Monasteranenagh Abbey is a medieval

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

and

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

located in

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, Ireland. It is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Monasteranenagh.

Location

Monasteranenagh Abbey is located east of

Croom Croom () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. It is located just off the N20 (which has bypassed the town since 2001) on the River Maigue. It is 8 km southeast of Adare on the N20. The village is in a townland and civil parish of t ...

, on the north bank of the

River Camogue The River Camoge or Camogue (; ) is a river in Munster, Ireland, a tributary of the Maigue, which is itself a Shannon tributary. Course The River Camogue rises in County Tipperary near Emly. It enters County Limerick and is bridged by the R5 ...

History

This monastery was founded in 1148 by Toirdelbhach mac Diarmaida Ua Briain for

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

from

Mellifont Mellifont Abbey (, literally 'the Big Monastery'), was a Cistercian abbey located close to Drogheda in County Louth, Ireland. It was the first abbey of the order to be built in Ireland. In 1152, it hosted the Synod of Kells-Mellifont. After i ...

. The name means "Monastery of the

Fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

." The buildings were possibly completed by

Domnall Mór Ua Briain Domnall Mór Ua Briain, or Domnall Mór mac Toirrdelbaig Uí Briain, was King of Thomond in History of Ireland, Ireland from 1168 in Ireland, 1168 to 1194 in Ireland, 1194 and a claimant to the title King of Munster. He was also styled History ...

in the late 12th century. The monastery was made subject to

Margam Abbey Margam Abbey () was a Cistercian monastery, located in the village of Margam, a suburb of modern Port Talbot in Wales. History The abbey was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of Clairvaux by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and was dedicated to ...

after the conspiracy of Mellifont in 1127. In 1228 the monks fortified the abbey to prevent

Stephen of Lexington Stephen of Lexington (or "de Lexington", "Lexinton", "Lessington") (born c. 1198, d. 21 March, probably in 1258), was an English Cistercian monk, abbot, and founder of a college in Paris. Life Stephen came from a prominent family of royal officia ...

's visitation. Monasteranenagh Abbey was dissolved in 1540 and granted to Sir Osborne Echingham in 1543. Some monks continued to occupy the site. The monastery was taken by English soldiers on 3 April 1580, during the

Second Desmond Rebellion The Second Desmond Rebellion (1579–1583) was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions in Ireland launched by the FitzGerald Dynasty of County Desmond, Desmond in Munster against English rule. The second rebellion began in ...

. Sir

Nicholas Malby Sir Nicholas Malby (1530?–1584) was an English soldier active in Ireland, Lord President of Connaught from 1579 to 1581. Life He was born probably about 1530. In 1556 his name appears in a list of persons willing to take part in the plantatio ...

, for the English, routed Sir John of Desmond and turned his cannon on the Abbey where some of the Irish had sought shelter: the

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

and

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...

were practically destroyed and the whole of the surviving monastic community were massacred. The tower fell in 1806–7; it was thought to have been either the

crossing tower A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church. In a typically oriented church (especially of Romanesque and Gothic styles), the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, ...

of the church or part of a 16th century house that was constructed over the south transept. The presbytery had a

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

, which collapsed in 1874. The interior of the abbey was used as a burial ground until the 1970s.

Buildings

Above the remains of the west doorway are two round-headed windows. There are three

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s in the east wall. The ruins mainly include the church (1170–1220), and an early

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

. The walls, gables and the main window frame of the church are all extant.

References

{{Reflist Cistercian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Religion in County Limerick Archaeological sites in County Limerick National monuments in County Limerick 12th-century establishments in Ireland Christian monasteries established in the 7th century