he Canons of
Trinity Island, in honour of the Blessed Trinity--another act of faith;
and the "Lord Justice himself and the chiefs of the English went to see
that place, and to kneel and pray there." On another occasion the
"English chiefs were highly disgusted" when their soldiers broke into
the sacristy of Boyle Abbey, and "took away the chalices, vestments, and
other valuable things." Their leaders "sent back everything they could
find, and paid for what they could not find."[330] We must, however,
acknowledge regretfully that this species of "disgust" and reparation
were equally rare. To plunder monasteries which they had not erected
themselves, seems to have been as ordinary an occupation as to found new
ones with a portion of their unjust spoils.

Although this is not an ecclesiastical history, some brief account of
the monks, and of the monasteries founded in Ireland about this period,
will be necessary. The earliest foundations were houses of the
Cistercian Order and the Augustinians. The Augustinian Order, as its
name implies, was originally founded by St. Augustine, the great
Archbishop of Hippo, in Africa. His rule has been adopted and adapted by
the founders of several congregations of men and women. The great
Benedictine Order owes its origin to the Patriarch of the West, so
famous for his rejection of the nobility of earth, that he might attain
more securely to the ranks of the noble in heaven. This Order was
introduced into England at an early period. It became still more popular
and distinguished when St. Bernard preached under the mantle of
Benedict, and showed how austerity towards himself and tenderness
towards others could be combined in its highest perfection.

The twin Orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis, founded in the early
part of the thirteenth century--the one by a Spanish nobleman, the other
by an Italian merchant--were established in Ireland in the very lifetime
of their founders. Nothing now remains of the glories of their ancient
houses, on which the patrons had expended so much wealth, and the artist
so much skill; but their memory still lives in the hearts of the people,
and there are few places in the country without traditions which point
out the spot where a Franciscan was martyred, or a Dominican taken in
the act of administering to the spiritual necessities of the people.

The Abbey of Mellifont was founded A.D. 1142, for Cistercian monks, by
Donough O'Carroll, King of Oriel. It