Saul Monastery is a former Christian monastery located in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, Northern Ireland. It is traditionally associated with the 5th-century

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

, who is said to have founded it shortly after arriving in Ireland, and having died there at the end of his missionary work.

Location

Saul Monastery is located 2.7 km (1.5 mile) northeast of

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the b ...

; the

River Quoile The Quoile (; ) is a river in County Down, Northern Ireland. Course The river begins its life as the Ballynahinch River which flows from west of the town of Ballynahinch to Annacloy where it is known as the Annacloy River. This then becomes ...

is 1.5 km (1 mile) to the northwest.

History

According to tradition, the monastery was founded by

shortly after his arrival in AD 432; he landed via the nearby River Slaney and was granted a

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G. ...

(

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

''saball'') by the local chieftain Dichu. He then placed it under the protection of Dunnius (Mo Duin). It is the traditional site of death of Saint Patrick, who died at Saul on 17 March 465. Saul Monastery survived for over three centuries before being destroyed by

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 ...

raids. The

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

mention a "Ceannfaeladh of Sabhall, bishop, anchorite, and pilgrim" in 1011. A stone church was burned at Saul in 1020. Some time after 1130 Saul was refounded as an

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 ...

priory of

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...

Saint Malachy Malachy (}; Modern ga, Maelmhaedhoc Ó Morgair; ) (1094 – 2 November 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to the apocryphal ...

; legend claims that he had a vision of the monastery before he constructed it. In 1164 Saul was plundered by

Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn Muircheartach Mac Lochlainn (old spelling: Muirchertach mac Lochlainn, IPA: �mˠɪɾʲəçəɾˠt̪ˠəxmˠəkˈlɔxlən̪ʲ was king of Tír Eoghain, and High King of Ireland from around 1156 until his death in 1166. He succeeded Toirdheal ...

with the men of Fearnmhagh, the

Cenél Conaill Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history *Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) is ...

, and the

Cenél nEógain Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history *Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) is ...

. In 1170 a lengthy description of the expulsion of monks from Saul is given: In 1289 or 1293, Nicholas Mac Mail-Issu discovered the remains of Saints Patrick,

Colum Cille Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Gaelic Ireland, Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity ...

and

Brigid of Kildare Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogra ...

at Saul; he placed them in a shrine. By 1296 Saul is described as greatly impoverished. It was destroyed by

Edward Bruce Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick ( Norman French: ; mga, Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: gd, Eideard or ; – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 st ...

's armies during the Bruce invasion of Ireland in 1318. In 1380 a statute forbade any

Gaelic Irish The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...

from becoming religious at Saul; only British settlers could. The seal of the Abbot of Saul was on a petition to King Henry IV c. 1410. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey, with two castles, a garden and land were granted to

Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iri ...

in 1542. A

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...

took place at Saul on the second Sunday of June, "Saul Sunday."

Buildings

An overgrown section of the grounds of the St Patrick's CoI Church at Saul - geograph

St Patrick's CoI Church, Saul - geograph

One wall of the Augustinian abbey remains, and a stone monastic cell (also called the "mortuary house") in the old graveyard. There is also a cross slab in the graveyard. Other gravestones have been moved to the

Down County Museum Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a t ...

. The present

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

building was opened on All Saint's Day 1933; it replaced a simple 1788 structure.

References

External links

*{{YouTube, EcVt7STCGVg, Video tour of the site Christian monasteries established in the 5th century Augustinian monasteries in Northern Ireland Religious buildings and structures in County Down Archaeological sites in County Down Saint Patrick