All Hallows monastery
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The Priory of All Hallows (or Priory of All Saints) was a monastic foundation just outside of the walls of
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Chapters of Dublin, Chapter IV: Trinity College, by Samuel A. Ossory Fitzpatrick


History


Priory

All Hallows was founded in 1166 by
Diarmait Mac Murchada Diarmait Mac Murchada (Modern Irish: Diarmaid Mac Murchadha), anglicised as Dermot MacMurrough, Dermod MacMurrough, or Dermot MacMorrogh (c. 1110 – c. 1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he was deposed by the High King ...
shortly before his deposition as by
King of Leinster The kings of Leinster ( ga, Rí Laighín), ruled from the establishment of Kingdom of Leinster, Leinster during the Irish Iron Age, until the 17th century Early Modern Ireland. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as th ...
. It was situated east of the walled city in an area known as "Hoggin Green" or "Hogges Green" or "Le Hogges". It was an Araosian (
Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...
) foundation, with canons regular. The priory was one of the most important, and over time became one of the wealthiest, religious establishments in the vicinity of Dublin, along with the Priory of St John the Baptist (Thomas Street), the Priory of the Holy Trinity and St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin (as well as the more remote foundations such as
Grace Dieu Abbey The Grace Dieu Abbey was an Augustinian abbey in County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded about 1190 by John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, to house an order of nuns, the Sisters of St. Augustine. It derived most of its income from lands at Lu ...
). Four years after founding the priory, Mac Murchada, by then restored to his lands by his
Cambro-Norman Cambro-Normans ( la, Cambria; "Wales", cy, Normaniaid Cymreig; nrf, Nouormands Galles) were Normans who settled in South Wales, southern Wales, and the Welsh Marches, after the Norman invasion of Wales, allied with their counterpart families ...
allies, landed an invasion at the Steine and captured the walled city from the ruling Hiberno-Norse dynasty. The priory survived the
invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
and a period of prosperity followed. In 1240, grants from the parish of
Taghadoe Taghadoe in County Kildare in Ireland is the site of an ancient monastic settlement and Irish round tower, round tower. The site includes a graveyard and the ruins of a 19th-century church. It is situated 5 km from Maynooth, off the Straffan ...
enlarged the priory, resulting in the Papal confirmation of the priory in 1276, some of which came with serfs attached to the land. Throughout the remainder of the 13th century and most of the 14th, the some of the property was subject to attack, and the remoter estates were difficult to control. The Prior often complained of poverty and due to the occupation of its lands and distraction of its buildings, the priory and related convent fell into hard times, causing the archbishop to relax the proxies they were required to pay.Butler, Richard. ''Registrum Prioratus Omnium Sanctorum Juxta Dublin''. For the Irish Archeological Society, 1845. In 1367, the passing of the
Statutes of Kilkenny The Statutes of Kilkenny were a series of thirty-five acts enacted by the Parliament of Ireland at Kilkenny in 1366, aiming to curb the decline of the Hiberno-Norman Lordship of Ireland. Background to the Statutes By the middle decades of the ...
forbade the rulers of religious houses from receiving any Irish people to their profession under penalty of confiscation of their temporalities; in the years following,
Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...
issued a writ to the priory ordering the obeisance of the statute. Subsequently in 1380, the Parliament of
the Pale The Pale (Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast st ...
enacted that "no mere Irishman should make his profession in the Priory of All Hallows"."History of the Priory of All-Hallows." ''Dublin University Magazine'', 1873. The writ was never repealed, however it seems that it was not long obeyed; a number of the subsequent abbots and church officers have Irish names. After the campaign of 1394 by
Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...
, the prior was granted a charter stating "We concede and confirm for ever to have and to hole him and his successors, all the aforementioned manors, lands, tenements, rents, services, and other possessions, spiritual and temporal, together with liberties, franchises, privileges, and customs which they and their predecessors were accustomed as of right and use to enjoy". There appears to have been a fire that destroyed all previous muniments, so not much else is known. As was common for religious houses at the time, the Priory often lodged visitors and deputies from the king. In 1488, Sir Richard Edgecomb stayed at the priory in his efforts to secure oaths of allegiance to Henry VII in the face of
Lambert Simnel Lambert Simnel (c. 1477 – after 1534) was a pretender to the throne of England. In 1487, his claim to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, threatened the newly established reign of Henry VII (1485–1509). Simnel became the f ...
’s claim to the English throne. In the Priory he conducted interviews with the
Earl of Kildare Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
. In 1489 an Act of Parliament exempted the Priory of All Hallows from any subsidies and taxes, and confirmed the land grants made to All Hallows by
Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
earlier in the century. As part of the
Reformation in Ireland The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English administration at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage wa ...
, the
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
dissolved the priory. The chapter, under Walter Hancocke, met for the last time on 16 November 1538, and sent the seal of the house to the Crown. The inmates were expelled from the cloisters, and the prior and other officials granted an annuity of £40 on which to live. On 4 February 1539, the buildings and lands were granted, for a Crown head rent of 4 pounds, 3 shillings and a halfpenny, to the mayor and corporation of Dublin on behalf of the citizens. On 7 August 1539, the priory was leased to Nicholas Stanyhurst and Walter Forester for £100 sterling. The demolition of the old buildings of the priory, which had begun in 1539, were finally completed around 1593, with the spire being the only remaining structure from the original Priory of All Hallows.


Trinity College

Archbishop Loftus asked the mayor to grant the All Hallows lands, then generating a rent of only 20 pounds a year for the city, for the use of a college and when this was done, he employed
Henry Ussher Henry Ussher (1550 – 2 April 1613) was an Irish Protestant churchman, a founder of Trinity College, Dublin, and Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh. Life The second of five sons of Thomas Ussher by Margaret (d. January 1597), daughter of H ...
to appeal to
Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
for a charter for a college and a licence for the land, which was granted in December 1591. This new foundation became
Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...
of which Archbishop Loftus became first Provost.


Natural features

Two natural features made the site an important space in both the
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
and Hiberno-Norse periods: the River Steyne and the landing stage of the
River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River ...
. The Steyne or Stein ran along the western edge of the priory lands. One of two bridges over the small river was located where of the current main entrance to Trinity College now stands. A watermill and associated pond lay nearby. The landing stage, at a place called the "Long stone" of the Steine was located north of the priory near the present day
Pearse Street Pearse Street () (formerly Great Brunswick Street) is a major street in Dublin. It runs from College Street in the west to MacMahon Bridge in the east, and is one of the city's longest streets. It has several different types of residential and c ...
Garda Station.


Artifacts

A tile from the original priory is in a collection of the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.


External sources

* Warburton, Whitelaw and Walsh, "History of the City of Dublin, etc." London, Cadell & Davies, 1818, especially "The Priory of All-Hallows, All-Saints" (pp. 353–357)


References

{{coord missing, County Dublin History of County Dublin
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...