Charles, Lord Moore, son of Henry, the third Earl, married Jane, heiress of Arthur, Viscount Ely, who received as her portion the suppressed Abbey of Monasterevan, a Cistercian monastery founded by O’Dempsey, in the 12th century. It was called Rosglas by the Irish, and the Valley of Roses, in the list of monasteries of the Order in Ireland. When it came into Earl Charles’ possession, he changed the name to Moore Abbey, and made it his residence. The sons of this Lord Charles, Henry and Edward, became earls successively, and Edward, the fifth earl, having settled down permanently at Monasterevan, sold Mellifont and some of the property in its immediate vicinity to Mr. Balfour of Townley Hall, in 1727.
The condition of Ireland at that time was truly deplorable. The Penal Laws were in full force against the unfortunate Catholics, who were reduced to a state little better than slavery. Dr. Johnson wrote of them some fifty years later:—“The Irish are in a most unnatural state; for we see there the minority prevailing over the majority. There is no such instance, even in the ten persecutions, as that which the Protestants of Ireland have exercised against the Catholics. Did we tell them we conquered, it would be above board; to punish them by confiscations and other penalties was monstrous injustice” (Boswell, at 1773).
With the Moore family departed also the very shadow of Mellifont’s diminished greatness, and “time’s effacing finger” almost completely obliterated what was once a gorgeous national monument, which stood out clearly as a finger-post on the ways of time. Gradually the fabric fell into decay, the owl hooted on the landing of the grand stair-case, and the daw and martin flitted unmolested through the deserted halls. The gardens and walks and bowers disappeared beneath a crop of tangled brushwood, the product of neglect. Soon the roof fell in, the walls became seamed with many rents and toppled over with a crash; then Mellifont, the “Honey Fountain,” the Monasthir Mor, or Great Abbey, as it was called, the foundation of saints and kings, the abode of the pious and the learned, the house pre-eminently of prayer, the asylum of the poor and friendless, became a shapeless accumulation of rubbish. True, a mill was erected about 100 years ago close to the site of the church, and, no doubt, it was told to strangers who then visited the ruins by people who professed to know all about monks, that it had more activity and exhibited more of the bustle of life than when the silent, slumbering monks dwelt there. But a mill in that hallowed spot was a huge incongruity and a wanton disregard for all its honoured associations. In 1884, the few remaining ruins became vested in the Board of Works, and the excavations which revealed the plan of the church, as described in Chapter I., were carried out. It only remains to be said that in Mr. Balfour of Townley Hall, the estimable gentleman who now owns Mellifont and some of the property formerly belonging to it, his tenants have found a liberal and generous benefactor, who enjoys the merited esteem and respect of all who know him.
As one ascends the hill over Mellifont, and, pausing on its summit, gazes on the lovely scenery around him, particularly along the valley of the Boyne, which Young called one of the completest pictures he had ever seen, then glances at the quiet valley beneath him, and remembers what prominent parts those who once trod that favoured spot played in our country’s chequered history, his soul is filled with solemn thoughts too big for utterance. There, came the firm and gentle, yet dauntless, Malachy side by side with Oriel’s proud Chief, and hand in hand, they knelt and prayed and consecrated it to the living God for ever. Thereon, rose up the magnificent temple on which neither cost nor labour was spared, that it might be worthy of Him Who deigns to dwell in tabernacles made by man; and generation succeeded generation of monks, who calmly dwelt in that peaceful valley, which, by their skill and enterprise, they converted into a garden of delights and a terrestrial paradise. The bishop and the king found there a resting-place when life’s weary struggle was over, and their end was sweetened by the cheering hopes of a glorious immortality. The poor man and the homeless found there a welcome and a shelter, their wants being liberally attended to; and the blessings of a free education and of spiritual consolations were diffused on every side from that centre of learning and piety. The knight and baron came, the belted man of war made his home there, enjoyed his ephemeral honours, but he, too, is gone, severing all connection with it both by name and title, leaving no trace behind. The king and the knight have been brushed aside; and the old chess-board, Mellifont, alone remains. Impressed with these reflections, we take a glance beyond the grave, and there, we behold these actors pass before the great, most just, and supreme Judge, to receive the requital of their deeds, and to each is meted out reward or punishment according to his deserts. We, too, the spectators, are hastening towards that same goal; our future is indubitably in our own hands, according as we do or do not now live up to our convictions, and the dictates of our consciences.
And, now, we cannot help asking ourselves, what shall Mellifont’s future be? At present it is a blank; but, shall the lamp of piety and learning be rekindled, and the light burst forth anew there as in the days of its splendour? We know not; but we do know that, although God’s ways are inscrutable, His wisdom and power are infinite. To Him be all glory for ever and ever. Amen.
APPENDIX I.
LIST OF ABBOTS OF MELLIFONT.
Saint Christian O’Connarchy, Founder and first Abbot, Bishop of Lismore and Legate of the Holy See, 1150.