Kilcooly Abbey (in ruins) — Kilcoolyabbey

In low-lying flat terrain in the grounds of Kilcooly Abbey demesne, surrounded by grassland. A stream runs NW-SE 70m W of the abbey. There is a dovecote (TS043-034004-) 70m to the NE and a fishpond (TS043-034014-) 100m to the S, aligned roughly parallel to the stream. In the foundation charter, dated c. 1182, Donal Mor O’Brien (Dómhnall Mór Ua Briain) grants the lands for this abbey dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St Benedict to the ‘comharb of Magh Airbh’, the monastic establishment of Daire Mór, which has been variously identified as being located at Longfordpass North (TN042-025----) in North Tipperary (Manning 1997) or at Derryvella (TS048-035001-) (Ó Conbhuidhe 1999, 280) which are 5.7km NW and 8.8km SW of Kilcooly respectively. Ó Conbhuidhe suggests that the monastic community at Daire Mór may have become Benedictine by the 12th century and that they may have relocated to Kilcooly as a result of this grant. Shortly afterwards, c. 1184, Kilcooly became a daughter foundation of the Cistercian monastery of Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny, named the ‘monasterium de Arvi Campo’ or monastery of the arable plain and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The abbey was burnt in 1418 and again in 1445 when it was almost completely destroyed by armed men. The abbot at this time, Philip O’Mulwanayn, appears to be responsible for rebuilding the abbey. His graveslab (TS043-034011-), dated 1463, now located on the N side of the presbytery. He was succeeded by his son William, and members of this family continued as abbots of Kilcooly almost until its dissolution in 1540. The abbey was surrendered by the abbot Thomas Shortall and the possessions were listed as including c. 700 acres, with a church and belfry, hall, dormitory, four chambers, kitchen and stables (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 138). In 1557 the abbey and lands were granted to Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond and Ossory (ibid.). However, in the first half of the 17th century there was a community of monks at Kilcooly (Ó Conbhuidhe 1999, 290). Thomas Bernard O’Leamy was appointed abbot of Kilcooly in 1622 and continued to hold that office until his death in 1636. In 1636 the Earl of Ormond sold Kilcooly to Sir Jerome Alexander from Norfolk (ibid. 294). Following the 1641 rebellion the Cistercians returned and there is evidence that Kilcooly was used as a novitiate for the order (ibid. 290-1). The last abbot was James Tobin, who was imprisoned following his support of the 1641 Rebellion and later died on the continent. The Cistercians were finally dispossessed by Cromwell’s forces in 1650. After the restoration in 1660 Alexander regained Kilcooly and left it to his daughter Elizabeth who in 1676 married Sir William Barker of Essex. In the late 17th/18th century the abbey was converted into a house. This is clearly depicted on an estate map of 1749 which shows the house with ornamental gardens to the E (TS043-034005-) and an enclosed garden to the N (Neely 2005, 50). In c. 1790 Kilcooly Abbey House was built c. 400m to the E and some years later, in the early part of the 19th century, ‘a study or summer house’ was built at the abbey (Lewis 1837, vol. 2, 71). The abbey remained in the Barker family until it passed by marriage to the Ponsonby family in 1818. It was possibly unoccupied for most of this period, though the family did return there for a short period between 1840 and 1843 when the main house was being rebuilt after a fire. There is an incised carving of a sheela-na-gig, known of locally (reported to the ASI by Gary Dempsey, July 2020), on the E face of the pillar supporting the W side of the N transept. The figure has a large head with lug ears and lightly incised eyes, nose and mouth and a broad neck. The arms are bent at the elbows and reaching down to support its splayed legs, exposing a V-shaped vulva. The N legs extends outward with the foot pointed upwards while the S leg is bent at the knee and the foot is pointing down and inward. Two incised parallel lines extend outward from the S bent elbow, terminating in a circular object. This figure appears to be graffiti which was carved when the abbey had fallen into disrepair. The abbey is currently a National Monument and various repairs have been carried out by the Office of Public Works. The abbey remains consist of a church with two-bay transepts, with a chapel in each of the eastern bays, and a S range running from the S transept with accommodation above. The original W doorway has been removed and a later door embrasure, visible internally, has been blocked up. There is an unusual double-opening stoup on the N side of this entrance. Immediately S of the W gable and incorporated in it, there is a small cusped ogee-headed window at second-floor level. The cloister was S of the nave and there are corbels projecting from the S wall of the nave which supported the roof of the cloister garth. The cloister area is still retained though it was converted into a courtyard; sections of the W wall have been rebuilt. Portions of the 15th-century cloister arcade which have been recovered have been reconstructed along the W side of the cloister. The foundation of the S side can be seen running within the house which occupies the SW angle. This is possibly the summer house erected c. 1790 though the S wall, including the spiral stair turret which projects from the S wall, appears to be earlier in date. The building in the SE angle, which projects out beyond the W face of the S range, was largely rebuilt in the 18th/19th century and is probably contemporary with the large carriageway in the S wall of the courtyard. There is a large rectangular building immediately SE of the S range which is referred to as the ‘hall’ or ‘infirmary’. Much of the original 12th/13th-century limestone rubble fabric of the nave and chancel survive, despite the complete remodelling of the church in the 15th century, at which time the crossing tower was added, the transepts replaced, the original side aisles of the nave blocked up and the chancel vaulted providing first-floor accommodation. Surviving late 12th/ 13th-century features include a quatrefoil window in a roundel in a niche in the S wall of the chancel, with a shelf beneath into which are carved two semi-circular scallop piscina and with an aumbry at both ends. Externally, in the S face of the chancel, there is scarring from two phases of a lean-to roof, possibly the remains of the roof of the original S transept, though the pitch is quite shallow, and an early 15th-century rebuild after the fire of 1419. Under this roof scar there is a pointed doorway at ground level and a broken out opening at first-floor level; both of these are blocked up by late 15th-century rebuilding internally. The 15th/early 16th-century rebuilding includes moulded doorways, traceried windows (Stalley 1987, 120), the ribbed vaulting of the transepts, sedilla for the abbot and prior carved into the piers of the crossing tower at the entrance to the nave, and the screen wall separating the S transept from the chamber beyond. This screen is decorated with a number of scenes including St Christopher crossing a river with the infant Jesus, the crucifixion with Mary and St John on either side, a pelican feeding its young within a chalice, a mermaid with a comb and mirror, and the Butler coat-of-arms which can also be found on the abbot’s sedilla. Also on the screen, within its own elaborately carved ogee-headed frame, is an abbot, possibly Philip O’Mulwanayn, with an angel wielding a censer above (Stalley 1987, 194-6). In the N transept there is a font (TS043-034010-) decorated with Gothic tracery, the upper support for which is a re-used cloister column. The night stair, probably inserted in the 15th century in the W wall of the S transept, was probably modified when the abbey was converted into a house and the chambers above reorganised with later walls inserted. The original 15th-century chamber above the transept was lit by four two-light ogee-headed windo