Old Abbey Lane

A house of Augustinian friars was established at Drogheda in the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) according to Ware (1705, 90), and it was sometimes known as Pontanense because of its associated with the bridge (Archdall 1722, 314). An Irish chapter of the order was held there in 1359, and it was decided to introduce the Observant rule in 1517 (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 298). At the suppression in 1540 it was described as the church and certain superfluous buildings, an orchard and a garden amounting to one and a half acres (White 1943, 246-7). The ruins survive, although they have been mistakenly called the hospital of Mary d’Urso beginning with D’Alton (1844, vol. 1, 111-16), but this is now firmly identified as the house of the Augustinian friars (McHugh 2019).

The standing remains consist of part of the nave, chancel, the W gable of the N aisle, and the central bell-tower. It is built of roughly coursed limestone blocks, greywacke and rubble. There is virtually nothing left of the nave except for portions of the S wall which have been disturbed and in places rebuilt with brick. To the N of where the W end of the nave should be there are the remains of a gable wall containing a window, now filled in, which is presumably the W end of a destroyed N aisle. It is a two-centred arch of moulded sandstone and its W façade has the remains of carved heads at the base of the arch, that at the N side being almost completely eroded. The N jamb is missing while that at the S side is of moulded sandstone. The E façade has a simple two-centred moulded arch of sandstone. Part of a later wall abuts the S side of the nave at right angles. It contains a now blocked opening with segmental arch of hammer-dressed blocks of limestone which must be of late medieval date.

The vaulting of the cross-tower is stepped upwards in three stages and there are two floor levels above the arch. The upper one has a twin-light transomed window at each side, while the lower stage has a small plain rectangular opening immediately below the apex of the original roof lines of the nave and chancel, but this is hardly big enough to give access to the lofts of these structures. The windows of the upper level have cusped ogee-headed arches of limestone. There is a plain rectangular-shaped doorway in the SE angle of the tower just below the line of the roof of the chancel which must have given access to a gallery. The arches of the tower are two-centred and are constructed with chamfered grey sandstone. There is a doorway in the S face of the tower at first-floor level. It has a segmental arch constructed with rough blocks of greywacke and limestone. It presumably gave access from the first-floor level of the domestic range to the tower, which in turn led to the chancel gallery - a similar arrangement to that at Carlingford Priory (LH005-042013-).

The E window of the chancel has a large two-centred arch, but since all the tracery has been robbed it is not possible to say what type of dressed stone was used or what number of lights there were. The S wall of the chancel has one half of a small arch, now blocked, about 6m E of the central tower. It has a central keystone and limestone blocks. Just to the E and at a slightly higher level there is a moulded sandstone window jamb. In the S façade of the S wall of the chancel just to the E of the tower are the remains of a doorway at ground level, now blocked. All the arch and jamb stones, which are limestone blocks, are still in position. It has a two-centred pointed arch with keystone and is quite plain. It gave access in late medieval times to the chancel from the cloister. About 26m S of the nave there is a short E-W stretch of medieval walling (L c. 7m) which has the remains of a splay at its W extremity. On the same E-W line as this wall and c. 13m to the E there is a further small fragment which contains punch-dressed quoin stones and may be a jamb from a late medieval doorway. (Bradley 1978, 116-17; CLAJ 1941, 25-32; CLAJ 1945, 24-5; CLAJ 1959, 154-9)

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.