Mellifont Abbey

The earliest Cistercian abbey in Ireland, near Drogheda, County Louth, Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1142 by St Malachy, assisted by a group of French monks from Burgundy. The remains include the chapter house, the church foundations, and, most notably, the only extant example of a lavabo in Ireland (where the monks washed their hands before and after meals). After the Reformation the monastery was dissolved and the abbey was turned into a fortified house. Part of the cloister arcade was re-erected in the 1950s.