Abbeylara Cistercian Abbey

On low-lying ground, c. 40m to the NE of a stream, and within a graveyard (LF011-036004-). Said to have been ‘founded by St Patrick, who appointed St Guasacht its first abbot: it was refounded for monks of the Cistercian order, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, in 1205, by Lord Richard Tuit’, who was subsequently interred here in 1211 (Lewis 1837, vol. 1, 3). It is a daughter house of St Mary's abbey (DU018-343----), Dublin (Cal. papal letters, vol. 6, 198). Also known as the monastery of 'St. Mary's de Lera alias de Grenardo' (ibid. vol. 9, 29). In 1410 the pope issued an indulgence to penitents who gave 'alms for the conservation and repair of church and monastery, which monastery has part of its buildings threatening ruin and collapsed' (ibid., 218). It is not clear if these repairs were undertaken as in 1422 a monk informed the pope that the 'monastery is threatened with ruin by the negligence of abbot Richard' (ibid. vol. 7, 233). A second indulgence was issued in 1434 5 (ibid. vol. 8, 505-6). In 1552, after the dissolution of the monasteries, it was leased to Richard Nugent (Henry VIII-Eliz., vol. 1, 368) and in 1612 it was granted to Francis Shane (Cal. pat. rolls Ire., Jas I, 244).

Upstanding remains indicate that the original 13th-century abbey church consisted of a nave divided from the chancel by a central crossing-tower. Transepts extended off the N and S sides of the crossing-tower and a vaulted chamber or small chapel extended off the N side of the chancel. The cloister and conventual range of buildings were located on the S side of the church (Stalley 1987, 241).

Only the N, S and W sides of the crossing-tower (ext. dims. 10.6m N-S; 10.3m E-W; wall T 1m) and the adjoining sections of the N and S walls of the church survive, as well as traces of the transepts and chapel. A later turret was inserted in the angle between the S transept and the S wall of the nave. The crossing-tower, constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble, originally had four high pointed arches of cut sandstone. In the 15th century the N and S arches were partially infilled to support a stone barrel-vaulted roof springing from N to S (ibid.). Possible remains of the original rib vaulting can be seen in the SW angle. Seven of eight wooden beam holes are visible in the N wall, just below the springing of the vault, and these may have supported a floor that was accessed through a square-headed doorway in the centre of the W wall of the tower. The springing of the stone vault over the ground floor of the small chapel is visible on the external face of the N wall of the chancel, as is the scar line of its roof. This structure was accessed from the almost completely destroyed N transept. The turret, housing a spiral stairs, may have replaced an earlier S aisle (ibid.) and it cuts across the original S and W arches of the crossing-tower. It is accessed through a broken-out sandstone doorway in the NW angle of the S transept and is lit by a series of square-headed narrow windows with sandstone surrounds. The stairs accessed the floor levels above the crossing-tower. Smaller pointed archways were inserted in the fill of the N and S arches. A tall pointed recessed niche is visible to the W of this opening in the N arch. A poorly preserved carving in relief on the chamfered face of its dressed stone surround may be a 15th-century mason's mark. Directly opposite in the infill of the S arch are the remains of a similar niche. At first-floor level a sheela-na-gig (LF011-036002-) is visible. Scar lines of steeply pitched roofs can still be seen on the external faces W and N walls of the crossing-tower. Narrow square-headed doorways located just below the scar lines gave access to the roof space over the nave and to an inserted floor over the N transept. A second square-headed doorway is visible above the doorway in the N wall and a series of putlog holes are also visible in this wall. In the 16th century the crossing-tower may have been modified again and turned into a fortified dwelling while the rest of the abbey buildings fell into a ruinous condition (ibid.). No visible surface trace of the cloister survives. In the field to the S low undulating earthworks appear to represent the grass-covered wall-footings of the S range of conventual buildings. About 25m to the NW of the abbey the wall-footings of an 18th/19th-century church (LF011-036003-) are evident. Numerous architectural fragments, including a dumb-bell pier from the cloister, are visible in the surrounding graveyard. In the field to the E very wide cultivation ridges run diagonally across the field from NE-SW. They may be associated with the abbey. (McNamee 1940a, 11; 1940b, 38; ITA Survey 1944; Hartnett 1954, 181; Leask 1960, vol. 3, 43, 45; O'Donovan 2003, 27)