thumb|The abbey in the 1840s

Dunbrody Abbey () is a former Cistercian monastery in County Wexford, Ireland. The cross-shaped church was built in the 13th century, and the tower was added in the 15th century. With a length of 59m the church was one of the longest in Ireland. The visitor centre is run by the current Marquess of Donegall and has one of only two full sized hedge mazes in Ireland.

The abbey was dissolved under Henry VIII. The last Abbot of Dunbrody was Alexander Devereux, who became Bishop of Ferns in 1539.

History

In 1169 a contingent of Anglo-Norman knights led by the King of Leinster, Dermot MacMurrough, invaded Ireland, first conquering the Irish province of Leinster then all of Ireland. In 1171 Henry II led a much larger force into Ireland, taking control and making Ireland a territory of England. Richard de Clare, one of the important figures in the Norman Conquest, instructed his uncle Herve de Montmorency to found a Cistercian monastery in the County Wexford. Montmorency donated the allotted land to the English Cistercian Abbey of Buildwas. The Abbey of Buildwas sent a lay brother to survey the land and, after an unfavorable report, Buildwas turned down the gift. The property was then offered to St. Mary’s Cistercian Abbey in Dublin, which was in the filial line of Clairvaux. Owing to the neglect of the private owners of Dunbrody, a massive collapse occurred on Christmas Eve 1852, destroying the south wall of the church and some of the monastery. The abbey lies in ruins until this day.

Architecture

thumbnail|right|Floor plan of the abbey.

The church is in the form of a cross on plan, as is usual in Cistercian Abbeys, and has a nave, side aisles, north and south transepts, and choir. Apartments were formed in the roof over the chapels in the transepts (each transept has three chapels), one over the north transept (left transept on the plan) was approached by the circular stairs and a passage across the triforium of the north transept. There is also evidence of a floor having at one time been carried over the whole of the north transept. The space over the side chapels of the south transept contained a fireplace and five windows, and over it another floor, probably divided into two apartments, as it contains two fireplaces and has also five windows.

thumb|left|Dunbrody Abbey, County Wexford

The nave was separated from the aisles by an arcade of five bays. In the north aisle are four large buttresses; it is entirely owing to these buttresses that this wall is preserved. The south arcade and the wall of the south aisle fell in a storm on Christmas Eve 1852. The nave was lit by a row of clerestory windows and also three lights that formed the large west window.

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File:Dunbrody Abbey, north arcade.jpg|North arcade showing three of the four large buttresses that have preserved the wall

File:Buildings east of cloister garth.jpg|Buildings east of cloister garth

File:Dunbrody Abbey, underside of floor of bell tower.jpg|Underside of the floor of bell tower

File:Dunbrody Abbey Lavabo.jpg|Foundations of lavabo

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See also

  • List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Wexford)

References

  • Dunbrody Abbey (Official Site)