Institution

Mellifont Abbey

1142 · 12th century

Mellifont Abbey, in County Louth, was the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland, founded in 1142 by Saint Malachy with monks from Clairvaux, under the patronage of Donnchad Ua Cerbaill, king of Airgialla. It became the mother house of many Irish Cistercian abbeys. It was dissolved in 1539, and the Treaty of Mellifont ending the Nine Years' War was signed there in 1603.

Mellifont Abbey
Image: Brholden · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Kingdom of Airgialla

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Mellifont Abbey. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mellifont-abbey
MLA
“Mellifont Abbey.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mellifont-abbey. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Mellifont Abbey.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mellifont-abbey.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Mellifont Abbey’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mellifont-abbey (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻