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[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW. _From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin._]
MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH:
Its Ruins and Associations.
A Guide and Popular History.
"A house of prayer, once consecrate
To God's high service--desolate!
A ruin where once stood a shrine!
Bright with the Presence all divine!"
(_W. Chatterton Dix._)
Permissu Superiorum.
Published by
James Duffy & Co., Ltd., Dublin,
for the Cistercians,
Mount St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea.
1897.
Printed by
Edmund Burke & Co.,
61 & 62 Great Strand Street, Dublin.
INTRODUCTION.
In the following pages an attempt is made to describe the ruins of
Mellifont as they now appear, and to explain the uses, or probable uses,
that the buildings yet remaining must have served when the monks dwelt
there. Obviously, some important structural alterations were made when
changing the venerable Abbey into a fortified residence; nevertheless the
ruins exhibit, on the whole, the characteristics of the primitive plan and
style in which Mellifont, as well as all the Cistercian monasteries both
in this country and on the Continent, were built. The explanation is
founded on reliable authority, being gleaned from most authentic sources,
such as, _Les Monuments Primitifs de La Regle Cistercienne_, which is a
copy of the Rule drawn up by the Founders of the Order; the _Monasticon
Cisterciense_; _Violet Le Duc_; _Jubainville, Etudes sur l'Etat interieur
des Abbayes Cisterciennes au XII. et au XIII. siecle_; _Meglinger, Iter
Cisterciense_; _La Vie de Saint Bernard_, by Vacandard, etc.
As no Records, or Chronicles of Mellifont now exist, the historical part
of the compilation has been derived from different sources, chiefly from
our old Annals--_The Annals of the Four Masters_; those of _Boyle_, of
_St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin_; _Clyn and Dowling's_; and of _Clonmacnois_;
Ware's _Bishops_, etc.; _the Miscellany of the Archaeological Society_;
Ussher's _Sylloge_; Morrin's _Calendars of Patent Rolls_, etc. The part
relating to disciplinary subjects was drawn principally from Martene's
_Thesaurus Anecdotorum_, Vol. IV., which contains the Decrees of the
General Chapter of the Cistercian Order, also, from the _Constitutiones et
Privilegia, Menologium_, and the _Fasiculus Sanctorum Ordinis
Cisterciensis_, by Henriquez; _Originum Cisterciensium_, tom. I,
Janauschek; _l'Histoire de La Trappe_, Gaillardin, etc. The vindication of
monks in general, from the aspersions cast on them by their enemies, and
the facts appertaining to the Rebellion of 1641, are borrowed exclusively
from Protestant sources,--Dugdale's _Monasticon Anglicanum_, Tanner's
_Notitia Monastica_, Maitland's _Dark Ages_, Leland's _History of
Ireland_, Temple's _History of the Insurrection_, 1641, Tichborne's
_History of the Siege of Drogheda_, Carte's _Ormond_, etc.
These by no means exhaust the list of authors consulted and utilised, but
they show how far apart the pieces lay which have been stitched together
to form a consecutive narrative. The compiler has endeavoured to compress
the matter into the smallest possible space in order to make the little
book accessible to all at a moderate price; and he has preferred to allow
others to speak rather than to thrust his own opinions on the reader.
Finally, he has borne in mind throughout, the trite saying, _Magna est
Veritas et praevalebit_.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
THE RUINS 1
CHAPTER II.
ST. MALACHY FOUNDS MELLIFONT 33
CHAPTER III.
AN EPITOME OF THE RULE OBSERVED AT MELLIFONT AT ITS
FOUNDATION, AND FOR ABOUT A CENTURY AND A HALF
AFTERWARDS 41
CHAPTER IV.
MELLIFONT TAKES ROOT AND FOUNDS NEW HOUSES OF THE
ORDER 50
CHAPTER V.
MELLIFONT CONTINUES TO FLOURISH UNDER SUCCESSIVE
EMINENT SUPERIORS 58
CHAPTER VI.
MELLIFONT IN TROUBLOUS TIMES 67
CHAPTER VII.
THE SUPPRESSION OF MELLIFONT 85
CHAPTER VIII.
MELLIFONT BECOMES THE HOME OF A NOBLE FAMILY--IS
SOLD, AND IS DELIVERED UP TO RUIN AND DECAY 101
APPENDIX.
I.--LIST OF ABBOTS OF MELLIFONT 128
II.--CHARTER OF NEWRY 129
III.--INVENTORY OF ESTATES OF MELLIFONT 131
List of Illustrations.
GENERAL VIEW OF MELLIFONT _Frontispiece_
PLAN OF CLAIRVAUX _At_ p. 4
PLAN OF MELLIFONT ABBEY 5
GATEWAY (PORTER'S LODGE) 15
NORTH WINDOW OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 19
DOORWAY OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 23
INTERIOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE 35
INTERIOR OF LAVABO (OCTAGON) 43
ARCH OF LAVABO (OCTAGON) 47
SOUTH WALL OF LECTORIUM 63
MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH:
Its Ruins and Associations.
CHAPTER I.
THE RUINS.
"Look, stranger; where these stones in ruin lie.
Here in the old, grey times a holy thing
Rose up--a cloistered pile; but time swept by
And smote the sanctuary with his reckless wing."
(_From the Swedish, by J. E. D. Bethune._)
Of the many historic ruins which dot our country and attest its former
greatness, few attract so much attention, and invite so close a study as
our monastic remains, pre-eminent amongst which are those of the ancient
historic Abbey of Mellifont. In countless pages of our Annals the name
appears. In the records of sieges, battles and insurrections, from the day
on which a colony of St. Bernard's monks from world-famed Clairvaux, came
and settled in its tranquil valley, till having passed through many
vicissitudes, as an abode of piety and wide-spread beneficence, it became
a baronial residence, and finally lost its prestige as the site of a mill,
whose remains contrast incongruously with those of such a precious
memorial.
And what was Mellifont? It was the first house of the Cistercian Order in
Ireland; founded, endowed and enriched by native princes and saintly
prelates; the mother of saints and scholars; and at one time, the
admiration of our land, as a gem of rare architectural beauty.
Before going back to the shadowy past, let us endeavour to trace amongst
its ruins the outlines of the ancient buildings, and to explain the
special use and meaning of each in the monastic economy, when white-robed
monks trod its cloisters, and knelt and prayed before the altars in its
church. Each of the Cistercian churches and monasteries was built upon a
uniform plan, with some slight modifications, arising perhaps in all
instances from peculiarities of site and local difficulties. Around the
whole pile of monastic buildings, and girdling an area of some thirty
acres or more, comprising gardens, orchards, meadows, ran a high wall,
called the "Enclosure Wall," which served to isolate the denizens of the
cloister, and prevent as far as possible all ingress of the world.
Entrance within the precincts of the monastery was obtained through a
spacious and lofty gate-house occupied by a trusty Lay-Brother, whose duty
it was to receive visitors, and dispense hospitality to the poor and the
way-farer; thus he formed a connecting link between his brethren within
and the world without, from which they were cut off. Extending on either
side of this gate-house, or "Porter's Lodge," as it was known in monastic
language, was a range of buildings for the exclusive use of strangers of
every grade. There were the Hospice proper, an infirmary for the sick
poor, with stabling also, in the immediate vicinity, for the horses of
travellers:--
"Whoever passed, be it baron or squire,
Was free to call at the abbey and stay;
No guerdon or gift for his lodging pay,
Though he tarried a week with its holy choir."
The old tower which is passed as one approaches the ruins of Mellifont,
was the "Porter's Lodge," and right under it ran the avenue which led to
the abbey, but which was converted into a mill-race when Mellifont had
reached its last stage of degradation. The present road-way was
constructed in order to give access to the mill. The remains of old walls
can still be traced stretching on both sides of the tower, and prove its
ancient purpose in connection with Cistercian usage, as described above.
Some gate-houses of Continental monasteries, which have till now subsisted
intact from the eleventh or twelfth century, bear a striking resemblance
to this one at Mellifont. That of Aiguebelle, in particular, near Grignan,
in the Department of Drome, France, most closely resembles it.
There can be no doubt that a pile of buildings once occupied and enclosed
the whole space from the old gateway to the church, forming a rectangle,
of which the church was the fourth side. The precise purposes these
buildings served at Mellifont can now be only conjectured; for, in
different monasteries, local wants determined in a great measure the
allocation of this site to uses which varied with the circumstances of
each community. That is not, however, to be understood of what are called
the "Regular Places;" for these were held to be indispensable, and
occupied almost the same position in every monastery. The intervening
space here between the gate-house and the church is now covered over with
the debris of ancient buildings, which local tradition says once occupied
the side of the hill on which, and about where, a few modern cottages now
stand.
Approaching nearer to the ruins, a modern mill obtrudes itself upon the
scene, and one cannot help wishing it transported beyond the plane of his
observation.[1]
[Illustration: PLAN OF CLAIRVAUX BY DOMMILLEY 1708
1. Entrance.
2. Abbot's House.
3. Guest House.
4. Stables.
5. Church.
6. Sacristy.
7. Cell for Books (Common Box).
8. Stairs leading to Dormitory.
9. The Chapter-House.
10. Parlour.
11. Former Novitiate.
12. Cloisters.
13. Stairs to Dormitory.
14. Calefactory.
15. Refectory.
16. Kitchen.
17. Lavabo (Octagon).
18. Cemetery.
19. St. Bernard's Cell.
20. The Prior's Chambers.
21. Chapel of the Counts of Flanders.
22. Scriptoria.
23. Lesser Cloister.
24. Hall for Theses.
25. Theological School.
26. Infirmary.
27. Common Room of the Infirm.
28. Novitiate.
29. Abbots' Council Chamber.
30. Garden.]
[Illustration: MELLIFONT ABBEY GROUND PLAN]
Arrived at what is now the entrance gate, the visitor beholds in front of
him the four remaining sides of what was once an octagonal building, and
somewhat nearer on his left, a small roofless edifice. These are commonly,
but erroneously, called the "Baptistery" and "St. Bernard's Chapel." Their
true purposes shall be explained further on. Immediately at his feet now,
extend the sites of the church, and of the once magnificent cloisters. Of
these latter not a trace remains, except a mere outline on the green
sward, and a few squares of concrete to indicate the position once
occupied by them. The plan of the church extends to right and left: the
western portion of the nave running towards the river (see Plan), and the
entire length is dotted at intervals with blocks which mark the sites of
the piers. These concrete blocks were laid by order of Sir Thomas Deane,
under whose direction the excavations were made here some few years ago.
The length of the nave cannot now be ascertained with certainty, but
judging from the position occupied by some very old walls at the
south-western side, it may be roughly stated to have been 120 feet; while
54 feet 6 inches was the width of the whole church, including the aisles.
These latter were each 10 feet wide. The nave had seven bays, and like all
Cistercian churches, it was divided into two parts by the Rood-loft and
Choir-screen, which stood about midway. This Rood-loft served a twofold
purpose; on it was a lectern, where the Lessons of the night-offices were
read by the monks in rotation, and thereon the Abbot announced the Gospel
proper to each festival, chanting or reading it, according as the office
was sung or merely recited, after which, with crosier in hand, he gave his
solemn benediction. It answered, too, as a partition between the choir of
the monks and the stalls of the Lay Brethren; the former on the
eastern, the latter on the western side of it. This Choir-screen formed a
sort of reredos to the two altars, which were invariably found in this
position in the churches of the Order. On these altars were offered up
daily Masses for living and deceased benefactors--a practice which
continues in the Order and which dates back to the foundation of the
Cistercian Institute. Further west was a tribune or gallery, where guests
and the dependants of the monastery assisted at Divine Service, Office and
Mass. Inside the Rood-loft, was the Choir proper, which extended thence to
the Chancel, or "Presbytery Step," as it is called in monastic parlance. A
small space was provided between the Choir and the Chancel, in order to
allow a passage to those who proceeded from the Sacristy to the High Altar
within the Chancel. Two rows of stalls ran down on each side the length of
the nave. These stalls were generally of carved oak, and were artistically
finished. The outer rows were for the novices, and the backs of their
stalls formed the desks used by the professed monks, whereon they rested
the ponderous tomes containing the sacred psalmody. During the High Mass
the stalls next the Chancel were used, and the place of honour, that is,
the first stall on the Epistle, or south side, was given to the Abbot. The
Prior, as second superior, occupied the first on the opposite, or Gospel
side. The other monks according to seniority occupied the stalls on either
side. On the other hand, at Matins and at all the offices, except that in
connection with High Mass, the Abbot's and Prior's stalls were farthest
from the Chancel, and next the Rood-loft, and the order of the monks was
reversed. In token of his jurisdiction the Abbot's crosier was fixed at
his stall. The Cistercian monks call this Rood-loft the "_Jube_," from the
first word spoken by the reader when he asks the blessing before
commencing the Lessons. The whole nave here at Mellifont seems to have
been paved with beautiful tiles; a few of which may yet be seen in their
position near the great pier on the north side. At the intersection of the
transept with the nave, is the space called the "Crossing," or "Lantern."
Over this rose the bell-tower, which was supported on solid piers, from
two of which sprang the Chancel arch, and from the two others, that of the
nave. These piers were formed of clustered columns, but their remains
(about five feet high), vary both in dimensions and in style, manifesting,
thereby, the partial renovation that took place from time to time. The
material of which the whole building was constructed is a buff-coloured
sandstone not found in the vicinity of Mellifont, but brought, it is said,
from Kells, some twenty miles away; a thing not very difficult, seeing
that the river is so convenient. Some, again, are of opinion that the
stone was brought from Normandy; which seems to be improbable.
The total length of the transepts is 116 feet; the width 54 feet. The
northern one is some four feet longer than the southern. They seem to have
had aisles, an unusual arrangement in churches of the Order. In the
northern transept were six chapels, the piscinas of which are still to be
seen in the piers adjoining. The number of these piscinas cannot fail to
strike one as something very singular. Their presence is accounted for in
this way. At the date of the foundation of Mellifont and for centuries
later, it was the custom for priests of the Order to wash their hands at
the foot of the altar before commencing Mass, the server pouring water on
his hands, which he dried with a towel that had been previously laid on
the altar. The water used was then cast into the piscina. It was also the
custom with them, at that time, to descend from the altar when they had
consumed the Sacred Species out of the chalice and to wash their fingers
over the piscina.
This northern transept seems to have been a favourite spot for interments;
for during the excavations numerous skulls were found there. At Clairvaux,
the corresponding site was strewn with the graves of bishops, who selected
it as the place wherein to rest after life's weary struggle. No record or
memorial of these survives, or of any of the dead interred at Mellifont,
to point out the occupant of a single grave. In the northern wall of this
transept is a beautiful door-way with jambs of clustered columns. Hard by,
the wall was pierced to make a loop-hole when Mellifont was transformed
into a fortress. On one side of the door-way are the remains of what must
once have been a superb chapel; on the opposite side are a few steps of a
spiral stair-case, formed in the thickness of the wall, which led up to
the tower, as is to be seen at Graignamanagh, Co. Kilkenny, and other
houses of the order in Ireland. The level of the floor here is some five
or six feet lower than the adjacent road-way which was raised by the
accumulated rubbish of former buildings that extended along the hill-side
where the cottages now stand.
The southern transept may have had its six altars also. The aisle seems to
have been built up, and when the alterations which took place in the whole
fabric in the fifteenth century were made, a large portion of this
transept would appear to have been allocated to the uses of a sacristy. No
trace of a sacristy remains elsewhere, and this would be a very convenient
place to utilise as one. The remains of some walls lead us to suppose such
an arrangement probable. In Cistercian monasteries, a stair-case in this
transept near the cloister led thence to the dormitory, but no remains of
such a stairs have been discovered at Mellifont. When Sir Thomas Deane
had the earth and rubbish, or, as he calls it, the "grassy mound,"
removed, he discovered the foundations of two semi-circular chapels in
each transept, in a line with the site occupied by the High, or principal
Altar. (See the dotted lines in the Ground Plan). Describing them, Sir
Thomas writes: "Within the circuit of the external walls are the
foundations of an earlier church which indicate four semicircular chapels,
and two square ones between. Of this church we have no distinct record,
but the bases of semi-detached pillars would indicate the date given for
the erection of Mellifont." These four semi-circular chapels in line with
the High Altar, formed an exact counterpart of the church of Clairvaux
which was erected in 1135, and which by St. Bernard's express wish, served
St. Malachy as the model for Mellifont.
The chancel terminated in a square end, and was 42 feet deep by 26 feet
wide. It was raised about six inches over the floor of the nave, and a
slab of limestone extended the entire width with which the tiled pavement
was flush. Almost in the centre of the chancel, that is to say, nearly
midway between the two piers, are two sockets sunk in sandstone blocks.
What uses they served cannot be affirmed with certainty. However, it may
be conjectured that they served to receive the supports on which a violet
curtain was suspended during Lent, screening the "Sanctuary." This curtain
spanned the space from pier to pier. The custom is still preserved in the
Order. Here on this central spot, a lectern was placed, at which the
sub-deacon at Solemn Masses sang the Epistle. Here, too, the celebrant of
the Community Mass on Sundays blessed the water with which he sprinkled
the brethren, who presented themselves two by two before him. It was here,
also, that the Abbot blessed the candles, ashes, and palms, on
Candlemas-day, Ash Wednesday, and Palm Sunday respectively. This was
called the "Presbytery Step," and the whole space within the chancel, the
"Sanctuary."
The basis on which the High Altar was built still remains. It is distant
some few feet from the eastern wall, in order to allow a passage for the
monks, who on Sundays and Festivals received Holy Communion at this altar,
after which they walked around it in single file, and passing on by the
Gospel, or northern corner, returned to their stalls in the nave. The
basis is ten feet long by three and one half feet wide. On the Epistle, or
southern side, are the piscina surrounded with a dog-tooth moulding, and
the remains of the sedilia or stalls, which were occupied by the
celebrant, deacon, and sub-deacon at High Mass. Under these sedilia a tomb
was discovered during the excavations. A skull and some bones, together
with a gold ring, were raised from their resting-place; the bones were
replaced and covered with the slab of concrete now seen at this spot, but
the ring was sold by a workman and could never be recovered. No
inscription or tradition identifies the occupant of the hallowed grave.
Could it have been that of the famous Dervorgilla? She was certainly
buried at Mellifont, but unfortunately, we do not know the spot where her
remains were laid when "life's fitful fever" was over; or it may have been
the resting-place of Thomas O'Connor, or of Luke Netterville, both,
successively, Archbishops of Armagh; for they, also, were buried at
Mellifont.
On the opposite, or Gospel side, is an arched recess having an ornamental
moulding around it. This would seem to have been the Founder's tomb, or
rather, the remains of it. In the Cistercian Constitutions no special
place was allotted for the tombs of Founders, and only the indefinite
permission was given, that they, kings and queens, bishops and such like
exalted dignitaries, might be buried within the churches of the Order. A
general custom, however, prevailed in Ireland of appropriating to the
Founder's tomb a space in the northern wall of the chancel, and directly
at right angles with the High Altar. Others, besides Founders, were buried
on the north side in the chancel. Thus, in the Annals of St. Mary's Abbey,
Dublin, we are told that Felix O'Ruadan, who had been a great benefactor
to that house, was buried in the chancel of the abbey church, on the north
side. And Felix O'Dullany, the first Abbot of Jerpoint, and afterwards
Bishop of Ossory, was interred on the north side of the High Altar, at
Jerpoint.
The door on this side of the chancel is a puzzle, as in no other church of
the Order is one found in this position. There is no evidence of a
building having adjoined with which this door communicated, so that its
use is unknown. Quite close to this door there is a shallow recess in the
wall, which may have been a provision for the Abbot's throne, when he
officiated pontifically, as that is the site usually occupied by it. Some
five or six feet high of the chancel walls is all that is left standing;
and, though not up to the window level, what remains of the cut stone and
water-tabling gives an idea of the beauty of the whole, and what a loss we
have sustained by its destruction.
In the original church, that is, the one erected in St. Malachy's time,
there were ten altars we are told, but on the ground plan seven only are
shown. Two more at least were in front of the Rood-loft or _Jube_, and the
remaining one very probably was in one of the aisles. The church of
Mellifont was remarkable, not so much for its vast dimensions, as for its
architectural beauty; yet, in this it was surpassed by St. Mary's Abbey,
Dublin. Sir Thomas Deane writes: "From the fragments of the church which
remain, it is easy to trace the vicissitudes the building underwent. I
have great doubt that any portions of the structure above ground are those
of the earliest church erected on the site, or date as far back as 1157,
which is given as the year of its consecration.... The details of the
piers (the older ones) are in my opinion a century or more later in date.
They still indicate a foreign type, and the arrangements and obvious plan
show that the transepts as well as the nave had aisles.... Portions of the
piers discovered are of the fifteenth century, other parts of the church
of the fourteenth.... A second portion dates probably from 1260, another
from 1370, and another from 1460. I am not prepared to follow from the
history of the Abbey the causes of such restorations; but it is certain
that rebuildings of portions of the church occurred from time to time, and
that violence or decay was the cause." Neither to violence nor to decay
can the alterations be attributed, which the church underwent at the three
periods mentioned by Sir Thomas, but rather to the practice then common to
the whole Order, chiefly in the monasteries of Great Britain and Ireland,
of adopting the advancing changes in the Gothic style, and to the laudable
efforts of the monks to make the House of God worthy of Him as far as art
and skill could be made subservient to that purpose. Thus in the Annals of
Fountains and Furness, there are abundant proofs of this constant change
going on in those monasteries even down to the date of their suppression.
One Abbot considered the eastern window too low and narrow, and had it
enlarged; another thought the tower rested on too slender a basis, and he
built substantial piers and flanked them on the outside with buttresses,
and so with others.
To better understand the surroundings, it will be necessary to bear in
mind the general plan on which all Cistercian monasteries were built. On
this subject there is a good deal of misapprehension, even on the part of
those who seem to have given close attention to the matter. The church and
buildings necessary for large communities were so arranged as to form a
square, thereby combining simplicity with economy. It is said that the
monks borrowed this idea from the form of a Roman villa. The church formed
the first or northern side (for in temperate and cold climates the other
buildings, as they lay to the south, were sheltered by the church.) The
sacristy, chapter-house, and other halls were on the east; the
calefactory, refectory, and kitchen on the south; and the _Domus
Conversorum_ completed the square on the west. Within this square were the
cloisters, always contiguous to the main buildings, and forming a
communication with all the parts of the monastery. They were a sort of
covered ambulatory, whose roof rested on the one side against the main
buildings, and on the other was supported by open ornamental arcades,
which, however, in these climates were glazed. The cloisters were often
vaulted in richly moulded stonework, and were fitted up with benches for
reading, chiefly on the side adjoining the church. The space or
quadrilateral area enclosed by them was called the Cloister-Garth, in the
centre of which a statue or handsome fountain stood.
The cloisters were generally entered from the church by the south aisle,
at the point where it adjoins the transept; but here, at Mellifont, the
entrance was direct from the south transept itself. This a glance at the
ground-plan will show; though it may have been otherwise in the primitive
church; for, when it underwent alterations, the transepts were widened by
the addition of an aisle to each; and, the cloister being thus encroached
on, a change was necessary in it also.
Adjoining the transept, and at right angles with the cloister, on the
left, was a narrow hall or cell which contained books, chiefly the Sacred
Scriptures, and the writings of the Fathers. This cell, which had no
window, was called the "Armarium Commune," or "Common Box;" for its
contents were common to all the monks. Its situation was convenient to the
reading-cloister, which lay along the south wall of the church. In this
cell the monks were provided with an abundant supply of good books, but
treatises on the Canon and Civil Laws were forbidden to be kept in it: the
Prior was charged with the custody of these. Behind this cell, and
communicating only with the church, the Sacristy was placed; but, as
before observed, there is no trace of one here. Some writers on monastic
ruins, confidently assure their readers that this cell was a prison, and
that it was called the "Lantern;" casting upon the monks all
responsibility for the name, and supposing them to have formed it on the
_lucus a non lucendo_ principle, seeing the cell was dark. The error was
all their own; for the Lantern, as has been already shown, was in the
tower over the crossing of the church; and the true use of this cell has
just been stated above.
Here (at Mellifont), in close proximity to the transept, is the ruined
two-storied building we saw as we approached, and which, from its present
striking appearance, must have been one of the most beautiful within the
ancient abbey's precincts. This is commonly, but erroneously, known as
"St. Bernard's Chapel." Why it was reputed to have been a chapel, must be
from the close resemblance it bears to one. It was, in reality, the
Chapter-house. That it was, is quite evident to anyone who has studied the
plans of Cistercian monasteries: (_a_), from the position it occupies, and
(_b_), from the internal arrangement and decorations such as are found in
other like edifices of the Order in Ireland. A stone bench ran around the
inside of the building, and which, when covered with a rush mat, served as
a seat for the monks. In Graignamanagh Abbey, Co. Kilkenny, the ancient
Chapter-house still remains, closely resembling this one at Mellifont,
both in style and ornamentation, as well as in dimensions. The historic
Chapter-house of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, which was unearthed a few years
ago, exhibited in every detail a striking resemblance to this also. That
at Graignamanagh was remarkable for its beauty. At the entrance to it from
the cloister, was a magnificent arched door-way, containing within it
three smaller arches of blue marble, beautifully carved. A grand central
column, called by the inhabitants of the district, the "Marble Tree,"
supported the roof. It stood eight feet high from base to capital, whence
the branches spread to meet the corresponding ribs on the groined roof.
[Illustration: GATEWAY (PORTER'S LODGE.) See page 2. _From Photo by W.
Lawrence, Dublin._]
Sir William Wilde describes the Chapter-house at Mellifont, as he saw it
in 1850. He says: "It must have been one of the most elegant and highly
embellished structures of the Norman or Early English pointed style in
Ireland." He calls it a Crypt; for it was overlaid, and surrounded up to a
high level by heaps of rubbish. He goes on to say: "It has a groined roof
underneath another building evidently used for domestic purposes, and was
probably part of the Abbot's apartments. The upper room, which contains a
chimney, must have been a pleasant, cheerful abode, and its windows
commanded a charming prospect down the valley, with a view of the distant
hills peeping up from the south-west. The building is 30 feet long, by 19
feet wide. There are no remains of mullions or tracery of the east window.
At present, there are two lights on each side; but upon a careful
examination of the masonry both within and without the building, it is, we
think, apparent that in the original plan, the upper window on each side
alone existed, the others being evidently subsequent innovations. The
original windows[2] are still beautiful, deeply set, and, though their
stone mullions are rather massive, each forms, with the tracery at the
top, a very elegant figure. The internal pilasters, which form an
architrave for the northern window, spring from grotesque heads,
elaborately carved, and which appear as if pressed down by the
superincumbent weight. A fillet of dog's-tooth moulding surrounds the
internal sash. A projecting moulding courses round the wall, about two
feet from the ground, which, while it dips down to admit the splayed sill
of the upper or original windows, continues unbroken by the lower ones, an
additional proof that the latter did not exist in the original plan of the
building. Three sets of short clustered columns, four feet high, one in
the centre, and one in each angle, spring from this course, and terminate
in elaborately carved floral capitals, which differ slightly one from the
other. The centre rod of this cluster descends as far as the floor. From
these spring the ribs, which form the groining of the roof.... The grand
architectural feature, and most elaborate piece of carving, was the
door-way, formed of a cluster of columns, very deeply revealed on the
inside, but apparently plain on the outside.... Nearly the whole of the
western end has fallen, so that nothing but the foundations of this very
splendid door-way now remain. A figure of it has, however, been preserved
in Wright's _Louthiana_ (reproduced here),[3] published in 1755, where we
read that it was 'all of blue marble, richly ornamented and gilt,' but
'which,' the author adds, 'I was informed was sold and going to be taken
to pieces when I was there.' All the pillars and carved stone work of this
building were at one time painted in the most brilliant colours, the
capitals light blue, the pillars themselves red; portions of this paint
still remain in the curves and amongst the foliage."
The Chapter-house[4] is little changed since Sir William Wilde penned the
foregoing, and time seems to have dealt leniently with this magnificent
ruin. One of the windows has had its mullions restored under the Board of
Works; a number of curious objects--capitals, corbels, and portions of
arches and cut stone, flooring tiles, etc., has been collected there, and
a gate to guard them has been erected by Mr. Balfour, the owner of the
ruins and surrounding property. It is very dubious that the upper story
ever served as a part of the Abbot's lodgings, as these are generally
found further east. This room may have been the muniment room. It has two
port-holes remaining, relics of the days when Mellifont was turned into a
fortified castle, and the cry of fierce, contending men was heard on this
hallowed spot, over the graves of the sainted dead. In the first volume of
_The Dublin Penny Journal_, there are very interesting articles from the
pen of a Mr. Armstrong, a native of the locality. He tells us that this
Chapter-house was converted into a banqueting-hall by the Moore family,
and that in his time (1832), it was used as a pig-sty.
[Illustration: NORTH WINDOW OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 17. _From Photo by W.
Lawrence, Dublin._]
Another account of the fate of the beautiful arched door-way of blue
marble is, that it was lost at a game of piquet, and the lucky winner,
whose name, unfortunately, has not been handed down to us, had it removed
to his mansion, and set up as a chimney-piece. The floor of the
Chapter-house is now laid with some of the tiles which were found in the
church during the excavations, in order to preserve them from destruction
or appropriation by "relic-hunters." Abbots, generally, chose the
Chapter-house of their abbeys for their burial place; but, as no grave was
found here, when the rubbish was removed, during the excavations, we may
conclude that the Abbots of Mellifont were buried either in the church, or
in the cemetery with their monks.
The glazed tiles and their manufacture were a specialty with the old
Cistercians, in these countries. Similar tiles are seldom met with amongst
the ruins of other churches. Here at Mellifont, those found are red and
blue, and the vast majority have the legend _Ave Maria_ inscribed on them;
others are impressed with a Fleur de lis, a cock, or some typical device.
It is well known, that specimens of tiles found at Fountains, in
Yorkshire, bear a close resemblance to these. There, the motto of that
monastery was impressed on the tiles discovered--"_Benedicite fontes
Domino_,"--"Ye fountains bless the Lord." No doubt, here, too, some bore
the motto of Mellifont, if only they could be found.
A very pertinent question arises now: how could this small building give
sitting accommodation, not only to one hundred and fifty monks, which this
monastery is said to have had, but even to a third of that number? It
seems impossible. It may be that, on becoming numerous, they used as
Chapter-house some other building no longer standing. At Graignamanagh,
the monks, finding their Chapter-house too small, converted the eastern
window of it into a door, and built a large and spacious hall, as a new
Chapter-house, the old one serving as an ante-chamber to it. No such
addition had been made here; for the window remains intact.
What a change has come over this grand old Chapter-house since it saw its
Abbot, who ranked as a peer of the realm, walk up its centre with solemn
and stately tread, and mount the steps which led to his seat, on the east;
and the grave assemblage of white-robed monks enter in silence, and take
their places on either side, while one of them sang at the Lectern, the
Martyrology, and a chapter of St. Benedict's Rule! From this custom of
having a _chapter_ of the Rule sung there every morning, this apartment
derives its name. In the interval, between the singing of the Martyrology
and the chapter of St. Benedict's Rule, one of the priests gave out
certain prayers, to which all responded. These prayers were chiefly
petitions to the Lord, that He would deign to bless and guard them during
the coming day; for the hour of chapter, or of the assembling of the
Brethren, was generally about 6 A.M.. The Abbot then explained the chapter
which had been sung, dwelt on the obligations incumbent on his hearers, by
their profession, to observe the teaching which St. Benedict inculcated by
his Rule; then called for the public self-accusations of breaches of
monastic discipline (external faults only), and imposed penances
commensurate with each transgression. The Chapter-house was the hall
wherein were held the deliberations or councils relative to the
administration of temporalities, and here novices were elected or rejected
by secret ballot.
On leaving the Chapter-house one finds himself again on the site of the
eastern walk or alley of the Cloister, as it is called, and proceeding
along it southward, one sees a wall some seven or eight feet high without
door or window of any sort. It is doubtful that this was portion of the
ancient building; for then Mellifont would not have followed the general
plan of all the houses of the Order. That it was not one of the original
buildings is probable, both because the masonry is more modern, and the
remains of an old building running at right angles with it were found when
the excavations were made a few years ago in the potato garden, at the
rere of this wall. That old structure measured about fourteen feet wide.
It is shown on the ground plan. In the plan of Clairvaux, of which
Mellifont is said to have been a counterpart, a long narrow hall ran off
the Cloister here, parallel with the Chapter-house. It was called the
"Auditorium" or "Parlour." It was there that each choir monk's share in
the manual labour was assigned him every day by the Prior. There, too,
confessions were heard, and the monks might speak to the Prior or Abbot on
necessary matters; for the adjoining Cloister was a place of strict
silence. As at Clairvaux, the novitiate was placed further south where the
novices were trained in their duties by a learned and experienced monk,
who, according to St. Benedict, "would know how to gain souls to God."
Over the buildings on the ground story, that is, over the Sacristy,
Chapter-house, Parlour, and Novitiate, was the Dormitory, which was
entered by a stair-case, in the south-eastern angle of the transept, on
one side, and by another stairs at the junction of the east and south
walks of the Cloister. When the monastery at Mellifont was changed and
remodelled after Clairvaux (for this latter underwent a substantial change
in 1175), the monks may have used the old Parlour as a passage leading to
other buildings which covered that plot of ground beyond the
Chapter-house, now a potato garden. In the plan of Clairvaux, all the
space in that direction is covered with buildings. (See plan of
Clairvaux.) In the general view of Mellifont, given in frontispiece, the
plot whereon these buildings stood is that where the man is seen tilling
the garden. But if one ascend the hill, keeping close to the ruins, it
will be evident how suitable a place it was for building on, and the
remains of walls peep up here and there over the surface. The level at
that spot is, indeed, much higher than in the Cloister, or Chapter-house,
but that is partially caused by the debris of ruined buildings which has
accumulated there.
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 18. _A. Scott & Son,
Architects, Drogheda._]
At the extreme end of this eastern walk of the Cloister and at right
angles with it, are the remains of what was once a spacious building. It
had a fire-place at the eastern end, and a door which led out into another
building that formerly adjoined it. It is 96 feet long by 36 feet wide. No
idea can be formed now as to its original use. In some monasteries of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, chiefly the more considerable ones,
there was a spacious room or hall located as this was, and furnished with
benches and writing-desks, where the monks studied and wrote. It was
called the "Lectorium" or Reading room. It must not, however, be
confounded with the Scriptorium, which was the official quarters of the
copyist. It is well to remark here that the plot of ground lying north of
this building was not dug up during the excavations, but only skimmed over
in order to trace the course of some walls which at intervals appeared
above the surface; but, even this slight investigation was sufficient to
reveal the outlines of numerous buildings that once extended in that
direction and covered that whole area. Again comparing the site with
Clairvaux, we find that the Infirmary and its surroundings would lie in
that direction.
At the extreme end of the eastern walk of the Cloister where it joins the
southern one, are the remains of a stairs, which formerly led up to the
Dormitory from this part of the monastery, as at Clairvaux. Near it is
what is commonly called a vault, an arched chamber measuring sixteen feet
by fourteen. It has a chimney, and it would seem to have had a narrow
window also on the outer or southern end. Here is where the Calefactory
stood in almost all the old Cistercian monasteries. This Calefactory was
heated by a stove, at which the monks warmed themselves after their long
vigils in winter; but their stay there was restricted to one quarter of an
hour. Pope Eugenius III., when a monk at Clairvaux, under St. Bernard, had
charge of the stove there, as was commemorated by an inscription over the
door of the Calefactory. A son of the King of France discharged the same
lowly office afterwards at Clairvaux, as the Annals of the Order testify.
Adjoining this vault is a covered passage, having an entrance into the
next building, which runs parallel with it. Its purpose cannot now be
known. It may be that the vault or Calefactory had been converted in later
times into a store-room for necessaries which were brought thence by this
covered way into the Refectory, which is the next building. The Refectory
measures 48 feet by 24. A few coarse flags remain in their original
position, from which it may be inferred that the whole floor was once
formed of them. In its western wall was the turnstile, through which the
food was served from the kitchen that adjoined the Refectory on that side.
Now, we come to the great puzzle, the remains of the octagon building,
which was commonly called the Baptistery. Sir William Wilde, who saw it as
it was in 1848, calls it the oldest and by far the most interesting
architectural remains in the whole place; and he goes on to describe
it:[5] "This octagonal structure, of which only four sides remain,
consists of a colonnade or series of circular-headed arches, of the Roman
or Saxon character, enclosing a space of 29 feet in the clear, and
supporting a wall which must have been, when perfect, about 30 feet high.
Each external face measures 12 feet in length, and was plastered or
covered with composition to the height of 10 feet, where a projecting band
separates it from the less elaborate masonry above. The arches[6] are
carved in sandstone, and spring from foliage-ornamented capitals, to the
short supporting pillars, the shaft of each of which measures 3 feet 5
inches. The chord of each arch above the capitals is 4 feet 3 inches. Some
slight difference is observable in the shape and arrangement of the
foliage of the capitals, and upon one of the remaining half arches were
beautifully carved two birds; but some Goth has lately succeeded in
hammering away as much of the relieved part of each, as it was possible.
The arches were evidently open, and some slight variety exists in their
mouldings. Internally a stone finger-course encircled the wall, at about
six inches higher than that on the outside. In the angles between the
arches there are remains of fluted pilasters at the height of the
string-course, from which spring groins of apparently the same curve as
the external arches, and which, meeting in the centre, must have formed
more or less of a pendant, which, no doubt, heightened the beauty and
architectural effect. Like the pillars and stone carvings in the
Chapter-house, this building was also painted red and blue, and the track
of the paint is still visible in several places. The upper story, which
was lighted by a window on each side of the octagon, bears no
architectural embellishment which is now visible." He then adds, how
Archdall, in his _Monasticon_, asserted that a cistern was placed on the
upper story, whence water was conveyed by pipes to the different parts of
the monastery; but shows how such an arrangement would have been
impossible, on account of the weakness of the walls, and the position of
the windows.
This building was known, in monastic terminology, as the "Lavabo." A
fountain of water issued in jets from a central column, and fell into a
basin, in which the monks washed their hands, before entering the
Refectory for their meals. It is quite easy, from the construction of the
roof, to imagine a number of branches springing from the capital of the
column, and meeting the ribs of the groined roof, in the same manner, as
the "Marble Tree," in the Chapter-house of Graignamanagh. Drains in
connection with this building were discovered when the excavations were
made, and Sir Thomas Deane is of opinion, that it was surrounded on the
outside by a wooden verandah, or shed. Certainly, in the plan of
Clairvaux, a low building is shown, adjoining the Lavabo, at its east and
west ends; but no use is assigned it. Very probably it was the Lavatory.
Petrie thinks the Lavabo may have been built as far back as 1165, but that
can hardly be held; for Clairvaux had not been remodelled till 1175, and
it had no such ornamental structure in the time of St. Bernard. He
remarks, too, that fragments of bricks were discovered in the building,
and says they were never employed earlier in any other building in
Ireland. It is now certain, that it was the monks of Mellifont who first
manufactured bricks in this country. This Lavabo was not isolated or
detached from the Cloister, but, as at Clairvaux, a door led from one into
the other, opposite the entrance into the Refectory; and, since the
excavations, portions of the door-way are visible. Some small shafts and
their bases remain. Even at the present day, in one of the most recently
constructed monasteries of the Order (near Tilburg, Holland), what might
be termed a semi-octagonal Lavabo, having its fountain and basin, has been
built. It answers the same purpose as those in ancient times.
By keeping the Lavabo before one's mind, one can form an idea of the
Cloister itself; which, consisting of arcades, closely resembled this in
every detail, except that these were glazed, and in all probability its
walks had a lean-to roof. The site of the east walk of the Cloister is
easily traced, and the places occupied by the piers being now concreted,
mark their positions. This eastern walk was 21 feet 6 inches wide. The
opposite, or western one, was some 19 feet 6 inches; that on the south, 14
feet; and the north one, adjoining the church, and which was usually the
Reading-Cloister, may also have been 14 feet. Thus, we would have an
enclosed space or Garth, 100 feet square.
Beside the Refectory lay the Kitchen, which was a small building, and
around it are the ruins of smaller structures, which may have been
store-rooms in connection with it. Under the Kitchen ran a copious stream
of water which carried off all the refuse. It is remarkable that at
Clairvaux similar remains are found in exactly the same position
relatively to the Kitchen there. With the Cistercians, the Kitchen was
always square; with the Benedictines, it was round. To the rere of the
Kitchen, and almost directly opposite the covered passage, is the old well
which was covered over for a long time, but was discovered, and re-opened
in 1832. Near it a portion of the old wall fell in, but the masonry, owing
to the singularly cohesive character of the mortar, holds together despite
the action of the elements.
Of the western walk of the Cloister no trace remains, and only a tottering
wall of the _Domus Conversorum_, which once adjoined it, is standing.
There is no trace either of the northern walk, though this was the most
important of all. There the monks read and copied, in cells called
"carrols," which were placed near the windows. When not employed in
chanting the Masses and Offices in the church, or busied with domestic
concerns, or working in the fields, the monks passed all their intervals
here occupied with study. The Abbot had a chair here also; and, from a
raised pulpit opposite it, one of the monks read aloud every evening, the
lecture before Compline, at which the whole community assisted.
Turning westward and approaching the River Mattock, we enter, at the left,
an enclosed space, bounded by the river on one side, and by the remains of
the outer wall of the _Domus Conversorum_ on the other, we find ourselves
in a potato garden, which, on close observation, appears strewn with
pieces of bones. This was "God's Acre" at Mellifont, the cemetery of the
monks. Some forty or fifty years ago, a Scotchman, who then rented the
mill and a farm adjoining it, perceiving that the clay of this old
cemetery was particularly rich and loamy, dug a spit off it a foot deep or
more, and carted it out on his fields for top-dressing. Amongst the stuff
so carted were human bones of all kinds, skulls, etc.!!! This was done in
a Christian land, and no protesting voice was raised against the horrid
profanation!! The cemetery is shown in the general view at the extreme
left, where the plot of ground appears laid out in ridges and surrounded
by a wall.
The River Mattock flows peacefully still by the old abbey as it did over
seven centuries ago, when its course being first arrested, it was
harnessed and compelled to take its share in many useful and profitable
industries. One old solitary yew tree casts its shadow on its water and
bears it company amid the surrounding ruin and desolation--sad and
sympathising witnesses of Mellifont's fallen greatness. No bridge now
spans the river here, though formerly it was probably arched over, and the
slopes upon the Meath side were laid out in terraces and gardens. The
present mill was built over one hundred years ago, together with some
out-offices; the latter, being situated almost midway in the nave of the
church, were removed when the excavations were made. The mill has not been
worked during the last thirty years. When Mr. Armstrong wrote his
interesting papers on Mellifont, in the _Dublin Penny Journal_, 1832-33, a
few cabins nestled under the shadow of the old ruins.
The last building that deserves notice is the small ruined edifice on the
hill, which, after the suppression of the monastery, was used as a
Protestant place of worship. Sir William Wilde was of opinion that it
dates from the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The western gable which
rises in the centre into a double belfry contains a pointed door-way, and
above, but not immediately over this, is a double round-arched window. One
small narrow light occupies the eastern gable. At a few paces in front of
this building there stood, at the time Sir William examined it, two very
plain and very ancient crosses, one having a heart engraven on it
encircled by a crown of thorns, and the other having a fleur de lis on the
arm. The latter cross has disappeared, but the former can still be seen
prostrate on the ground, in that half of the old cemetery beyond the
road-way, that is, on the side to the south. After the suppression, this
was used as a Protestant burial-ground, though the presence of Catholic
emblems would go to prove that it was once Catholic. Of late years the
interments here have been but few. We are nowhere told, nor does any
tradition still linger to indicate the former use of this ancient
building, but it is most probable, that it was the church in which the
tenants and dependants of the Abbey assisted at Mass and other religious
functions--in a word, that it was the parish church of Mellifont, which
was _served by the monks_. This seems to be the most likely explanation;
for the law of "Enclosure," that law of the Church which debarred females
from entering within the monastic enclosure, ("_Septa monasterii_" as it
is called), was in full force at the Dissolution of monasteries, as
appears from the Decrees of the General Chapters of the Order about that
time, and also from the Episcopal Registers of some of the English
dioceses which have lately been published. In these latter are found
reports of the bishops, who, either officially or by delegation, visited
some monasteries and adverted to the law of enclosure as an important
point of monastic discipline. This old structure, then, would have been
constructed purposely outside the wall for the use of the tenants. Such a
chapel is still to be seen outside the enclosure at Bordesley Abbey, an
old Cistercian monastery in Worcestershire, of which we are expressly
told, that it was the place in which the monks, tenants, domestics, etc.,
attended Mass. Another purpose may be assigned to this old chapel at
Mellifont, as that attached to the College, or Seminary, which once
flourished there. The surrounding hill is locally and traditionally known
as College-Hill, and the old road which passes over it and leads to
Townley Hall, is called the College Road.
Little more remains to be said of the ruins or of the site itself.
Standing on this hill and looking into the valley beneath, we are struck
by its singular natural features. It would seem as if the waters of the
Mattock had been suddenly dammed up, and that the pent-up waters,
bursting their barriers, hollowed out this sheltered little valley, after
the angry element had cleared away the rocks and other obstructions; and
having swept it clear of the rubbish, made it a fit and proper place
whereon to rear a temple to the true God, in which praise and sacrifice
might for ever be offered to Him. No buildings seem to have been
constructed on the Meath side, as no traces of them remain. In this,
Mellifont differed from Clairvaux, whose buildings filled the valley and
spread out wings high up the hills on either side of the River Aube.
Just due south from where we have been standing, on the hill, and distant
about a few hundred yards, the Guide will show a singular earth-work,
shaped like a moat, and having an elevated mound in the centre. From the
presence here of old conduits built with masonry, there can be no doubt
that this was a reservoir to contain a copious supply of water which
flowed from wells on the hill. Lower down than this moat, that is, at the
rere of the Chapter-house, lies buried beneath some feet of soil the
Abbot's house, where Mellifont's puissant rulers received their guests,
and whose hospitable board was honoured by the presence of kings and
bishops, as well as chiefs and warriors bold in all their pomp and
panoply. It is doubtful that any vestige of the enclosure wall remains,
nor can it be conjectured even, what, or how much, space it embraced. As
we ponder over the scene, Keats' words find an echo in our hearts:--
"How changed, alas! from that revered abode
Graced by proud majesty in ancient days,
Where monks recluse those sacred pavements trod,
And taught the unlettered world its Maker's praise."