St. Bernards Chapel — Mellifont

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Part of the ecclesiastical complex at Mellifont (see also LH023-007001- to LH023-007004- and LH023-007006- to LH023-007008-). A National Monument, situated on the side of a hill to the E of Mellifont Abbey and overlooking it. It is built of uncoursed greywacke rubble and limestone and is L-shaped in plan, having a S transept (max. int. dims. nave c. 12.45m E-W, c. 4.30m N-S, and c. 8.10m N-S across transept and chancel). It has the remains of two windows, W and S doorways and a double bellcote in the W gable. The W doorway has a two-centred arch of four chamfered sandstone blocks. The original jambs are missing and have been replaced with concrete. A two-light window over the W doorway is an insertion and has been reconstructed with its top centre mullion obviously from a much later building. Several pieces of cut stone in the inner jambs are also from an earlier building. The jamb stones, which appear to be contemporary with the main body of the church, are of a hard sandstone and have glazing bar holes and grooves. Midway in the S wall there are the remains of a doorway, now blocked up, which has some moulded sandstone jambs on its inner face. It has a two-centred arch of chamfered sandstone which has been punch-dressed. There is a two-light window in the E end of the S wall of the main part of the church. Its jambs and part of the arch are constructed with hard greyish-coloured sandstone. The central arch stone is missing, as are the mullions. The two remaining arch stones set on top of the jambs each have an almost triangular shape and are slightly cusped but do not appear to match. The jambs do not match either, so that this window, like that in the W gable, is a reconstruction. The S transept is a later addition, as can be seen from straight joints in the masonry. It has a S window similar to the S one in the nave, and also has its centre arch stone missing. It has jambs of hard grey sandstone with glazing bar holes, and its mullions are also missing. The E window of the chancel has been completely destroyed and there is no evidence of its stonework. Most of the remaining stonework in the doorways and windows has been punch-dressed and is usually a hard grey sandstone which indicates a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century date. There is no obvious evidence of any earlier stonework in the church. A cross-engraved slab (LH023-007008-), which can be dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century because of the dressing with diagonal tooling, now lies in the nave. The cross appears to have had a round head with central boss enclosed by a circular raised area and a somewhat similar motif immediately underneath, but is too worn to give a detailed description. (CLAJ 1944, 294-6) See the attached view from W