was the most ancient monastery of
the Order in this country, and was supplied with monks by St. Bernard,
direct from Clairvaux, then in all its first fervour. We have already
mentioned some of the offerings which were made to this monastery. The
date of the erection of St. Mary's Abbey in Dublin has not been
correctly ascertained, but it is quite certain that the Cistercians were
established here in 1139, although it was probably built originally by
the Danes. The abbots of this monastery, and of the monastery at
Mellifont, sat as barons in Parliament. There were also houses at
Bectiff, county Meath; Baltinglass, county Wicklow; Moray, county
Limerick; Ordorney, county Kerry (quaintly and suggestively called
_Kyrie Eleison_), at Newry, Fermoy, Boyle, Monasterevan, Ashro, and
Jerpoint. The superiors of several of these houses sat in Parliament.
Their remains attest their beauty and the cultivated tastes of their
founders. The ruins of the Abbey of Holy Cross, county Tipperary,
founded in 1182, by Donald O'Brien, are of unusual extent and
magnificence. But the remains of Dunbrody, in the county of Wexford,
are, perhaps, the largest and the most picturesque of any in the
kingdom. It was also richly endowed. It should be remembered that these
establishments were erected by the founders, not merely as an act of
piety to God during their lifetime, but with the hope that prayers
should be offered there for the repose of their souls after death. Those
who confiscated these houses and lands to secular purposes, have
therefore committed a double injustice, since they have robbed both God
and the dead.

A great number of priories were also founded for the Canons Regular of
St. Augustine. These establishments were of great use in supplying a
number of zealous and devoted priests, who ministered to the spiritual
wants of the people in their several districts. Tintern Abbey was
founded in the year 1200, by the Earl of Pembroke. When in danger at
sea, he made a vow that he would erect a monastery on whatever place he
should first arrive in safety. He fulfilled his promise, and brought
monks from Tintern, in Monmouthshire, who gave their new habitation the
name of their old home. In 1224 the Cistercians resigned the Monastery
of St. Saviour, Dublin, which had been erected for them by the same
Earl, to the Dominicans, on condition that they should offer a lighted
taper, on the Feast of the Nativity, at the Abbey of St. Mary, as an
ackn