Kilmallock Abbey ( ga, Mainistir Chill Mocheallóg) or St. Saviour's Priory is a 13th-century Dominican friary in the town of

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Cork. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King's Castle (or King John's Castle). The remains of medieval walls which encircled the settlement are sti ...

on the banks of the River Loobagh.

History

The Abbey was established in 1291 when the Dominicans were invited to build a monastery by Gilbert Fitzgerald of the White Knights. The Fitzgeralds continued to be the main benefactors of the Abbey, including the expansion funded by Maurice Fitzgibbon (Fils de Gilbert) in 1320. The church dates from the 14th century, and was a simple rectangular building. A tower and ornate five-light east window were added to the church in the 15th century. The buildings have extensive carved details, including flower buds and human heads some of whom may represent the benefactors of the abbey. The monastery was dissolved in 1541, with the monks returning in 1622. In 1645 the

Papal Legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

, Cardinal

Giovanni Battista Rinuccini Giovanni Battista Rinuccini (1592–1653) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop in the mid-seventeenth century. He was a noted legal scholar and became chamberlain to Pope Gregory XV. In 1625 Pope Urban VIII made him the Archbishop of Fermo ...

, visited during the Confederate Wars. It was sacked by Cromwellian forces led by Lord Inchiquin in 1648. Two monks were put to death in front of the altar. From then the friars operated clandestinely in the area, until the 1790s when the abbey was finally abandoned. There are a number of chalices that are associated with the abbey and its various benefactors.

Gallery

File:Kilmallock Abbey.jpg,

Cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

File:Kilmallock Abbey 4.jpg, Cloister File:Kilmallock Abbey 6.jpg, Cloister interior File:Kilmallock Abbey 2.jpg, Window with

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

File:Kilmallock Abbey 3.jpg, Church interior

References

External links

Documented architectural features
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilmallock Abbey National Monuments in County Limerick History of County Limerick