Mungret Abbey

Map Reference: R543538 (1543, 1538)



St.Nessan, sometimes called Nessan the Deacon or Neasan the leper, died in 551. He estblished a monastery at Mungret, which, at its peak, had six churches and over 1500 monks. The monastery was held in such high repute that King Cormac of Cashel bequeathed three ounces of gold and a satin chasuble to it in 902. It was raided several times by the Vikings during the 9th to 11th centuries. Near the end of the 11th century it was destroyed by Donal McLoughlin and in 1107 it was plundered again by Murtagh O'Brien. In 1179 the then king of Munster, Donal Mor O'Brien, granted the monastery to Brictiue, Bishop of Limerick. It then became a parish church run by Augustinian Canons. The present church was built mainly between 1251 and 1272, although parts of it were built in the 15th century.



Interior looking east

The ruins consist of a nave and chancel church with a square tower at the west end. The nave dates from the earlier period with the chancel possibly being added in the 15th century.



The building was used as a protestant church until 1822. The tall slim tower had an internal stone stairway but only fragments of the bottom section of this remain.





View of the roof walk



Inside the tower

Close to the main ruin are two small churches. The larger of these is a rectangular church with high-pitched gables and a lintelled west doorway. There is a small round-headed east window. It dates possibly from the 12th century. The smaller church is possibly older. It is a small rectangular building with three small windows. Nothing remains of the original doorway.



The smallest and earliest church