler. The Abbey, with all its spiritual and temporal possessions, +was given, in 1541, to Laurence Townley, for 21 years. They passed by +reversionary lease to ---- Brabazon, in 1546. In 1551, they were leased to +the same for 21 years more, and in 1566, they came by reversionary lease +to Edward Moore, the founder of the Drogheda family, who, at that time, +came into Ireland, as a soldier of fortune. (_Appendix to the Report of +the Deputy-Keeper of the Rolls and Grants of Elizabeth._) + +This Edward Moore, who was accompanied by his brother John, the founder of +the Charleville family (now extinct), was descended from an ancient +Kentish House. He fixed his residence at Mellifont, changing the church +into a dwelling, which he strongly fortified against the attacks of the +Ulster Irish. The statues of the Twelve Apostles, which once occupied +places in the church, he caused to be removed to the hall, clad in red +uniforms, with muskets on their shoulders, as a protest, no doubt, against +"Popish idolatry." It is even said that he suffered the Founder's tomb, +and those of others, or such portions of them as still were left, to +remain as part of his domestic arrangements, without his being disturbed +by such solemn surroundings. He was knighted by the Deputy, Sir Wm. Drury, +and dying soon after, was succeeded by his son, Sir Garret, to whom +Mellifont, with six other dissolved monasteries, and all their +spiritualities (that is, the revenues of them, right of patronage, etc.) +and temporalities, were granted in fee. By these means, was adhesion to +the Crown purchased and services to it rewarded--services, which bore no +equivocal meaning ever since the Invasion, as the Irish knew by long and +bitter experience. + +At this time, the Church, as by Law Established, became part and parcel of +the State, and its most obsequious servant. Its ministers looked to the +civil power for patronage, and even hoped for promotion through the +officials of the Court; but only in a few instances were the livings worth +the asking, as the greater part of their temporalities were bestowed on +laymen, favourites of the Queen. We have a picture of the state of that +Church in Ireland, soon after the suppression of monasteries, drawn by the +Lord Deputy himself, in a letter to Queen Elizabeth. They who would fain +believe in the blessed advantages which flowed from the Dissolution of +Monasteries, and the introduction of the new religion, may take to heart +the lesson it teaches. Sir Henry Sydney wrote to the Queen in April, 1576, +on the condition of the diocese of Meath:--"There are within this +diocese," he writes, "224 parish churches, of which number, 105 are +impropriated to sundry possessions; no parson or vicar resident on any of +them, and a very simple or sorry curate for the most part appointed to +serve them; among which number of curates, only eighteen were found to be +able to speak English, the rest being Irish ministers, or rather, Irish +rogues, having very little Latin and less learning and civility.... In +many places the very walls of the churches are thrown down, very few +chancels covered; windows and doors ruined and spoiled. There are 52 +parish churches in the same diocese which have vicars endowed upon them, +better served and maintained than the others, yet badly. There are 52 +parish churches here, residue of the first number of 224, which pertain to +divers particular lords; and these, though in better state than the others +commonly, are yet far from well." He concludes by saying:--"But yet your +Majesty may believe it, that upon the face of the earth where Christ is +professed, there is not a church in so miserable a case." Lord Grenville, +in his _Past and Present Policy of England towards Ireland_, when +commenting on Sydney's letters, from one of which the above is an extract, +writes:--"Such was the condition of a church which was half a century +before rich and flourishing, an object of reverence and a source of +consolation to the people. It was now despoiled of its revenues; the +sacred edifices were in ruins, the clergy were either ignorant of the +language of their flocks, or illiterate and uncivilised intruders; and the +only ritual permitted by the laws was one of which the people neither +comprehended the language nor believed the doctrines; and this is called +establishing a reformation." That this condition of affairs was not +confined to any particular diocese, but rather was the state in all, is +evident from the sketch given by Spenser in his _View of the State of +Ireland_. "They" (the ministers), he says, "neither read the Scriptures +nor preach to the people, nor administer the Communion ... only they take +the tithes and offerings, and gather what fruit else they may of their +livings.... It is a great wonder to see the zeal between the Popish +priests and the ministers of the Gospel; for they spare not to come out of +Spain, from Rome, and from Rheims, by long toil and dangerous travelling +thither, where they know peril of death awaiteth them, and no reward or +riches are to be found, only to draw people to the Church of Rome." Such +were the immediate fruits of the Reformation as admitted and described by +Protestant contemporaries. + +One of the first proprietary acts of Sir Edward Moore, on his acquiring +Mellifont, seems to have been to cut down and sell some of the magnificent +timber planted by the monks. The old wooden house, so long an object of +curiosity in Drogheda, and which was taken down in 1824, was chiefly +composed of oak obtained from Mellifont Park. It was situated at the angle +formed by the junction of Laurence Street and Shop Street, and was erected +by Nicholas Bathe, as an inscription in raised characters, each six inches +in length, testified. This inscription was on the Laurence Street side. +"Made. Bi. Nicholas. Bathe. in. the. ieare. of. our. Lord. God. 1570. Bi. +Hiu. Mor. Carpenter." + +In 1592, Red Hugh O'Donnell, fleeing from Dublin Castle, where he had been +detained a close prisoner, was received and kindly treated by Sir Edward +Moore, at Mellifont. His reception is thus related in the Life of Red +Hugh, edited with notes by the late Father Denis Murphy, S.J.:--"After +crossing the Boyne near Drogheda, Red Hugh and his companion mounted their +horses, and proceeded about two miles from the river, where they saw a +dense bushy grove in front of them on the road they came, and a large +rampart all around it, as if it was a kitchen-garden. There was a fine +mansion (called the great monastery), belonging to an illustrious youth of +the English, by the side of the wood. He was much attached to O'Neil.... +He (O'Donnell) went into the house and was entertained; for he was well +known there especially more than in other places." + +In 1599, according to the family pedigree, Sir Garret Moore and Sir +Francis Stafford were the only English house-keepers in the County Louth; +all the lands being wasted by the Ulster rebels. The next important event +at Mellifont was the great O'Neil's surrender there to the Deputy, Lord +Mountjoy, on the 24th March, 1602. The Lord Deputy sent Sir Garret Moore, +as an old acquaintance of O'Neil's, with Sir Wm. Godolphin to parley with +him, and O'Neil returned with them to Mellifont, where (on his knees, it +is said by English writers,) he made his submission to the Deputy. Here, +again, we have further proof of what has been stated before, that it was +Irishmen who retained this country for the English Crown; for when Sir +George Carew sat down before Kinsale, where O'Neil was defeated, his army +consisted of three thousand men, of whom two thousand were Irish.[8] + +Five years later, that is, in 1607, O'Neil was again at the "fair mansion +of Mellifont to bid good-bye for ever to his good friend, Sir Garret, the +fosterer of his son John." He tarried two days with him, and then said +farewell. Having given his blessing, "according to the Irish fashion," to +every member of his friend's household, he and his suite took horse, and +rode rapidly by Dundalk on his way to Lough Swilly, where a ship awaited +him to bear him from his native land for ever. + +By an Inquisition taken on the 14th June, 1612, the possessions of this +Abbey were found as follow:--"The site, a water-mill, a garden, an +orchard, a park called Legan Park, the old orchard containing two acres; +the silver meadow, nine acres; the wood meadow, ten acres; and the doves' +park; 80 acres of underwood; Killingwood, being great timber, containing +twelve acres; Ardagh, twenty acres, being the demesne lands; and the +grange and town of Tullyallen," etc. + +In 1615, July 20th, Sir Garret was created Baron Moore of Mellifont, by +King James I. In 1619, Baron Moore obtained a royal grant of St. Mary's +Abbey, Dublin, from the same King; and in 1621, he was created a Viscount, +with the title of Viscount Moore of Drogheda. St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, +passed from the family some fifty years later. + +As has been said, no trace of the expelled religious remains after the +suppression of Mellifont. It, however, may be assumed, that some few of +them lingered around the hallowed spot to which their affections clung, +and that they shared the labours and dangers incident to the Catholic +missionaries of the period, as is well known their brethren in other parts +of Ireland did after their expulsion. It cannot now be ascertained +whether, or not, an unbroken line of titular Abbots of Mellifont was +maintained after the dissolution of the Abbey; but, in 1623, an oratory +in Drogheda, belonging to the Cistercians, was served by five or six +Fathers of the Order under Patrick Barnewall, who had been appointed Abbot +of Mellifont by the Pope; and in 1625, he received the abbatial +benediction in the church of St. John, in Waterford, at the hands of the +Most Rev. Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin. This Patrick Barnewall +belonged to the Bremore branch (Co. Dublin) of the ancient and illustrious +family of that name. After having studied the Humanities, Philosophy, +Theology, and Canon Law in the Universities of Douay and Paris, he was +ordained priest, and discharged missionary duties in Drogheda. In a sketch +of his life given by a fellow-labourer, it is related, that one night as +he lay awake, St. Bernard appeared to him and told him he would be a monk +of his Order. Though he relished the idea, yet he did not immediately +correspond with his inclinations till he was grievously afflicted with a +severe sickness, when he remembered the vision, and being urged by his two +sisters, who had consecrated themselves to God, he entered the Novitiate +of the Order in Kilkenny, and was at once restored to health. Soon after +his profession he was appointed Abbot of Mellifont by Apostolic authority; +and he admitted novices into the Order at his "hiding-place" at Drogheda, +whom he sent to be educated at the Cistercian College, Louvain, and to +other Continental Colleges. He was a very learned man, particularly in +Canon Law, and was consulted as an authority on this subject. During the +siege of Drogheda, in 1641, his goods were seized and himself cast into +prison, but through the influence of some powerful relatives he was +liberated. He died in his father's house in September, 1644, and was +buried in the church of Donore, which formerly belonged to Mellifont. John +Devereux, a native of the Co. Wexford, who had been educated at Louvain, +was appointed by the Pope, Abbot of Mellifont, in 1648. He, with Father +Luke Bergin and Father Patrick Grace, both natives of Co. Kilkenny, Father +Malachy O'Hartry, a native of Waterford, Father John Bryan, a native of +Drogheda, and Father Plunket, constituted the new community of Cistercian +monks under Abbot Patrick Barnewall, when he opened the oratory in +Drogheda, in 1623. Whether all or any of them perished in the general +massacre of Drogheda, under Cromwell, we cannot tell, but they disappeared +thenceforth, and John Devereux seems to have been the last titular Abbot +of Mellifont. + +In the Rebellion of 1641, Mellifont and its owner, Lord Charles Moore, son +of Garret, the first Viscount, became involved. On the 21st November, just +a short time after the outbreak, the rebels under Sir Phelim O'Neil, when +on their way to besiege Drogheda, made a halt at Tullyallen, and "sent a +party of 1,300 foot down to Mellifont, the Lord Moore's house, which their +design was suddenly to surprise; but, contrary to their expectation, they +found there twenty-four musketeers and fifteen horsemen, who very stoutly +defended the house as long as their powder lasted. The horsemen, when they +saw themselves beset so as they could no longer be serviceable to the +place, opened the gates, issued out and made their passage through the +midst of the rebels, and so, notwithstanding the opposition they made, +escaped safe to Drogheda. The foot having refused to accept of the quarter +at the first offered, resolved to make good the place to the last man; +they endured several assaults, slew one hundred-and-forty of the rebels, +before their powder failed them; and at last they gave up the place upon +promise of quarter, which was not kept, for some of them were killed in +cold blood, all were stripped, and two old decrepid men slain, the house +ransacked and all the goods carried away." + +The above is from Sir John Temple's _History of the Irish Rebellion_, and +it has been quoted by Catholics and Protestants alike when alluding to +Mellifont; they each add, however, a little spice to suit the palates of +their respective readers. Of this attack on Mellifont we have no less than +four versions, two of which deserve but little credence, viz., that +already given, and that of Dean Bernard. The account given by the latter +is fuller, and enters more minutely into detail, so that some particulars +tax the capacity of the most credulous; as, for instance, when he tells us +that twenty-four musketeers killed one hundred-and-forty rebels though +they had only "six shots" of powder, "some only four," and that they +rammed in six bullets together, and how each shot killed several. Verily, +every bullet had its billet there! That be sharp practice without doubt! +He also tells, how the loss on the part of the garrison was thirteen +killed, "whom a _Friar was so forward for deed of charity as to procure +them burial in the church adjoining_." Thank goodness, he has the grace to +credit even a Friar with some remnant of humanity! He does not say that +the rebels stripped all. They could not have done so; for eleven escaped +to Drogheda. These godless Papists capped their iniquity in this holy +man's estimation when they "threw a fair church Bible into the mill-pond." +The last charge on the sheet is--"Their best language to them all was +'English dogs,' 'rogues,' etc." + +Before producing the other two versions, let us examine the characters of +both these witnesses as drawn by Protestant writers. Sir John Temple wrote +his History in 1656, from the "Depositions" preserved then in Dublin +Castle, but which are now in Trinity College. These "Depositions" +comprise the list of murders, burnings, etc., said to have been +perpetrated by the Irish on the English Protestants during the war, and +fill thirty-two volumes. He was some time Privy Councillor, but was +removed by Ormonde, and Carte tells how "two traitorous and scandalous +letters against his Majesty written by Temple were read in Committee." And +Dr. Nalson, another Protestant writer, accuses him of having been in +league with the Parliamentarians, whom Ormonde describes as those who +became the "murderers of his (the King's) royal person, the usurpers of +his rights, and destroyers of the Irish nation; by whom the nobility and +gentry of it were massacred at home, and led into slavery, or driven into +beggary abroad." In 1674, Temple protested that the work was published +without his knowledge, as appears from _State Papers_, Dublin edition, p. +2. + +Dean Bernard was Primate Ussher's chaplain, and like his master, was a +Puritan. During the siege of Drogheda he watched over the Primate's +library lest the rebels should attack the magnificent palace which _had +been built with the fines from the recusants_. He was afterwards +Cromwell's chaplain and almoner, in either of which capacities, it would +be quite unreasonable to expect justice to the Irish from him. + +As to the "Depositions" themselves, they are summarily dealt with by the +Rev. Dr. Warner, another English Protestant historian of that Rebellion. +"There is no credit to be given to anything that was said by these +Deponents which had not others' evidence to confirm it." And again, the +same Dr. Warner, who went through the drudgery of perusing and examining +these "Depositions," says: "As a great stress has been laid upon this +collection in print and conversation, and as the whole evidence of the +massacres turns upon it, I spent a great deal of my time examining the +books; and I am sorry to say, that they have been made the foundation of +much more clamour and resentment than can be warranted by truth and +reason." It was in them that Temple found the story of the ghosts of the +murdered Protestants, in the River Bann, at the Bridge of Portadown, +shrieking for revenge, and one in particular, who was seen there from the +29th December to the end of the following Lent!!! He sets down the number +of English and Protestants who were "murdered in cold blood, destroyed +some other way, or expelled out of their habitations in two years by the +Irish, as exceeding 300,000," though, according to Petty, there were not +at the outbreak of the Rebellion 20,000 English Protestants in Ulster, +where nearly all the murders were said to have been committed. Dr. Warner +also tells how he saw in the Council books at Dublin, the letter which the +Commissioners of the Irish Parliament wrote to the English Parliament, +urging them to show no mercy to the Irish, but rather, to revenge the +murders and massacres committed by them. They tell them, "that besides +eight hundred-and-forty-eight families, there were killed, hanged, burned, +and drowned, six thousand and sixty-two." Dr. Warner considers 2,000 about +the correct number. A prodigious number to be sure, but how far less than +Temple's 300,000. Warner says, finally, at p. 296 of his work so often +cited: "It is easy enough to demonstrate the falsehood of every Protestant +historian of this Rebellion." + +The Rev. Mr. Carte, an English Protestant clergyman, who wrote the +celebrated Life of the Duke of Ormonde, tears all Temple's assertions in +pieces, and demonstrates from indubitable authority the falsehoods of his +statements. Writing of these "Depositions" he says, at Vol. II., p. 263: +"Anyone who has ever read the examinations and depositions which were +generally given on hearsay, and contradicting one another, must think it +very hard upon the Irish, to have all those without distinction to be +admitted as evidence." And in the Preface to the collection of Letters +affixed to the Life he alludes to the "uncertain, false, mistaken, and +contradictory accounts, which have been given of the Irish Rebellion, by +parties influenced by selfish views and party animosities, or unfurnished +with proper and authentic materials and memoirs." + +It is obvious from the first pages of Temple's History what the scope of +the work is. It is a gross libel on the whole Irish nation from the +earliest times. In one page, he twice applies to them the epithet of a +beastly race, and, no doubt, worthy to be rooted out, to make room for +Royalists of his type, who worshipped the rising sun. + +Carte, in his Life of Ormond, Vol. II., p. 135, gives an account of the +attack on Mellifont as follows:--"This detached body of the northern +rebels appeared on November 21st in sight of the town of Drogheda, within +four miles of it, presuming (as was imagined) upon some party within the +place. Sir H. Tichburne, Governor of Drogheda, had the week before sent a +party of fifteen horse and twenty-two foot to Mellifont (formerly an Abbey +of Bernardine monks, founded by Donagh O'Carroll, prince of Ergall, about +A.D. 1142, but then an house of the Lord Viscount Moore's, three miles +from town), as well as to secure that place from the incursions of roving +parties, as to keep abroad continual sentinels and scouts, that might +inform him of the rebels' motions. His orders were not well observed, nor +his party so vigilant as they ought to have been; for on the 21st, the +rebels on a sudden encompassed the house, and (after the soldiers' powder +was spent) took it with a loss of some one hundred and twenty of their +own number (among which were Owen M'Mahon and another captain), and eleven +of the soldiers, with most of the arms. As the Irish were breaking into +the house on all sides, the troopers causing the great gate to be opened, +sallied out, and opening themselves a way through the body of the rebels, +got safe with the rest of the foot soldiers sore wounded to Drogheda." +This may be accepted as a true, unvarnished account of this much magnified +attack; especially as Tichburne himself, who cannot be accused of +partiality towards the Irish, and who was Governor of Drogheda at the time +of its occurrence, seems to have been Carte's authority for it, as appears +from a reference to a letter written by Tichburne to Ormond, but not given +in the collection of Letters mentioned above. There is no question here of +quarter given, or of faith broken; no cold-blooded murders, no gruesome +picture of gory corpses unburied, nor of fiendish glee on the part of +rebels dancing round their watch-fires in presence of their stark and +naked victims strewn around!!! Pity such absurdity should be believed or +repeated in our time, when it should have been relegated to the same +lumber-heap as the story of the ghosts of the Bann! + +We have yet another account from a paper or Report published in London by +two parties who only give their initials, T. A. and P. G. It was "printed +by Edward Blackmore, at the Angel, in Paul's Churchyard, in 1642," and is +now to be found in the _Contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland_, so +ably edited by Sir John Gilbert, at Vol. I., Part II., p. 420. There is a +discrepancy in the dates, but that is immaterial, as only one attack is +said to have been made. It tells us, "That on the same day (April 30), +three or four hundred rebels came before Mellifont, three or four miles +from Drogheda, where Lord Moore had left on Tuesday before a garrison of +four-score foot and about thirty horse; the rebels plaid hotly upon them +until the horse were ready within; but as soon as the horse were ready, +they, with the foot, sallied out, and killed about thirty of the rebels." +This cannot be far from the truth, as it seems to be free from the +exaggerations in which Tichburne dealt, when recounting the numerical +strength of his and the enemy's forces, ascribing to the latter +poltroonery and cowardice in action, and crediting them with excessively +heavy losses. + +The predisposing cause, why the Ulster Irish were ready for rebellion was +the misery the native inhabitants endured since the Plantation of the six +forfeited counties, some thirty odd years before. Even the remnants of the +estates allowed them by the Crown were filched from them by the greed and +cunning of unscrupulous Commissioners, who enriched themselves on the ruin +of the Irish. Prendergast (_Cromwellian Settlement_, pp. 49-50,) thus +describes the condition of the old Irish nobility and gentry +then:--"Little they (the Planters, who got the forfeited estates) thought +or cared how the ancient owner, dispossessed of his lands, must grieve as +he turned from the sight of the prosperous stranger to his pining family; +daughters, without prospect of preferment in marriage; sons, without fit +companions, walking up and down the country with their horses and +greyhounds, coshering on the Irish, drinking and gaming and ready for any +rebellion; most of his high-born friends wandering in poverty in France +and Spain, or enlisted in their armies." The immediate cause of the +Rebellion is thus stated:--"A letter was intercepted coming from Scotland +to one Freeman of Antrim giving an account that a Covenanting army was +ready to come to Ireland under General Lesly, to extirpate the Roman +Catholics of Ulster, and leave the Scots in possession of that province; +that resolutions to that effect had been taken at their private meetings, +as well as to levy heavy fines on such as would not appear at their kirk +for the first and second Sunday, and on failure the third, to hang at +their own doors without mercy, such as remained obstinate" (Carte's +_Ormond_, Vol. I., p. 160). This notion prevailed universally amongst the +rebels, and was chiefly insisted on by them as one of the principal +reasons of their taking up arms. + +The Rebellion broke out, then, on the 23rd October, 1641, and the actors +in it were a "tumultuous rabble" as Ormond called them, intent chiefly on +plundering and driving off the English settlers, yet before the end of the +month the principal towns of the North were in their hands. Leland, a +Protestant historian, writes:--"That in the beginning of the insurrection, +it was determined by them that the enterprise should be conducted in every +quarter, with as little bloodshed as possible" (_History of Ireland_, Vol. +III., p. 101). At p. 131, the same historian writes:--"The Lords Justices +might have stamped out the insurrection at once had Ormond's advice to +levy a large number of troops been attended to; for the Irish were then +formidable only in numbers, and not six hundred of them had proper arms. +But their purpose was rather to fan it, in order to gratify their personal +greed by extensive forfeitures." Warner, who has been so often quoted +before, writes at p. 176 of his History:--"It is evident from the Lords +Justices' letter to the Lord Lieutenant that they hoped for an +extermination, not of the mere Irish only, but of all the old English +families who were Roman Catholics." They issued a most truculent order to +Ormond "to burn, kill, spoil, waste, destroy, the rebels, their relatives, +houses and property." One of these Lords Justices is thus referred to by +Carte: "He was a man of mean extract, scarcely able to read and write ... +plodding, assiduous, and indefatigable, greedy of gain, and eager to raise +a fortune; which it is not difficult for a man of indifferent parts to do, +when he is not hampered with scruples about the ways of getting it" +(_Ormond_, Vol. I., p. 190). This same Lord Justice, with three members of +the Privy Council, was put under arrest for disobedience to his Majesty, +King Charles, and for complicity with his enemies, the Parliamentarians of +England. The Lord Justice was deposed and imprisoned, but he retained his +ill-gotten property. + +As has been said, the rebels became masters of the principal towns in the +North without meeting any check, when they attacked Mellifont. Lord Moore +was then in Drogheda with Sir Henry Tichburne, the Governor, with whose +policy and methods he, both before and afterwards, identified himself; +and, as an active agent of the Lords Justices, he was specially odious to +the Irish. During the siege of Drogheda, he more than once, by his +alertness and personal bravery, saved the town from falling into the hands +of the besiegers. With the exception of Lord Moore and a few of the older +families, both the Lords Justices themselves (who governed the country in +the absence of the Lord Lieutenant), and their ruthless instruments were +men of no fortune; or, were such as became enriched by the plunder of the +Irish. Tichburne, in a letter to his lady, alludes to one of the +commissions entrusted to him for execution, in which fiendish work Lord +Moore was associated with him. After his return from the burning of +Dundalk,[9] which he left a smouldering heap of ruins, he describes the +results:--"There was neither man nor beast to be found in sixteen miles, +between the two towns of Drogheda and Dundalk; nor on the other side of +Dundalk, in the County of Monaghan, nearer than Carrickmacross, a strong +pile twelve miles distant" (Tichburne's _Siege of Drogheda_, p. 320). And +in the same page he says, all this magnificent ruin and desolation were +inflicted on the peasantry "without one penny of charge to the State, and +that for the space of seven months, all under his command subsisted on the +spoils" taken from the unfortunate people in that district. "The country +and fields about Dundalk," he says, "were abounding in corn, which I +allocated to the several companies, etc." The ghosts of the Bann must have +been glutted with vengeance!!! + +And now Lord Moore's career is drawing to a close. After having been +engaged in many successful skirmishes, raids, and minor actions, he burned +with a desire for the honour of measuring swords with the great Owen Roe, +who had defeated all the forces hitherto sent against him, and, according +to O'Neil's Diary, he affected to despise O'Neil. He was therefore +dispatched with a body of troops to dislodge that consummate strategist +from a position occupied by him at Portlester Mill, within five miles of +Trim. Borlase tells us that Lord Moore was killed in that engagement, +August 7th, 1643, "through the grazing of a cannon bullet which he +foresaw, yet took not warning enough to evade." The Author of the +_Aphorismical Discovery_, who is commonly supposed to have been O'Neil's +secretary, gives another account of his death. It is right to mention that +this author was by no means a monk, nor was he a clergyman at all, as is +evident from his apology in the Introduction, where he tells the reader +that he was by profession a "sworde carrier," and that it was "alienat" to +that profession to aspire to literary avocations. "The General" (O'Neil), +he writes, "not well pleased with his gunner, for he perceaved he shooted +too high, and did little hurte, the peace was charged, the Generall tooke +a perspective glasse, and saw wheare my Lord Moore stoode. It being +charged, the Generall did levell the same against Moore, gave fire, his +aime was soe neare home, that he hitted him a little above his corpise, +wherupon all dismembred, presently fell dead, the trunke of his bodie +fallinge downe, and some of his members whisling in the aire to take +possession by flight in some other field, or make such speede to accompany +his soul to hell to be assured for winter quarter next springe." + +Lord Moore was succeeded by his son Henry, who, when Governor of Dundalk, +in 1645, was more than suspected of plotting with the Parliamentarians to +deliver up that town to Monroe. He was relieved of his charge by Ormond, +who was then Lord Lieutenant, and being a minor, was sent by him to +England (out of harm's way), to the Court, where he was kindly received by +the King, who ordered livery to be granted him of his father's lands +(_Carte_, Vol. IV., p. 154.) Lady Alice, his mother, was, it appears, +inveigled into a plot at the same time to deliver up Drogheda to the +Scots; for a wax impression of the keys of the gates having been given +her, she caused the gunsmith of the troop, which Lord Henry commanded, to +make false keys; but, being discovered, her ladyship, with others, was +sent to Dublin. There, on examination before the Council, they confessed +all. (_Ibid._) Her Ladyship's end was a tragic one, as we read in Lodge's +_Peerage_. "Lady Alice, younger daughter of Sir Adam Loftus, Viscount +Elye, who broke her leg near the fort (Drogheda) by a fall from her horse +(occasioned by a sudden grief arising from the first sight of St. Peter's +Church, Drogheda, where her dear lord lay buried), on Wednesday, 10th +June, 1649, and dying the 13th of a gangrene, was that night buried by him +in the family tomb." + +There is another entry at the same place in Lodge. "Lieutenant-Colonel +Francis Moore, sixth son of the first Viscount Mellifont, and brother to +Lord Charles who was killed at Portlester Mill, who was an officer in the +army for the reduction of Ireland, and in 1654, had a pension from the +then Government of 10/- a week, and five of his brother Charles' children +had L3 17s. a week in 1665, out of the district of Trim" (Lodge's _Peerage +of Ireland_, Vol. II., pp. 99-100). This Francis Moore had been an officer +in the King's army, but soon after the arrival in Ireland of Jones, the +Parliamentarian General, he went over to him and took the Dundalk troops +with him. It was from Cromwell's government he had his pension, but the +pensions granted to Lord Charles' children were continued to them after +the Restoration, and Lord Henry mentioned above, was created Earl of +Drogheda, in 1661,--thus confirming the historic truism, that the +ungrateful Stuarts heaped favours on their enemies and treated their best +and most devoted adherents with cold indifference. As an illustration of +this we have the instance of one of the chief actors in those troublesome +times, Sir John Clotworthy, changing sides three times:--first, fighting +in the King's name and commission against the Ulster Irish; next, siding +with the Parliamentarians, his Majesty's deadliest enemies, and going over +to England as the spokesman of a deputation sent to the Parliament of +England to protest against the return of King Charles II., on rumour of +peace and terms being negotiated between them; again, on King Charles' +arrival in England, hieing over to tender his homages and +congratulations--and lo! the reward of his fidelity and loyalty (?)--he +was created Viscount Massereene. It is only one instance of several +hundreds that may be cited. The unfortunate rebels whose banner bore the +legend, "_Vivat Carolus Rex_"--"Long live King Charles," and who remained +faithful to him to the last, were, by an irony of fate, robbed and +banished by the Cromwellians, who were put in possession of their estates +and confirmed in them by Charles II.!!! + +In the foregoing pages, the authorities quoted are Protestants, and all, +without exception, hostile to the Irish. Their testimony, nevertheless, is +favourable to the rebels, save where the question of religion crops up, +then their prejudice blinds their judgment, and hurries them into most +glaring absurdities. One more fact about that saddest page of our history. +Before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1641, there were 1,200,000 Irish +Catholics in the country; at its close in 1652, the number had fallen to +700,000, and these were ordered under pain of death to transplant to +Connaught--the remnant of a broken and plundered race!!! + +Henry, the first Earl of Drogheda, did not long enjoy his honours; nor did +his son and successor, Charles, who was succeeded by his brother Henry, +the third Earl, who, on the eve of the ever-memorable Battle of the Boyne, +entertained a party, amongst whom was one of King William's highest +officers. On the morrow, July the 1st, the booming of King William's fifty +pieces of "dread artillery" echoed along the hills and the valley of the +Boyne, and shook the old abbey walls to their very foundations; and on +that night, the oaken rafters of Mellifont rang to the cheers and toasts +of the "glorious, pious, and immortal memory" of the Prince of Orange, on +whose side Earl Henry commanded that day a regiment of foot. It may be +interesting to mention here, that on the morning of the battle, the Irish +Catholic soldiers wore scraps of white paper on their caps--emblematic of +the livery of France; the followers of the Prince of Orange wore green +boughs torn off the trees. + +Charles, Lord Moore, son of Henry, the third Earl, married Jane, heiress +of Arthur, Viscount Ely, who received as her portion the suppressed Abbey +of Monasterevan, a Cistercian monastery founded by O'Dempsey, in the 12th +century. It was called Rosglas by the Irish, and the Valley of Roses, in +the list of monasteries of the Order in Ireland. When it came into Earl +Charles' possession, he changed the name to Moore Abbey, and made it his +residence. The sons of this Lord Charles, Henry and Edward, became earls +successively, and Edward, the fifth earl, having settled down permanently +at Monasterevan, sold Mellifont and some of the property in its immediate +vicinity to Mr. Balfour of Townley Hall, in 1727. + +The condition of Ireland at that time was truly deplorable. The Penal Laws +were in full force against the unfortunate Catholics, who were reduced to +a state little better than slavery. Dr. Johnson wrote of them some fifty +years later:--"The Irish are in a most unnatural state; for we see there +the minority prevailing over the majority. There is no such instance, even +in the ten persecutions, as that which the Protestants of Ireland have +exercised against the Catholics. Did we tell them we conquered, it would +be above board; to punish them by confiscations and other penalties was +monstrous injustice" (Boswell, at 1773). + +With the Moore family departed also the very shadow of Mellifont's +diminished greatness, and "time's effacing finger" almost completely +obliterated what was once a gorgeous national monument, which stood out +clearly as a finger-post on the ways of time. Gradually the fabric fell +into decay, the owl hooted on the landing of the grand stair-case, and the +daw and martin flitted unmolested through the deserted halls. The gardens +and walks and bowers disappeared beneath a crop of tangled brushwood, the +product of neglect. Soon the roof fell in, the walls became seamed with +many rents and toppled over with a crash; then Mellifont, the "Honey +Fountain," the Monasthir Mor, or Great Abbey, as it was called, the +foundation of saints and kings, the abode of the pious and the learned, +the house pre-eminently of prayer, the asylum of the poor and friendless, +became a shapeless accumulation of rubbish. True, a mill was erected about +100 years ago close to the site of the church, and, no doubt, it was told +to strangers who then visited the ruins by people who professed to know +all about monks, that it had more activity and exhibited more of the +bustle of life than when the silent, slumbering monks dwelt there. But a +mill in that hallowed spot was a huge incongruity and a wanton disregard +for all its honoured associations. In 1884, the few remaining ruins became +vested in the Board of Works, and the excavations which revealed the plan +of the church, as described in Chapter I., were carried out. It only +remains to be said that in Mr. Balfour of Townley Hall, the estimable +gentleman who now owns Mellifont and some of the property formerly +belonging to it, his tenants have found a liberal and generous benefactor, +who enjoys the merited esteem and respect of all who know him. + +As one ascends the hill over Mellifont, and, pausing on its summit, gazes +on the lovely scenery around him, particularly along the valley of the +Boyne, which Young called one of the completest pictures he had ever seen, +then glances at the quiet valley beneath him, and remembers what prominent +parts those who once trod that favoured spot played in our country's +chequered history, his soul is filled with solemn thoughts too big for +utterance. There, came the firm and gentle, yet dauntless, Malachy side +by side with Oriel's proud Chief, and hand in hand, they knelt and prayed +and consecrated it to the living God for ever. Thereon, rose up the +magnificent temple on which neither cost nor labour was spared, that it +might be worthy of Him Who deigns to dwell in tabernacles made by man; and +generation succeeded generation of monks, who calmly dwelt in that +peaceful valley, which, by their skill and enterprise, they converted into +a garden of delights and a terrestrial paradise. The bishop and the king +found there a resting-place when life's weary struggle was over, and their +end was sweetened by the cheering hopes of a glorious immortality. The +poor man and the homeless found there a welcome and a shelter, their wants +being liberally attended to; and the blessings of a free education and of +spiritual consolations were diffused on every side from that centre of +learning and piety. The knight and baron came, the belted man of war made +his home there, enjoyed his ephemeral honours, but he, too, is gone, +severing all connection with it both by name and title, leaving no trace +behind. The king and the knight have been brushed aside; and the old +chess-board, Mellifont, alone remains. Impressed with these reflections, +we take a glance beyond the grave, and there, we behold these actors pass +before the great, most just, and supreme Judge, to receive the requital of +their deeds, and to each is meted out reward or punishment according to +his deserts. We, too, the spectators, are hastening towards that same +goal; our future is indubitably in our own hands, according as we do or do +not now live up to our convictions, and the dictates of our consciences. + +And, now, we cannot help asking ourselves, what shall Mellifont's future +be? At present it is a blank; but, shall the lamp of piety and learning be +rekindled, and the light burst forth anew there as in the days of its +splendour? We know not; but we do know that, although God's ways are +inscrutable, His wisdom and power are infinite. To Him be all glory for +ever and ever. Amen. + + + + +APPENDIX I. + +LIST OF ABBOTS OF MELLIFONT. + + +Saint Christian O'Connarchy, Founder and first Abbot, Bishop of Lismore +and Legate of the Holy See, 1150. + +Blessed Malchus, brother of preceding. + +Charles O'Buacalla, 1177, made Bishop of Emly. + +Patrick, term of office not known. + +Maelisa, appointed Bishop of Clogher in 1194. + +Thomas, 1211. + +Carus, or Cormac O'Tarpa, elected Bishop of Achonry in 1219, resigned that +See in 1226, returned to Mellifont where he died. + +Mathew, 1289. + +Michael, 1293. + +William M'Buain. + +Hugh O'Hessain, resigned 1300. + +Thomas O'Henghan. + +Radulph, or Ralph O'Hedian. + +Nicholas of Lusk, 1325. + +Michael, 1333. + +Roger, 1346. + +Reginald, 1349. + +Hugh, 1357. + +Reginald Leynagh, died 15th August, 1368. + +John Terrour, 1370. + +[There is no record of the names of Abbots in this interval.] + +Roger, 1472. + +John Logan. + +Henry. + +John Warren. + +Roger Boly. + +John Troy, 1486-1500. + +Thomas Harvey, died 20th March, 1525. + +Richard Conter, the last regular Abbot, pensioned in 1540. + + +As will be observed, the line of succession is incomplete between the +years 1370 and 1472; and it is impossible now to fill in the gaps. The +List is taken from Ware's _Coenobia Cisterciensia in Hibernia_, and +Dalton's _History of Drogheda_. + + + + +APPENDIX II. + +THE CHARTER OF NEWRY. + +Copied and translated from the Original in the British Museum, from a copy +given by John O'Donovan in _Dublin Penny Journal_, 1832-33, p. 102. + + +Maurice M'Laughlin, King of all Ireland, to all his Kings, Princes, +Nobles, Leaders, Clergy and Laity, and to all and each the Irish present +and to come, GREETING. + +Know ye that I, by the unanimous will and common consent of the Nobles of +Ultonia, Ergallia (Oriel), and O'Neach (Iveagh), to wit of Donchad +O'Carroll, King of all Ergallia, and of Murchad his son, King of O'Meith, +and of the territory of Erthur, of Conla, King of Ultonia, of Donald +O'Heda, King of O'Neach (Iveagh), HAVE GRANTED AND CONFIRMED, in honour of +the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Patrick, and St. Benedict, the Father and +Founder of the Cistercian Order, to the monks serving God in +Nyvorcintracta (Newry) as a perpetual and pure donation, the land of +O'Cormac, whereon was founded the monastery of Athcrathin, with its lands, +woods, and waters, Enancratha, with its lands, woods, and waters, +Crumglean, with its lands, woods, and waters, Caselanagan, with its lands, +woods, and waters, Lisinelle, with its lands, woods, and waters, Croa +Druimfornac, with its lands, woods, and waters, Letri, Corcrach, +Fidglassayn, Tirmorgannean, Connocol, etc. THESE LANDS with their MILLS, I +have confirmed to the aforesaid monks of my own proper gift, for the +health of my soul, that I may be partaker of all the benefits of masses, +_hours_ (_i.e._ vespers and matins), and prayers that shall be offered in +the Monastery itself, and to the end of time. + +And because I have founded the Monastery of Ybar cintracta (Newry), of my +own free will, I have taken the monks so much under my protection, as sons +and domestics of the faith, that they may be safe from the molestations +and incursions of all men. + +I will also that, as the Kings and Nobles of O'Neach (Iveagh), or of +Ergallia (Uriel), may wish to confer certain lands on this Monastery, for +the health of their souls, they may do so in my lifetime, while they have +my free will and licence, that I may know what and how much of my Earthly +Kingdom, the King of Heaven may possess for the use of His poor Monks. + + +_The Witnesses and Sureties are_:-- + +Giolla MacLiag, Archbishop of Armagh, _holding the Staff of Jesus in his +hand_. + +Hugh O'Killedy, Bishop of Uriel (Clogher.) + +Muriac O'Coffay, Bishop of Tirone (Derry.) + +Melissa Mac in Clerig-cuir, Bishop of Ultonia (Down.) + +Gilla Comida O'Caran, Bishop of Tirconnell (Raphoe.) + +Eachmarcach O'Kane, King of Fearnacrinn and Kennacta (now Barony of +Keenaght, Co. Londonderry.) + +O'Carriedh, the Great; Chief of Clan Aengusa, and Clan Neil. + +Cumaige O'Flain, King of O'Turtray (Antrim.) + +Gilla Christ O'Dubhdara, King of Fermanagh. + +Eachmarcach O'Ffoifylain. + +Maelmocta MacO'Nelba. + +Aedh (Hugh) the Great Magennis, Chief of Clan-Aeda, in O'Neach Uladh +(Iveagh.) + +Dermot MacCartan, Chief of Kenelfagartay (Kinelearty.) + +Acholy MacConlacha, Gill-na-naemh O'Lowry, Chief of Kinel Temnean. + +Gilla Odar Ocasey, Abbot of Dundalethglass (Downpatrick.) + +Hugh Maglanha, Abbot of Inniscumscray (Iniscourcy.) + +Angen, Abbot of Dromoge, and many other Clerics and Laics. + + + + +APPENDIX III. + +INVENTORY OF ESTATES OF MELLIFONT. + + +Richard Conter, the last Abbot of Mellifont, was, on the 23rd July, 1539, +seized of two messuages, 167 acres of arable land, 10 of pasture, 5 of +meadow, and 5 of pasture in Clut------, with a salmon weir; L13 13s. 4d. +annual rent, arising from 16 fishing corraghs at Oldbridge, together with +the tithe-corn of the same, all of the annual value, besides reprises, of +L27 18s. 8d.; also a messuage in Shephouse, with the tithe-corn thereof, +of the annual value, besides all reprises, of L4 17s. 8d.; three +messuages, 120 acres of arable land, 20 of meadow,--a fishery, and a boat +for salmon-fishing in Komalane, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of +the annual value, besides all reprises, of L15 3s.; 3 messuages, 2 +cottages, a water-mill,--a fishing-weir, 120 acres of arable land, 3 +closes, containing 6 acres of mountain in Schahinge, together with the +tithe-corn, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of L12 6s. 8d.; 2 +messuages,--20 acres of meadow and pasture in Donnore, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of 115/4; 2 +messuages, 8 cottages, 46 acres of arable land, and 2 of meadow in +Doo----, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of L5; 4 messuages, 18 cottages, 39 acres of arable +land, and 3 of meadow in Glassehalyine, together with the tithe-corn +thereof, of the annual value, besides all the reprises, of L5 18s. 8d.; +---- 124 acres of arable land, and 10 of meadow in Graungethe, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +L14 19s. 4d.; a messuage and cottage, 45 acres of arable land, and 15 of +meadow and pasture, in ----, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the +annual value, besides all reprises, of L3 8s. 4d.; 4 messuages, 9 +cottages, 64 acres of arable land, and 4 in meadow in Balranny, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value of ----, ---- messuages, +with 19 acres of arable land in Kordoraghe, together with the tithe-corn +thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of 16/-; 7 messuages, +10 cottages, 186 acres of arable land, 8 of meadow, and 40 of pasture and +brushwood in ----, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of L12 3s.; a messuage, two cottages, 120 acres of +arable land, a fishing-weir, called Bromey's weir, and the fishery there, +a water-mill in ----, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of L16 5s.; 7 messuages, one cottage, 227 acres of +arable land, and 10 of meadow in Ballyfadocke, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ----; 4 +messuages, 20 acres of arable land, and 4 of meadow in Kinoyshe, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +L10 3s. 8d.; 4 messuages, 46 acres of arable land, and 4 of meadow in +Kellystone, with the tithe-corn thereof, besides all reprises, of the +annual value of L4 5s. 4d.; 2 messuages, 3 cottages, 60 acres of arable +land, 6 of pasture, and 4 of meadow in Oracamathane, together with the +tithe-crown thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ----; 4 +messuages, 8 cottages, 124 acres of arable land, a salmon-weir, called +Monktone, a water-mill in the town-land of Rosmore, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of ----; 3 +messuages, 6 cottages, 126 acres of arable land, 6 of meadow, and 6 of +meadow in Gyltone, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual +value, besides all reprises, of L6 4s. 8d; 5 messuages, 8 cottages, 141 +acres of arable land, the fourth part of an acre of meadow, and 6 of +common pasture in Dromenhatt, otherwise, Newton of Knockamothane, together +with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of +L8 9s.; 6 messuages, 140 acres of arable land, 4-1/2 of meadow ---- in +Radrenage, together with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, +besides all reprises, of L7 12s.; 3 messuages, 8 cottages, 120 acres of +arable land, 6 of meadow, 6 of pasture in Calm, together with the +tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides all reprises, of L6 +17s.; 3 messuages, 60 acres of arable land, 60 of pasture, and 4 of meadow +in Starenaghe, with the tithe-corn thereof, of the annual value, besides +all reprises, of L5 5s. 8d.; the tithe-corn of the townland of +----inserathe and Balregane, near Donnore and below the parish of +Mellifont, of the annual value of L2; the tithe-corn of the town of +Monamore, of the annual value of L2 13s. 4d.; the rectory of Balrestore, +of the annual value of ----; and the chapels of Grangegeythe and +Knockamothane, parcel of the rectory of Mellifont, of the annual value of +---- all the said rectories being appropriated to the Abbot and his +successors, and, together with the said lands, etc., are lying and +situated in the Co. of Meath. The Abbot was also seized of a small house +in the town of Drogheda, in the tenure of Thomas Tanner, annual value +13/4, and also of another house in the tenure of Roger Samon, of the +annual value of 8/-, with 2/- rent from the Mayor and commonalty of +Drogheda. + +The above is from the _Monasticon Hibernicum_. It by no means contains a +full inventory of the possessions of Mellifont at the time of its +suppression, only the property belonging to it in the County Meath. In the +same _Monasticon_ we read, "By an inquisition taken 14th June, 1612, the +possessions of this Abbey were found as follow:--The site, a water-mill, a +garden, an orchard, a park called Legan Park, the old orchard containing +two acres, the silver meadow 9 acres, the wood meadow 10 acres, and the +doves' park; 80 acres of underwood; Killingwood, being great timber, +containing 12 acres; Ardagh, 20 acres, being the demesne lands, and the +grange and town of Tullyallen, containing 27 messuages and 260 acres; +Derveragh, 5 messuages and 213 acres; Mell, 2 messuages and 60 acres; +Ballymear, alias Ballyremerry, 2 messuages and 60 acres; Sheepgrange, no +tithe, 8 messuages and 245 acres; Little Grange, 4 messuages and 62 acres; +Beckrath, 2 messuages and 63 acres; Cubbage, 4 messuages and 103 acres; +Ballygatheran, no tithe, 6 messuages and 132 acres; Salthouse, 7 messuages +and 238 acres; Staleban, 11 messuages and 160 acres; Vinspocke, 6 +messuages and 90 acres; Morragh, no tithes, 11 messuages and 120 acres; +Ballypatrick, 8 messuages and 120 acres; in Collon, a water-mill and 23 +acres, L6 13s. 4d. annual rent out of the said town, and the tithes +thereof; Ballymacskanlan, a castle, no tithe, and 120 acres; Cruerath, +Ballyraganly and Donnore, in the parish of Mellifont, with the tithes and +altarages, all in this county" (Louth). Here follow the possessions +belonging to the Abbey in the County Meath, and which have been given. + + +THE END. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The "Tourist Company" have recently fitted up a compartment of the old +mill, where a cheap and substantial lunch can be had by visitors who may +desire it. + +[2] See Illustration, p. 19. + +[3] See Illustration, p. 23. + +[4] See Illustration, p. 35. + +[5] See Illustration, p. 43. + +[6] See Illustration, p. 47. + +[7] The _Annals of Ulster_ simply state "for the monks of Ireland did +banish him (Auliv) out of their abbacy, through lawful causes." _The Four +Masters_ tell us it was the monks of Drogheda who had expelled him from +the abbacy for his own crime. A writer in the _Dublin Penny Journal_, +1835-36, says this Auliv was Abbot of the monastery of St. Mary de Urso, +near the West Gate, Drogheda. He quotes some old Annals without +particularising them. And Dalton, in his History of Drogheda, tells us +that Auliv had been Abbot of that same Abbey of St. Mary's, Drogheda, and +was expelled. Dalton evidently confounds this monastery with Mellifont. No +Cistercian Community had power to depose their abbot, such power being +vested in the General Chapter of the Order. + +[8] It is not generally known that it was an Irishman who, on the fatal +day of Aughrim, as St. Ruth rode to victory waving his cap, pointed him +out to the gunner whose faithful shot deprived St. Ruth of his head and +the Irish Army of a valiant General. + +[9] The Puritans admitted that Sir Phelim O'Neil did not commence his +alleged massacres until after the sacking and burning of Dundalk. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. 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