Duiske Abbey, County Kilkenny, Ireland
In 1180 Dermuid O'Ryan, Gaelic Prince of Idrone, granted land for the erection of a monastery at Graiguenamanagh, but he was killed while attacking the Norman invaders, so it was the Norman Lord, William Marshall, who founded Duiske Abbey and invited Anglo-Norman Cistercians from the Abbey of Stanley in Wiltshire in England to come to Ireland.

Graiguenamanagh, also known as Duiske abbey, was founded by William Marshal the elder, earl of Pembroke, and was colonized with monks from Stanley in Wiltshire. It is thought that the monks came to Ireland between 1202 and 1204 and first settled at Loghmere (Loughmerans) near Kilkenny, moving to Anothmolt (Annamult) and lastly to St. Saviour (Graiguenamanagh). Anothmolt was only three miles from Jerpoint and the Statutes of the Order stated that new monasteries should not be founded within twelve ‘Burgundian leagues’ of another. The site at Anothmolt was therefore illegal and inevitably led to friction with Jerpoint. In this instance the community had to move and, although the monks may not have arrived at Graiguenamanagh until 1207. William Marshall endowed Duiske munificently with lands and tithes and, in what transpired to be the first documented ceremony; its cemetery was blessed on June 6th 1204. The permanent location was in the valley of the river Barrow, on a site between the main river and the Duiske tributary. The name Duiske is derived from the little river Dub Uisce (Black Water) which flows through Graiguenamanagh to join the river Barrow there.

The Abbey took about thirty years to build, its outer walls enclosing an area of about five acres. The abbey's church was one of the first Gothic structures in Ireland and originally was the chapel of the largest and perhaps the finest of the thirty-four medieval Cistercian monasteries in Ireland. Much of the abbey was constructed with yellow limestone brought across the Irish Sea from quarries at Dundry, outside Bristol. The monastery was planned on a vast scale and the gothic church was the largest Cistercian building in Ireland.

The monastery was highly organized economically as well as spiritually and it would be realistic to visualize it not just as a religious cell in a secular world or as a classic example of medieval Cistercian architecture - though it was both of these - but also as a functioning, ordered entity, carrying on with its spiritual mission while also looking after its many day-to-day affairs. The monks, who began the clearing of forests, the draining of bogs and the building of the first real roads, managed the vast abbey estate in much the same way as lay lords of the time did. Sheep rearing was a major contributor to the abbey's income, with wool - much of it exported to Italy - a major component. However, with 23,000 acres in the different granges owned, the 60 or so ordained monks and the greater number of lay brothers carried on agricultural activities of all kinds. With these activities went the practice of the wide variety of crafts and trades necessary to maintain the abbey and its granges. In addition, the needs of visitors and the poor, whom the monks were required to help, had to be catered for.

In 1228 the religious community was fixed at thirty-six monks and fifty lay-brothers; it was almost as large as Mellifont which had 50 monks and 60 lay-brothers. The abbot of Duiske sat as a peer in parliament at that time. In 1228 the abbeys of Duiske and Jerpoint entered into a long running dispute over the ownership of the dissolved monastery of Kilkenny. At the end of the thirteenth century the abbey was heavily in debt on account of forward buying on the wool market, which meant the receiving payment in advance of production. The abbey clearly struggled to fulfill its obligations and in 1299 owed approximately £466 to Ricardi of Lucca. In 1228 Stephen of Lexington produced a comprehensive list of criticism and instructions directed at the monastic buildings of Jerpoint and Duiske – his comments are in effect a critique of the layout of these monasteries as they existed in 1228.

In 1450 the abbot complained that the abbey was threatened with ruin because James, earl of Ormond, forced the monks to pay unlawful dues and had also prosecuted them. In 1460 one of the monks accidentally killed a four year old boy while practicing archery in the precinct. In 1524 the abbot gave his monastery a silver cross, gilded and decorated with gems. At the time of Dissolution the annual income of the abbey was valued at £76 (£88 in peace time). The value of the monastery was thus similar to the smaller Cistercian monasteries of England, such as Buildwas and Croxden. The abbey was suppressed in 1536 and the last abbot, Charles O’Cavanagh, resigned his title. Following the Dissolution the property passed to the earl of Ormond and the abbey church was used as a local place of worship. Despite the dissolution of the abbey, a strong tradition tells us that mass continued to be celebrated clandestinely in the monastic precincts down the years, making it perhaps the oldest church in Ireland in which there has been a continuance of worship throughout the centuries.

By 1728, though still in Penal Times, the local people were bold enough to erect a little thatched "Mass House" in a remote part of the abbey grounds. This modest chapel served as the place of worship for the Catholic population until 1813 when Lord Clifden gave a lease of the monastic church to the parish. There then was a proposal that the church be restored as it originally had been, but such a task was entirely beyond the capability of the people of pre-emancipation, pre-famine Graiguenamanagh. Therefore, instead of restoration, the rubble within the ruin was levelled and a floor was laid on it at a height of about a metre and a half over that of the original. Parts of the nave walls, which had fallen with the collapse of the tower in 1744, were rebuilt, a low-pitched roof and ceiling were added and three galleries were installed. The result, which over a period was decorated in the ornate style of the time, superseded the little "mass house" and became the parish church of Graiguenamanagh. In 1754 the church ruins were converted into a modern place of worship: the west end of the nave was fitted up as a Protestant church. By 1813 the local Catholic community had taken over the abbey, which now forms the parish church of Graiguenamanagh town. Over the 160 years that followed - up to 1972 when its roof became unsafe - this church served the parish. The decision was then taken to undertake a sympathetic conservation of the church, retaining and restoring what was possible, opening up much of the thirteenth century work that had been covered by the nineteenth century renovation, and endeavouring to maintain the atmosphere and character of the original. Under expert guidance, work commenced in 1974 and over the decade that followed - financed mainly by parishioners, though with the help of generous outside benefactors - the restoration continued. Eventually the work was brought to a worthy conclusion when, in 1984 in the presence of the President of Ireland and other dignitaries, the magnificently restored church was re-opened. Today it serves the people of Graiguenamanagh as its Parish Church and place of worship.

Physical Remains of the Abbey
Some of the 13^th century stonework can still be seen, including still-leaf foliage carved into the capitals, dog-tooth ornaments, banded shafts etc. An outstanding effigy of a knight survives from Graiguenamanagh; he is depicted seizing a sword and is carved with great attention to detail. It is one of the finest medieval effigies in Ireland. Tiles excavated at the abbey in 1977 are among the earliest in Ireland; it is thought that they were laid around 1250, soon after the completion of the abbey. Guided tours of the abbey church can be made by request only and plaques placed at various points around the abbey provide information on the history of the site. Some remnants of the claustral buildings also survive but these are lost amongst the local houses. 

Within the Church
The porch, restored in 1983, is an exact reconstruction of the original, which existed about a meter and a half under the present level.

The Reredos (on left, immediately inside main entrance). This is the only item to survive from the Penal-Day Mass House that served the people from 1728 to 1812. The painting is thought to be of north European - possibly German - origin.

The statues by the north aisle are those St. Fiacre, patron of gardeners, from nearby early Christian church at Ullard, and that of St. Moling from Monastic establishment at St. Mullins.

In the north aisle and in the south-eastern corner of the chancel the only examples of 13th Century encaustic tiles in situ in Ireland may be viewed. Excavations have been made in various parts of the church and the evidence suggests that much of the mediaeval encaustic tiled floor still exists - although in a fragile condition - about a meter and a half under the present floor. There also are many internments dating from the period during which the church was in ruin, fallen masonry and possibly some tombs and monuments from medieval times. Cistercian wheel pattern tiles. Examples of the tiled in situ may be viewed in the restored north aisle and at the south-eastern corner of the chancel.

Originally, there were two side aisles with arcades of seven arches leading to them on either side of the nave. Just three of the arches on either side now stand, and only the restored portion of the north aisle, near the entrance, remains. Note the clearstory windows high overhead - not over the arches as one might expect, but over the piers, in accordance with an architectural arrangement that was popular in Irish Cistercian monasteries. A visualization of the building, with the two side aisles intact and running the full length of the nave will give the viewer an appreciation of the medieval church's cathedral size.

The great oak roof formed a major part of the 1973 restoration. Made of green [unseasoned] Irish Oak and Elm, it is constructed as the original 13th century roof would have been, using dowels and wedges only.

The Nave, with its tall neo-Gothic windows, is of early 19th century construction, the original walls having been brought down when the great octagonal tower over the crossing collapsed in 1744. The rugged stone-faced walls of the church are lime-washed in the original manner. The yellowish 13th century stone dressing and ornamental carvings on the doorways, arches and other areas are of limestone from Dundry, near Bristol. These were hauled up the River Barrow in flat-bottomed boats called Claracauns.

The arch leading into the chancel is the only surviving one of four that originally supported the octagonal bell-tower. This tower fell in 1744, bringing with it much of the rib-vaulting in the sanctuary and part of the nave and transept walls. Because they extend unseen for some meter and a half down to the level of the original floor, the two pillars of the surviving arch appear stunted in relation to the remainder of the arch. In medieval days, with the existence of the four arches that arose to support the tower, the part of the church that is now occupied by the altar, would have seemed more compartmentalised and less open than it now is. Overhead, the space would have been covered by the timber floor of the belfry tower.

In medieval Cistercian monasteries the walls of the sanctuary were a common location for a prestigious tomb, the space usually reserved for the founder or another prominent lay benefactor. In the adjacent engraving, which shows part of the north wall near the entrance to the sanctuary in the latter half of the eighteenth century, the decorative moulding which marked a tomb - clearly in the early stage of deterioration - is shown by the artist. This depiction is supported by engravings dating to 1797 and other artists of the period. Part of North wall of the sanctuary has decorative moulding which marked the Medieval Tombs.

Sources:
    Swayne, S. 2010. Duiske Abbey, Graiguenamanagh
    The Cistercian's in Yorkshire, Sheffield University
    Bradley, J., Manning, C. and Newman Johnson, D. 1981. Excavations at Duiske Abbey, Graiguenamanagh Co. Kilkenny, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Vol. 81C, 397-405, 407-426

Image of the church's western exterior.