Saul Monastery is a former Christian monastery located in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, Northern Ireland. It is traditionally associated with the 5th-century

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

, who is said to have founded it shortly after arriving in Ireland, and having died there at the end of his missionary work.

Location

Found in the village of

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

, Saul Monastery is located 2.7 km (1.5 mile) northeast of

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

; the

River Quoile The Quoile (; ) is a river in County Down, Northern Ireland. Course The river begins its life as the Ballynahinch River which flows from west of the town of Ballynahinch to Annacloy where it is known as the Annacloy River. This then becomes ...

is 1.5 km (1 mile) to the northwest.

History

According to tradition, the monastery was founded by

shortly after his arrival in AD 432; he landed via the nearby River Slaney and was granted a

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...

(

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

''saball'') by the local chieftain Dichu. He then placed it under the protection of Dunnius (Mo Duin). It is the traditional site of death of Saint Patrick, who died at Saul on 17 March 465. Saul Monastery survived for over three centuries before being destroyed by

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

raids. The

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

mention a "Ceannfaeladh of Sabhall, bishop, anchorite, and pilgrim" in 1011. A stone church was burned at Saul in 1020. Some time after 1130 Saul was refounded as an Augustinian priory of

Canons Regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

Saint Malachy Malachy (; ; Modern ; ) (11th century in Ireland, 1094 – 2 November 1148 in Ireland, 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to t ...

; legend claims that he had a vision of the monastery before he constructed it. In 1164 Saul was plundered by

Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn Muircheartach Mac Lochlainn (; ) was king of Tír Eoghain, and High King of Ireland from around 1156 until his death in 1166. He succeeded Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair who died in 1156. Mac Lochlainn survived an attempt by Ruaidrí Ua Con ...

with the men of Fearnmhagh, the

Cenél Conaill Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history *Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) is ...

, and the

Cenél nEógain Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history * Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) is ...

. In 1170 a lengthy description of the expulsion of monks from Saul is given: In 1289 or 1293, Nicholas Mac Mail-Issu discovered the remains of Saints Patrick,

Colum Cille Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Gaelic Ireland, Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the ...

and

Brigid of Kildare Saint Brigid of Kildare or Saint Brigid of Ireland (; Classical Irish: ''Brighid''; ; ) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish ...

at Saul; he placed them in a shrine. By 1296 Saul is described as greatly impoverished. It was destroyed by

Edward Bruce Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick (Norman French: ; ; Modern Scottish Gaelic: or ; 1280 – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 struggle for the Scottish cro ...

's armies during the Bruce invasion of Ireland in 1318. In 1380 a statute forbade any

Gaelic Irish The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaeli ...

from becoming religious at Saul; only British settlers could. The seal of the Abbot of Saul was on a petition to King Henry IV c. 1410. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey, with two castles, a garden and land were granted to

Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare (1525 – 16 November 1585), also known as the "Wizard Earl" (a sobriquet also given to Henry Percy), was an Irish peer. He was the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare and his second wife Eli ...

in 1542. A

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...

took place at Saul on the second Sunday of June, "Saul Sunday."

Buildings

One wall of the Augustinian abbey remains, and a stone monastic cell (also called the "mortuary house") in the old graveyard. There is also a cross slab in the graveyard. Other gravestones have been moved to the

Down County Museum Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in North American/gridiron football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland ...

. The present

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

building was opened on All Saint's Day 1933; it replaced a simple 1788 structure.

References

External links

*{{YouTube, EcVt7STCGVg, Video tour of the site Christian monasteries established in the 5th century Augustinian monasteries in Northern Ireland Religious buildings and structures in County Down Archaeological sites in County Down Saint Patrick