We visited this place for the first time on December 12th, 1995.
I have to admit that I remembered it different. Anyway it is absolutely fantastic and the cloister itself is well worth a visit.
The Cistercian abbey was founded in 1137 as a daughter house of Mellifont Abbey, but nothing of the original building survives today. The abbey was rebuilt in the 13th century, and all that remains from this reconstruction is a wall of the nave.
The community living in it was Anglo-Norman, and in the 1386 the men of Irish birth were banned from entering the monastery.
The cloister and the domestic building were rebuilt on a smaller scale in the 15th century.
After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, the abbey was turned into a residential mansion and new features were added, like fireplaces and large stone windows.
When we were here, we noticed a group of men at work, a newly built wooden fence and a gate. They told us that plans are to make this place visitable by paying a ticket only.
The abbey was used as one of the filming locations for the movie "Braveheart" (1995), by Mel Gibson. Though it's a church, in the movie it was used to depict a part of king Edward's castle in London.
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