NEWRYABBEY

It was not Bernard of Clairvaux as is commonly believed In 1098 that brought about the Trappists Order or Cisterians as an order of the Benedictine Family, but St Robert Of Molesme. He desired to hold the Holy Rule Of Benedict more perfectly,he left the monastary of which he had been Abbot with some 20 companions and settled In Citeaux, today the diocese of Dijon. He was the most remarkable figure of his century in Europe. He was a great Cistercian monk, a man of prayer, a great spiritual writer and a gifted preacher. Foundations from Clairvaux became numerous,. no more so than in this Island..

Mellifont Abbey was apparently the first Cistercian Abbey in Ireland. Some confusion has entered into this new argument owing to the fact that the Charter for Melifont and that of Newry abbey are word for word identical, & while the Newry charter is being called the imposter or the fake, why should things not be the other way around. One can ask many questions about these famous beginning's when looking at the path St Malachy took when bringing back some of these Citeaux monks to Ireland. It is now evident that before this trip where in he went to Rome and twice to Citeaux, that the last place he was recorded in before leaving, was Newry, where at this date he was seen to be restoring the old Abbey there as early as 1142-44, this being the foundation of St Patrick,at the head of the strand & whose steps he vowed to follow.. However all is as may be, but within eleven years of its foundation, Mellifont founded seven daughter houses. Newry wasnt the first as you would expect given the fact that Malachy had just about started his work there when leaving for Rome, he was recorded as leaving for Rome in 1140, & so unless he was super human the 2nd Augustinian convent in Ireland and the new Abbey of Newry was or had to be just begun. What ever was the truth of the matter the sister abbeys,supposedly of Melifont in their turn, sent out new foundations which brought the total number of monasteries tracing their filiation through Mellifont to 28. The Irish monastic growth rapidly expanded through out the country. Newry's Cistercian abbey strangely dates from 1157, a long ways away from the supposed beginning of Melifont.

In 1140 this Malachy as I call him, Maelmhadhog O'Morgair, better known as St. Malachy, the great reforming bishop of Down and at one time Archbishop of Armagh was travelling to Rome. He was attracted by the stories and tales of St Robert Of Molesme and St. Bernard, he visited Clairvaux, & Citeaux and was so impressed that he petitioned the Pope asking for his permission to resign as a bishop so that he could enter Clairvaux as a novice. This permission was refused, he eventually left some of his companions behind at Clairvaux to be trained in Cistercian life with a view to founding a monastery of the Order in Ireland to where he returned with a couple of monks but very dissapointed.

The story follows St. Malachy chose a site for his proposed monastery five miles north of Drogheda in Co. Louth. This land was in the territory of Donnachadh Ua Cearbhaill, king of Airghialla who donated not only the land but also the materials for the building of the new abbey. The Newry charter states Mc Loughlin gave the land to them ? The first group of monks to come were infact Irishmen trained by St. Bernard at Clairvaux, accompanied by some French monks who were to direct the building of the newry abbey, arrived in 1142, this a date you will remember when Newryabbey was in the reckoning, Keating states with out reserve as do others that Newryabbey was founded at this date and time. His words " It is not supprising that when Ireland was flowing with Monastic life during its eary beginnings that Malachy should decide to erect an Abbey here In Newry. " The Holy Malachias erected a Monastery Lubhar Cinn Tragha In the County of Down in the christian year of 1144, this year that marks the golden epoc of the Cisterian order. Like all Cisterian Abbeys in Ireland It was an almost Identical building to that of the Mother of all Cisterian Abbeys, that Of Clairvaux.
So he Holy Malachias gave Newry his blessing in 1144, he called it the Monastery
.It was later to suffer great sad times and burnings, not so many years later.

Ireland is an old country, built on the earliest bones of time, the whole country is a vast archaeological site with millions of recorded & unrecorded features that could be anything from an interesting stone discovered on a hill, to a forgotten ringfort on a hill opposite.. Resonant with local attachment and deep continuities, it has the worlds most ancient historic landscapes that gives our uniqueIrish identity. Newry played a very important role in the ancient times and is recorded by the bards as doing so through out the ages. Newry is a very special place but during the past 50 years,an intensive wrecking and bulldozing of our ancient towns embankments & medieval building that are irreplaceable & the land marks used by our ancestors are all but extinct & while you may be under the illusion that Newry began only 850 years ago you are in for a big supprise. The Newryabbey was once called the college of Newry, the last time this term was used was in 1456 when Infact the Abbey went under a serious rebuilding scheme & like many others In Ireland at this period was refurbished, many of the building survived after the reformation and indeed some still survive today. Newry & Mourne say's theres none?? The worst period of destruction for the Abbey was during the Corrys dynasty, when it is believed that this once very famous Abbey was brought to the edge of extinction,they simply got the Newry Abbey's plural mixed up. This shows you cant all ways believe what you read, especially when much of Newrys past Is now under question , much was written to decieve to suit a new English way of life here. The continuity Is rife still In regard to this same Abbey when you look at the story invented by Belfast expert's to butter over the fabricated horiffic story surrounding the 33 mutilated body's found.

Most links found on this web site connect to first edition historical manuscripts & publication's showing precise statement's as written & or proof photo's of the place or point that is reefered to in regard to the real historically recorded annals' of Newryabbey in Co Down N. Ireland. All of these book's, map's, leaflets, guides, history book's, religious writing, & almost 200 year's of Newry & Mourne's memoirs & town guides along with associated English edited Newry town guides, leaflets & booklets & abbey supplements are the author's (Oliver Curran's) own Library. Important references from medieval Cistercian's records along with period English State papers are included in order to show nothing but the truth in all eventualities. The author was born within the immediate Newryabbey enclosure & spent part his youth attending the abbey school & know's at first hand the in's and outs of the whole Abbey area like the back of his hand. In short he climed the walls of the abbey & went places where he wasnt supposed to & discovered some boy hood scary revealing truth's. He see's the recent errecting of an alleged lost English Castle as the preverbial English Cukoo. He sees the English Lottery funding for this unrecorded entity as an ongoing attemt to maintain an English heritage for the planter culture that has prevailed here for 450 years, of which he admits his members of his ancient family were part of . In short he see's this distortion of Newryabbey's historically recorded history, as an affront to his ancient Irish culture, & to those other culture's that were nursed with in this foundation of St Patrick.