List of Cistercian abbeys in Ireland

List of Cistercian Abbeys in Ireland

(Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis

Coat of arms of the Cistercians

This is a List of Cistercian monasteries (called abbeys) in Ireland. The first abbey built in Ireland was Mellifont Abbey, founded by Saint Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh in 1142.

Currently active abbeys

• Mount St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea, Republic of Ireland (Trappist)
• Mount Melleray Abbey, Knockmealdown mountains in County Waterford, Republic of Ireland.
• Portglenone Abbey Church, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (Trappist)
• Bolton Abbey, Moone, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland (Trappist)
• St. Mary's Abbey, Glencairn, County Waterford, Republic of Ireland (Trappist); the only Cistercian Abbey for women in Ireland

Abbeys, now in ruins

Given in brackets are the date of foundation and the motherhouse which established the Abbey.

• Abbeydorney Abbey, County Kerry (1154[1] Monasteranenagh)
• Abbeyfeale Abbey, County Limerick (1188[2] Monasteranenagh Abbey?)
• Abbeyknockmoy, County Galway (1190[3] Boyle Abbey)
• Abbey of Lerha, County Longford (1214[4])
• Abbeyleix, County Laois (1184[5] Baltinglass Abbey)
• Abbeymahon Abbey, County Cork. (1172[6] Baltinglass Abbey)
• Abbeyshrule, County Longford (1150[7] Mellifont Abbey)
• Abington Abbey, County Limerick (1206)[8] Savigny†[9])
• Assaroe, County Donegal (1178[10])
• Baltinglass Abbey, County Wicklow (1148[11] Mellifont Abbey )
• Bective Abbey, County Meath (1147[12] Mellifont Abbey)
• Boyle Abbey, County Roscommon (1148[13] Mellifont Abbey)
• Comber Abbey, County Down (1199[14] Whitland Abbey)
• Corcomroe Abbey, County Clare (1194[15] Inislounaght Abbey)
• Dublin, St. Mary's Abbey, County Dublin (1139[16] Savigny†)
• Duiske Abbey, Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny (1204[17] Stanley Abbey)
• Dunbrody Abbey, County Wexford (1182[18] Dublin, St. Mary's Abbey)
• Erenagh Abbey, County Down, (1127[19] Savigny†)
• Fermoy Abbey, County Cork (1170[20] Inislounaght (Suir))
• Grey Abbey, Co, Down (1193[21] Holmcultram Abbey)
• Glangragh (Glanawydan) Abbey,[22] County Waterford (1170[23] Inislounaght (Suir))
• Holy Cross, County Tipperary (1180[24] Monasteranenagh)
• Hore Abbey, County Tipperary (1272[25] Mellifont Abbey)
• Inch Abbey, County Down (1177[26])
• Inislounaght (Suir), County Tipperary (1148[27] Mellifont Abbey)
• Jerpoint Abbey, County Kilkenny (1180[28] Baltinglass Abbey)
• Kilbeggan Abbey, County Westmeath (1150[29] Mellifont Abbey)
• Kilshanny Abbey,[30] County Clare (1198[31] Corcomroe Abbey)
• Kilcooly Abbey, County Tipperary (1185[32] Jerpoint Abbey)
• Kilenny Abbey, County Kilkenny (1162[33] Jerpoint Abbey)
• Macosquin Abbey, County Londonderry (1218[34] Unknown[35])
• Mellifont Abbey, County Louth (1142[36] Clairvaux)
• Midleton Abbey, County Cork (1180[37] Monasteranenagh)
• Monasteranenagh, County Limerick (1148[38] Mellifont Abbey)
• Monasterevin Abbey, County Kildare (1178[39] Baltinglass Abbey)
• Newry Abbey, County Down (1153[40] Mellifont Abbey)
• Tintern Abbey (Tintern Parva), County Wexford (1200[41] Tintern Abbey (Tintern Major))
• Tracton Abbey, County Cork (1224[42] Whitland Abbey)
• Beaubec Abbey, County Meath (Unknown [43] Furness Abbey)

†Note: The Savigniac order was founded in 1105 but by 1147 due to financial issues all Savigniac Abbeys were absorbed into the Cistercian order [44]

See also

• List of Cistercian abbeys in Britain
• List of abbeys and priories in Ireland
• Cistercian Order

References

1. Originum Cisterciensium p137 as Kyrieeleson, Odorney
2. Not included in Janauschek. Thompson, Clapham, & Leask (1931) p.14 states " A monastery, however, said to have been founded here c. 1188 by Brien O'Brien, was united to Nenagh (Monasteranenagh) as a cell in or about 1209". Annexation of this Abbey to Monasteranenagh is also mentioned by Ware (1705) The Antiquities of Ireland
3. Originum Cisterciensium p192 as Collis-Victoria
4. Originum Cisterciensium p218 as Lerha
5. Originum Cisterciensium p182 as Lex-Dei
6. Originum Cisterciensium p167 as Fons-Vivus
7. Originum Cisterciensium p123 as Benedictio-Dei
8. Originum Cisterciensium p211 as Woneyum
9. Original abbey was in Lancashire (England). In 1204 it was moved to Arklow, then in 1205 to Limerick
10. Originum Cisterciensium p177 as Samarium
11. Originum Cisterciensium p114 as Vallis-Salutis)
12. Originum Cisterciensium p92 as Beatitudo
13. Originum Cisterciensium p113 as Buellium
14. Originum Cisterciensium p204 as Comerium
15. Originum Cisterciensium p199 as Petra-Fertilis
16. Originum Cisterciensium p104 as S. Maria juxta Dublinum
17. Originum Cisterciensium p210 as Vallis-S. Salvatoris
18. Originum Cisterciensium p181 as Portus S. Maria
19. Originum Cisterciensium p187 as Insula Curcii. Erenagh abbey was burned down by John de Courcy who re-built it as Inch Abbey in 1177
20. Originum Cisterciensium p160 as Castrum-Dei
21. Originum Cisterciensium p196 as Jugum-Dei
22. "This seems to be an abbey that is no longer extant and is lost to history. Confusion exists regarding Glangragh. Thompson, Clapham, & Leask, confirming this confusion, states ""The site is said to be in Waterford , but is quite uncertain. It seems to have been in the [diocese] of Cloyne, but, by confusion between Clonensis and Cluanensis, has also been said to be in [diocese] Clonmacnoise, either in co. Westmeath or King's co. Archdall for some obscure reason placed int in Down. The founder and date of foundation are alike unknown, but 1200 is the latest date at which it was colonised from Inishlounaght"" Thompson, Clapham, & Leask (1931) p18. Janauschek accepts that until further evidence is obtained we must assume that it was in the diocese of Cloyne, County Cork Janauschek (1877) p.204" Stalley (1987) p. 239 calls it Glanawydan gives the foundation dates of 1171/1200 and states that it is in Waterford
23. Originum Cisterciensium p204 as Vallis-Caritatis
24. Originum Cisterciensium p178 as Sancta Crux
25. Originum Cisterciensium p258 as Rupes
26. Originum Cisterciensium p187 as Insula Curcii. Erenagh abbey was burned down by John de Courcy who re-built it as Inch Abbey in 1177
27. Originum Cisterciensium p131 as Surium
28. Originum Cisterciensium p180 as Jeripons
29. Origmoum Cisterciensium p205 as Flume-Dei
30. Most likely a cell of Corcomroe Abbey
31. Originum Cisterciensium p202 as Kilsonna
32. Originum Cisterciensium p183 as Arvicampus
33. Originum Cisterciensium p184 as Vallis-Dei
34. Originum Cisterciensium p222 as Clarus-Fons
35. Thompson, Clapham, & Leask (1931) p.19
36. Originum Cisterciensium p70 as Mellifons
37. Originum Cisterciensium p178 as Chorus S. Benedicti
38. Origmoum Cisterciensium p114 as Magium
39. Originum Cisterciensium p190 as Rosea-Vallis
40. Originum Cisterciensium p136 as Viride Lignum
41. Originum Cisterciensium p204 as Tinterna
42. Originum Cisterciensium p227 as Albus-Tractus
43. Sir James Ware states: "Friery of Beaubec . It was a cell of the Monastery of Bec in Normandy, of the Order of Benedictines, by Donation of Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath, under King John. But it was afterward made a cell of the Monastery of Furness in Lancashire in England, of the Order of Cistercians. For the Abbot of Bec having obtained leave from King Edward III to sell, sold that cell to the Abbot of Furness. Bec in French denotes either the beak of a Bird or the land's end. Janauschek states "In this place in the east of Meath, some Irish authors contend that there existed a Cistercian abbey, which was founded by Walter de Lacy, lord of Meath, a daughter of Bell-Bec first (in Normandy), and afterward became a cell of Furness." Janauschek further notes, that the Mother Abbey Bel-Bec was a daughter of Savigiac and was founded in 1118 and was crossed over to the Cistercians in 1147
44. "Glossary: Savigniac Order" (PHP). cistercians.shef.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2024.

Sources

• Doran, Linda; Lyttleton, James, eds. (2008). Lordship in Medieval Ireland: Image and reality (Hardback, illustrated ed.). Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-84682-041-0.
• Lalor, Brian, ed. (2003). The Encyclopedia of Ireland. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09442-8.
• Lydon, James F. (1980). Ireland in the later Middle Ages (Second ed.). Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7171-0563-2.
• Janauschek, Leopold (1877). Origines Cistercienses. Vindobonae.
• Stalley, Roger A. (1987). The Cistercian Monasteries of Ireland: An Account of the History, Art and Architecture of the White Monks in Ireland from 1142-1540. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03737-1.
• A. Hamilton Thompson Vice-President, A. W. Clapham & H. G. Leask (1931) The Cistercian Order in Ireland, Archaeological Journal, 88:1, 1-36, DOI: 10.1080/00665983.1931.10853567