BY JOHN FITZGERALD
(PART ONE)
A Treasure to Behold
The story of Kilkenny’s Black Abbey reads like a “stranger than fiction” tale.
It’s as much a tourist attraction as a place of worship. A painstaking restoration process lasting decades has ensured the preservation of the building and its historic treasures.
William Marshal, the Norman Lord, founded the abbey in 1225. For almost 300 years it flourished in a climate of peace and tolerance.
But in 1540, disaster struck. King Henry VIII decided to close down the monasteries in Ireland. The Friars were banished from the abbey, the Crown confiscated their property, and the church was converted into a courthouse.
For the next 60 years, the Black Abbey resembled a church only on the outside. Within, it had all the grim trappings of a courthouse. In the place where the altar used to be, judges sat and passed death sentences on hundreds of locals. People went to the scaffold for even the mildest transgressions.
In one infamous case, a man was condemned to disemboweling AND decapitation for stealing a loaf of bread from a local aristocrat.
Meanwhile, the homeless monks wandered the land, ministering to the poor and living off charity. The Black Abbey recovered its hallowed status for a brief period in 1603 when two Dominican Friars, Edmund Barry and Edward Raughter, led a protest march to the church-cum-court building.
The large crowd managed to break down the door and storm the building. Once inside, they smashed benches, broke up the hated prisoners’ dock, and ripped paintings of King Henry off the walls.
The Friar demanded the keys of the church from a caretaker, who was in no position to argue with the “concerned residents” of Kilkenny. The Friar then announced that he was “taking possession of the Abbey in the name of God and the people.” The Mayor of Kilkenny backed the illegal occupation of the Black Abbey, and his stance landed him in prison.
The Abbey was back in the hands of the Friars-but not for long. Troops moved to re-capture the church and it was again turned into a criminal court. The friars remained in the wilderness until 1642, when the great Confederation of Kilkenny was declared. The City became the venue for a rebel Irish Parliament. Kilkenny was effectively Ireland’s capital. The Black Abbey enjoyed a brief respite from persecution.
That happy phase ended with the arrival of Cromwell’s army. The abbey felt the full brunt of his rage when he overcame the Kilkenny Royalist garrison. The Dominican friars had to flee for their lives. Troops ransacked the abbey, and Cromwell himself had part of the church turned into a makeshift bedroom.
To this day, that section of the abbey is known as “Cromwell’s Bed.” Sacred objects were smashed or removed, the windows were broken, and the roof pulled off. To add further insult to injury, the Roundheads took an Irish oak statue of St. Dominic from the church and used it as a football in the city streets.
Centuries later, this incident became a political football: G.A.A. opponents of “foreign games” joked that it was the first soccer game played in Ireland!
The Black Abbey remained deserted for hundreds of years. The Penal Laws forced the monks to say Mass in hiding. There was a price on their heads and if arrested they faced torture and death…
To be continued…
