Old
Mellifont Abbey
Old Mellifont the first Cistercian Abbey in Ireland
founded in 1142 by St. Malachy Archbishop of Armagh.
It's consecration in 1157 was famously known to
be one of the last great gatherings of the native
Irish Celtic Clans, because just 12 years later
the Anglo Norman invasion of Ireland began. The
abbey was closed in 1539 because of the disillusionment
of monasteries by King Henry the 8th of England.
