Flat Niamh's Journal Entry from Mellifont Abbey, County Louth; and Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland

Flat Niamh visited Mellifont Abbey and Newgrange today.  Mellifont is a ruined 12th-century Cistercian monastery which was founded in 1142 on the orders of Saint Malachy, former Archbishop of Armagh and then Bishop of Down.  Located in what is now County Louth,  Mellifont Abbey is situated in a peaceful location on the banks of the river Mattock, about ten km (6 miles) northwest of Drogheda and not far from Monasterboice.

Mellifont Abbey

Here's a journal entry from Flat Niamh's hosts:

"Today we brought Flat Niamh to Mellifont Abbey or "God's House" as Sophie has named it. Sophie would like Niamh to know it's a special place built by a French monk and randomly a butterfly in French is papillion (she likes to learn French words). Sophie thinks it's where God lives."

(Click on any photo to enlarge it)

Here are Sophie and her daddy at the entrance to Mellifont Abbey with Flat Niamh

Mellifont Abbey was founded by Saint Malachy in 1142 and has considerable historical significance as it was the Cistercians' first and most important abbey in Ireland, and was a site of conflict between the Irish and the Anglo-Normans. The Abbey was built in a formal style of architecture drawn from the abbeys of the same order in Europe.

"It was the first Cistercian abbey in Ireland. In Irish it is An Mhainistir Mhór which means "big Abbey" The monk who took charge of building it was a monk named Robert.  Again it is about 3 miles from our house, and 6 miles from the town of Drogheda. We have pictures of Flat Niamh in the Lavabo which was basically a very fancy wash room for the monks to wash their hands before eating."

"Here's the coordinates for Google Maps: 53.742233° N, 6.466388° W"

Using those coordinates we marked Mellifont on this picture from Google Earth, you can see its location in relation to Monasterboice, Coolfore, and Drogheda. 

A bit of the Abbey's history

In 1140, Saint Malachy visited Clairvaux, France while making a pilgrimage to Rome. He was so inspired by Saint Bernard and the monastic life he observed at Clairvaux that he converted  to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.  The Cistercian Order is a Catholic religious order of enclosed (sometimes referred to as cloistered) monks and nuns who place high value upon self-sufficiency and work, and who live a fairly quiet, monastic existence set apart from the rest of society. "Enclosure" is regulated by Catholic law, though it is not as strict as it once was, and the principal behind it is distance from the distractions of the everyday world to focus upon prayer and spiritual concerns. 


Malachy returned to Ireland and found a secluded place near Drogheda on the River Mattock, a tributary of the Boyne, which was within the territory of King Donnchadh Ó Cearbhaill of Airghialla, a strong supporter of the ecclesiastical reform movement. He gave the land to the Cistercian Order and also supplied materials for the construction of the new monastery. By 1170, Mellifont had one hundred monks and three hundred lay brothers. The Abbey became the model for other Cistercian abbeys built in Ireland, with its formal style of architecture imported from the abbeys of the same order in France.

The Synod of Drogheda was held in Mellifont in 1152 and was attended by bishops and kings along with the papal legate John Paparo. The consecration of the church took place in 1157, after St. Malachy had died, and asserted Church authority by banishing the King of Meath, Donnchadh Ua Maeleachlainn.  Donations were made by several kings to assist in the founding of the abbey:  the provincial King of Ulster, Muirchertach Ua Lochlainn,  gave cattle, some gold and also a local town land; the King of Airgialla (Oriel),Donnchad Ua Cearbhall, , who had already donated the land, also gave gold; and Derbforgaill, the wife of Tigernan Ua Ruairc,  gave gold, a chalice and altar cloths. 

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII, Mellifont Abbey was demolished and the site sold.  In 1556, Edward Moore built a fortified Tudor manor house on the site using materials scavenged from the monastic buildings.  This house was the site of two important turning points in Irish history.  After being defeated in the Battle of Kinsale in 1603, Hugh O'Neill, last of the great Irish chieftains, was given shelter there by Sir Garret Moore. O'Neill soon surrendered to the English Lord Deputy Mountjoy and was pardoned, but he fled to the Continent in 1607 with other Irish leaders in what is known as the Flight of the Earls.

The second historical event involving the manor house is described nicely in this journal entry:

"When The Battle of the Boyne was being fought William of Orange used this Abbey as his head quarters. Flat Niamh will be going to see the site where the Battle of the Boyne took place next weekend, so more about that later."

The Battle of the Boyne was significant far beyond the local area and in fact, impacted all of Ireland for centuries to follow.  We'll leave further exploration of that chapter of Irish history to a later blog post regarding Flat Niamh's visit to the site of the Battle of the Boyne. 

"There are still Mellifont Abbey monks, the live in a village not far from us and the old abbey called Collon, they are known locally as " the Monks of Collon". They live in a beautiful secluded area with fab gardens and a great maze for kids, great during the summer to bring a picnic."  

Here's a wee link about the"new monks": 

 http://www.mellifontabbey.ie/index.php?mellifont_new

The Lavabo dates from the thirteenth century and is one of the most intriguing features of the abbey. It was apparently an addition to the cloister. You can seen remnants of the cloister colonnades just to the right of the Lavabo in this photo.  

Sophie and Flat Niamh in the Lavabo...again this photo seems so familiar for some reason................

Here's Niamh in the very same spot, although the photo was taken from the opposite side of the Lavabo, looking back toward the entrance.  You can see the medieval gate in the background. 

Notice the unique octagonal shape? 

Niamh walking along one of the old walls of the abbey church-notice how thick and massive the walls are-even after more than 800 years of exposure to the elements.  

A view of the neighboring hills and fields

Looking at the River Mattock from a small stone bridge on the site

Niamh getting ready to leave...........

Standing in front of the medieval gate

Newgrange

We ventured back in the car as the sun was going down at about 5PM and made our way through the Boyne Valley and up to Newgrange, an ancient burial ground that is over 5000 years old! Wow, that's old Niamh!!

Old is right!  Newgrange is older than the renowned Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt or Stonehenge.  And yet, the site is far less known internationally.  Newgrange was built circa 3100-2900 BC, (during the Neolithic period) in order to house the remains of the dead. After its initial use as a tomb, the entrance to Newgrange was closed and remained sealed for several thousand years, during which time it gained numerous associations in local folklore and mythology.

Here is an exterior view of Newgrange as it looks today.  The decorative white stones are a matter of some controversy to historians and archeologists who argue that it is difficult to know how the mound might have looked originally but that ornamentation like this would have been unlikely for a number of reasons.

Sophie with Flat Niamh at Newgrange

Newgrange is a pre-historic mound built just after the Stone Age, with bright white stones for walls. Close by are two more major mounds (Knowth & Dowth) and countless other smaller mounds....all within a radius of a couple of miles.

Here is a picture from Google Earth showing the locations of Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth in relation to Mellifont and Monasterboice. 

"Historians can never really agree what purpose these mounds served to the people that built them all those years ago, but its widely believed (and Eric agrees) that they were built in specific places to match the stars in the sky at certain parts of the year, so they could keep track of the year passing (like a big calendar!!!). This theory is backed up by the fact that on the Winter Solstice(shortest day of the year) 21st December, the long passageway that runs through the Newgrange mound is flooded in sunlight as the sun rises that morning."

"How clever were those guys to build the narrow doorway facing the sun rise on that day so perfectly??! Eric says a fun thing to do is find Newgrange on Google maps (satellite view) and zoom out a little, so you can see the surrounding countryside. Now try to count how many mounds (big or small) you can see??"

Let's try that! Here is a link to a Google Map using satellite.  Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth are the best known burial mounds in the Boyne Valley and are clearly marked. Archeologists estimate that there are as many as 40 burial mounds in the Boyne Valley.  Zoom in and see if you can spot any:

http://goo.gl/maps/jmww

That's right, as many as 40!  Newgrange is  just one monument within the Neolithic Brú na Bóinne complex, alongside similar passage tomb mounds at Knowth and Dowth, and as such is a part of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site.  With all that has been gleaned about ancient Ireland from the excavations carried out thus far, we can only guess at what future archeologists will discover.

Here is a photo taken of  Newgrange during the 1950s, prior to its excavation and restoration:

A closer view of the entrance and Newgrange's famous and distinctive kerbstone, photo taken circa 1905:

 And what are those swirly looking things carved into the kerbstone?  That's a good question.  One that would be hard to answer definitively although archaeologists have different opinions in that regard. 

"Newgrange contains various examples of abstract Neolithic rock art carved onto it which provide decoration. These carvings fit into ten categories, five of which are curvilinear (circles, spirals, arcs, serpentiniforms and dot-in-circles) and the other five of which are rectilinear (chevrons, lozenges, radials, parallel lines and offsets). They are also marked by wide differences in style, the skill-level that would have been needed to produce them, and on how deeply carved they are. One of the most notable examples of art at Newgrange is the triskele-like features found on the entrance stone, which has been described as one of the most famous stones in the entire repertory of megalithic art. Archaeologists believe that most of the carvings were produced prior to the stones being erected in place, although the entrance stone was instead carved in situ before the kerbstones were placed alongside it.

Various archaeologists have speculated as to the meaning of the decoration, with some, such as George Coffey (who produced a study of art at "New Grange" in the 1890s), believing them to be purely decorative, whilst others, like M.J. O’Kelly (who led the 1962–1975 excavation at the site), believing them to have some sort of symbolic purpose, because some of the carvings had been in places that would not have been visible, such as at the bottom of the orthostatic slabs, below ground level."

source: Wikipedia: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange#Art

The 79 foot-long passage leading to the tombs at Newgrange is in alignment with the rising Winter Solstice sun, which  lights up the end of the chamber. 

Well that's all for now......we'll be posting more soon, hopefully about the Battle of the Boyne site and possibly about some of the ring forts (also called fairy rings, fairy forts, or raths) in the area which figure into local folklore, place names (such as the Hill of Rath), and conceptions of the landscape and its appropriate use. 

Flat Niamh's Journal Entry from Monasterboice Abbey County Louth, Ireland

Sophie and her family took Flat Niamh to see Monasterboice, a monastery which was founded by Saint Buithe, a follower of Saint Patrick,  in the late 5th century.  The name Monasterboice comes from the Irish place name Mainistir Bhuithe which translates as "Buithe's Monastery". 

St. Buithe's Monastery was an important center of spirituality and scholarship until the Cistercians arrived and built nearby Mellifont Abbey in 1142. There is archeological evidence to suggest that the site had Pre-Christian significance as well.  It is located in County Louth, about 6 miles northwest of Drogheda.

The site draws between 70,000 to 100,000 visitors each year and has a number of fascinating  features. Sophie and her family took some very nice photos of Flat Niamh at the site.  Let's start with a journal entry from them, in green (what other color could we use?). 

Well we had a great day with Flat Niamh at Monasterboice. Lots of pictures. Monasterboice is about 3 miles away from our house so we started our trip there. It was once a monastery founded by a bishop, it's over 1000 years old. There are also 2 churches: a north and south church and of course the famous high crosses, one of them is over 6 meteres tall. Followers of St. Patrick built it and he is the patron saint of Ireland, and when St Patrick died and went to heaven he went up the ladder inside the tall tower and all the way to the top took him straight to heaven or so we were told!

The Round Tower

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

Here are Sophie and her daddy posing with Flat Niamh on the steps of the tower. 

Monasterboice's round tower is over 30 meters (110 feet) tall and was divided into four or 

more stories inside, connected by ladders. The tower was used as a belfry, watch-tower, and a refuge for monks and valuables such as manuscripts during times of Viking attack. The small monastic community founded by St. Buite thrived for centuries until it was seized and occupied by Vikings in the 10th century.  Donal, the High King of Tara, defeated the Vikings as the story goes, single-handedly killing 300 of them. Records indicate that the interior burned in 1097, destroying many valuable manuscripts and other treasures. The tower is currently closed to the public.

Another view of the tower. 

Well if the tower is 110 feet tall, don't those crosses look quite large as well?  That's because they are.  The site is most famous for its high crosses, two of which are considered to be the finest examples in Ireland. Both are made of sandstone and date to approximately the 10th century. 

Muiredach's High Cross

Here are Sophie and Flat Niamh in front of Muiredach's High Cross: can you see the cat just over both of their right shoulders?

The 5 1/2 meter (18 feet) Muiredach's High Cross is regarded as the finest high cross in the whole of Ireland.  It dates to the 10th century, and was built in honour of an abbot who lived on the monastic site. It contains 62 carvings from the Old and New Testaments, and was probably built for education purposes.  Muiredach's cross has been described as the most beautiful specimen of Celtic stonework now in existence.

Here's a detail of the cats (or lions) and the inscription which reads: ÓR DO MUIREDACH LASERNAD IN CHROS, which translates from Irish as "a prayer for Muiredach who had this cross made."

Here is a link that has photos of all four sides of the cross:
http://ireland.wlu.edu/cross/Muiredach/east/index.html


Here are photo details of various scenes carved on the cross:
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/muiredach/muiredach.html

Here is the Wikipedia entry for Muiredach's Cross which has a very detailed diagram of all the carvings on the cross with descriptions of their references to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muiredach's_High_Cross#Description_of_panels

The West Cross

The West Cross or the Tall Cross (pictured below) is the tallest high cross in Ireland  and stands about 7 meters (nearly 23 feet) high.  It also dates to the 10th century. 

Here is a link with details of the scenes depicted on the West Cross:

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/monaster/monaster1.html

There are also two churches on the site which were built in the 14th century. They are referred to as the South Church and the North Church.  Notice that not only is the placard below in both Irish (the official language of Ireland) and English, but the Irish comes first. 

The South Church

Sophie and Flat Niamh standing in the remnants of the South Church.......gosh that looks very familiar......

Well there's Niamh a few years ago in the very same spot! 

The North Church

Sophie with Flat Niamh in the remnants of the North Church

"Here's the coordinates if you'd like to view it on Google maps: 53.7776° N, 6.41759° W"

Well we plugged those very coordinates into Google Earth and here is what we could see:
  

And you can zoom in a bit closer, should you use those coordinates with Google Earth yourself to see the site. This will give you an idea:

It is a great deal simpler to save images from Google Earth to post here on the blog than trying to do so with Google Maps, but both provide a good deal of information about places and are well worth exploring.  For example, using Google Maps, one can choose street view to see the Gift Shop and car park for Monasterboice to get an idea of how amazing the site is to walk onto as it isn't easily seen from the road. 


Here's a link to the Google street view of the house that now serves as the Monasterboice Gift Shop:
http://goo.gl/maps/Kqa4
You can use it to see 360 degrees...........can you see Monasterboice?  

"We went yesterday evening around 5pm, it was a nice dry evening but starting to get cold."

A beautiful shot of the tower and one of the high crosses at sundown

An Irish sunset from the Monasterboice Tower

Coming next: Flat Niamh's Journal Entry from Mellifont Abbey and Newgrange.....