An Irishman's Diary

In the Irish language they are Na Manaigh Liath, the grey monks. This year the Cistercians celebrate 900 years of their history, marking their foundation in 1098 at Citeaux (in Latin Cistercium). At one period they controlled perhaps a fifth of the arable land in Ireland. They built in quiet valleys, against steep hillsides and hard by the coast. They were superb agriculturalists, hospitallers, craftsmen and builders. They were, in a sense, a medieval multi-national. In 1142 St Bernard of Clairvaux sent a founding group to Ireland where they established their abbey, naming it Monasterium Fons Mellis or Mellifont. Since then, with a gap of little more than 100 years, there has been a Cistercian presence in Ireland. Today the Irish Cistercians are at Mount Melleray, Co Waterford; Mount Saint Joseph, Roscrea; Portglenone, Co Antrim; Bolton Abbey, Co Kildare and at New Mellifont, near Drogheda. A community of sisters is located at Glencairn in Co Waterford.

Continuity of tradition

The communities are small by the standards of earlier times. But the rule retains the essential principles laid down at Citeaux. The order in effect broke away from the Bendictines, whom it regarded as having departed from the Rule of St Benedict. The continuity of Cistercian tradition is remarkable. More modern abbeys have departed from the Gothic lines of Cistercian architecture but the basic spatial relationships, set down at Citeaux, between areas for worship, for living, for restauration and for working remain. A monk of the 11th Century, were he to reappear in Mount Melleray or Mount Saint Joseph would find the classic layout of his own era in replication; the great church to the North of the quadrangle with the night stair to the dormitory; he would find refectory, chapter-house, infirmary and workshops all in their designated locations. He would recognise the pitch and angle of the windows, set above eye-level, naturally leading the gaze Heavenwards.

Irish Cistercian history reflects perfectly the clash of cultures when Norman met Gael. Twenty three abbeys were founded from Mellifont. The Normans endowed their own monastic foundations and a further 10 Cistercian abbeys thus came into existence. Hostilities between the two traditions often overflowed into open warfare. Cistercian ruins around the country still testify to the racial tensions within the order. The Normans built in the classic Gothic style with steeply pitched arches, evoking, it is said, hands steepled in prayer. Irish Cistercians often compromised between the strict Gothic idiom and the rounded arches of the Romanesque tradition.

Aesthetic names

The names of the Cistercians' abbeys - Norman and Irish - bespeak their sense of the aesthetic in nature and in language. Each abbey was dedicated firstly to the Blessed Virgin. Hence the name began with the words Beata Maria. It was then customary to add a local name, reflecting some natural feature. Thus, for example, Monasterium Beata Maria de Petre Fertilis (Abbey of Blessed Mary of the Fertile Rocks) is Corcomroe Abbey, built on the harsh coast of the Burren in Co Clare. It still stands, close to Ballyvaughan. Ireland is full of Cistercian placenames. Wherever the prefix "Abbey" is encountered it is a fair bet that there are Cistercian remains in the vicinity. Dublin's Abbey Street is named from St Mary's Abbey, a rich Anglo-Norman foundation, the walls of whose chapter-house still survive in basements in the vicinity of Capel Street. Its monks raised and tended vast flocks of sheep whose wool was exported through Bulloch Harbour, built by the Cistercians. They established Monkstown Castle to defend their granges. The monasteries were suppressed in 1539 but the Cistercians stayed on in some areas in small numbers. The death of the last Abbot of Mellifont is recorded in 1719, although it is likely that he was only a titular Abbot. Those monks who came to Co Waterford in 1832 from Melleray in Brittany were granted a lease of 600 mainly marshy acres on the foothills of the Knockmealdowns and set about reclaiming the inhospitable slopes with all the inherited farming skills of the order. Today's Cistercians live a less austere life. The diet is more relaxed. They can leave the monastery for necessary purposes. The rule of silence has been diluted. Television, radio and newspapers are available within the monasteries. There is a myth that Cistercians dug a spadeful of their own graves each day. It was never true. But the order has traditionally eschewed coffins and monks are buried with a simple shroud over their monastic habit.

The spiritual writings of Thomas Merton, a Cistercian monk of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, led to a great upsurge in American numbers in the 1950s and 1960s. Today numbers are increasing in the Third World, especially in Africa and there are more than 7,000 monks in 350 houses on all five continents. The anniversary year of 1998 is being marked with special celebrations, including a visitation to Citeaux by representatives of every house.

Powerhouses of prayer

What are monasteries for in the 20th Century? "We praise God - for ourselves and for all Mankind," a monk of Roscrea told me once. "Monasteries are powerhouses of prayer".

There is a deep Cistercian tradition of hospitality and the monks are always glad to see visitors. There are few sounds as uplifting as the Gregorian chant of a Cistercian house, ending the long day with the beautifully sung Salve Regina. Or you may prefer to wander through the ruins of any of the Cistercian abbeys which may be found the length and breadth of Ireland. You will walk in the footsteps of men whose task it has been to praise God over half the span of Christianity.