The Monasterboice () ruins are the remains of an early Christian monastic settlement in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, north of

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

. The ruins are a national monument of Ireland and also give their name to the local village and to a

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 the same name.Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records)

Name

The name Monasterboice is a part-anglicisation of the Irish name meaning "monastery of Buithe". It was formerly anglicised as ''Monasterboye'' and ''Monasterboyse''. Boice is the English version of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name Boecius, which was adopted as the equivalent of the Irish Buithe.

History

The monastic settlement was founded in the late 5th century by Saint Buithe (or Buite) who died around 521.Bord Failte sign Poet and historian

Flann Mainistrech Flann Mainistrech (died 25 November 1056) was an Irish poet and historian. Flann was the son of Echthigern mac Óengusso, who had been lector at the monastery of Monasterboice (modern County Louth), in Irish ''Mainistir Buite'', whence Flann's ...

, Flann of Monasterboice, was

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as , , and . It has various specialized uses. Academic The title ''lector'' may be applied to lecturers ...

here. Little is known about the monastery except for a list of abbots (759-1122). It fell into ruin after the establishment of the Cistercian

Mellifont Abbey Mellifont Abbey (, literally 'the Big Monastery'), was a Cistercians, 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-Mellifo ...

nearby in 1142. A parochial church was in use at the location by the 13th century.

Description

The site includes the remains of two churches built in the 14th century or later and an earlier

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle ...

, but it is most famous for its

high cross A high cross or standing cross (, , ) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors. Th ...

es. The round tower is about 28 metres tall, and is in very good condition. It was likely built shortly after 968 and damaged in a fire in 1098. The three high crosses date from the 10th century and form part of the scriptural group (showing biblical scenes). The 5.5-metre Muiredach's High Cross is regarded as the finest high cross in the whole of Ireland. It is named after an abbot, Muiredach mac Domhnaill, who died in 923 and features biblical carvings of both the Old (Adam and Eve) and

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

s (the Adoration of the Magi) of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. The North and West crosses are also notable examples of this kind of structure, but these have suffered much more from the effects of the weather. A copy of the main cross is held in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London.

Today

The property is owned by the National Monuments Service and is accessible to the public. Burials in the graveyard around the ruins continue in the present day.

Gallery

Monasterboice North Church and West Cross West Face 2013 09 27.jpg, North church and West Cross Monasterboice-16-Westkreuz teils-1993-gje.jpg, West Cross Monasterboice-22-Ostkreuz teils-1989-gje.jpg, East Cross Monasterboice - North Cross - head west.jpg, North Cross, close-up Monasterboice-10-Muiredachkreuz Westseite-1993-gje.jpg, Muiredach's Cross

References

External links

Monasterboice Conservation Study
PDF 8.8MB {{Authority control Ruined abbeys and monasteries High crosses in the Republic of Ireland Ruins in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Louth Religion in County Louth Towers in the Republic of Ireland National monuments in County Louth Civil parishes of County Louth