The monastic site in

St Mullin's St Mullins (, formerly anglicised as ''Timoling'' or ''Tymoling'' - 'homestead of Saint Moling, Moling')St Mullin's

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by area, second smallest and t ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, is an

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...

ecclesiastical site.

History

St Mullin's is located on the banks of the

River Barrow The Barrow () is a river in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is one of The Three Sisters (Ireland), The Three Sisters; the other two being the River Suir and the River Nore. The Barrow is the longest of the three rivers and, at 192 km (12 ...

, at the point where its tributary, the River Aughavaud meets it. The monastic site was found by

Saint Moling Saint Mo Ling (614–697), also named Moling Luachra, was the second Bishop of Ferns in Ireland and has been said to be "one of the four great prophets of Erin". He founded a monastery at St Mullin's, County Carlow. Also in the 7th century, St. ...

at some point in the 7th century. It was renowned as a place of pilgrimage potentially since the pre-Christian period, when people may have traveled to the site to celebrate

Lughnasadh Lughnasadh, Lughnasa or Lúnasa ( , ) is a Gaels, Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Traditionally, it is held on 1 August, or abo ...

. St Mullin's is traditionally associated with the

Book of Mulling The Book of Mulling or less commonly, Book of Moling (Dublin, Trinity College Library MS 60 (A. I. 15)), is an Irish pocket Gospel Book from the late 8th or early 9th century. The text collection includes the four Gospels, a liturgical service ...

. In the early ninth century the monastery was plundered by

vikings Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

. In 1158, St Mullin's was granted to

Ferns Abbey Ferns Abbey () is a ruined Augustinians, Augustinian abbey in Ferns, County Wexford, Ferns, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Likely built on the site of an early Christian monastic site founded by Máedóc of Ferns, the standing re ...

, part of the

Augustinian order Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th ...

. In 1880, the ruins of the monastic site entered state care.

Buildings

A disused

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church is the northernmost building on the grounds, and was built in 1811. Across the water is located St. Moling's well. The well is a rectangular stone house through which water passes.

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

History

Buildings

References

Notes

Sources

Further reading