Things to Do in Tipperary

Holy Cross Abbey, Tipperary: The Cistercian Abbey of the True Cross Relic

A medieval Cistercian abbey that took its name from a splinter of the True Cross, fell to ruin, and is a place of worship again.

Holy Cross Abbey is a Cistercian abbey on the right bank of the River Suir at Holycross, near Thurles in County Tipperary. It was founded in the late 12th century with the support of Domnall Mór Ua Briain, King of Thomond, and it became famous for a relic believed to be a piece of the True Cross. It fell into ruin after the 17th century, was restored in the 1970s, and is today a working parish church that welcomes visitors.

Founded on the Suir

The sources disagree on the year. Wikipedia gives 1169, Tuatha.ie gives 1182, and the Cistercian database at the Digital Humanities Institute gives 1180, noting that the foundation charter from Domnall Mór Ua Briain is dated 1185 or 1186. The safe statement is a foundation in the later 12th century. The same database says the abbey was colonised from Monasteranenagh in County Limerick and that a Benedictine site may have stood here earlier, though that is not confirmed.

The relic that gave it a name

The abbey took its name from a fragment of the True Cross. How the relic arrived is told in more than one way. Wikipedia says that around 1233 Isabella of Angoulême, widow of King John, gave a supposed fragment to the Cistercian house. Tuatha.ie reports a tradition that Pope Paschal II gave a fragment to Muirchertach Ua Briain in 1110. The Cistercian database puts the safest claim plainly: from the later Middle Ages Holy Cross was famous for its relic and drew pilgrims for more than three and a half centuries. The relic was last shown in public in 1632.

That pilgrim traffic made the abbey wealthy, and it also made it a target. The Cistercian database records the community leaving for Kilkenny after 1632, and a short revival ending in the Cromwellian wars of 1649 to 1650. The last abbot is recorded as dying in 1740, and Wikipedia notes that after 1740 the roofless ruins served as a local burial ground.

What you will see inside

Little of the original 12th-century church survives. The Cistercian database mentions the north arcade of the nave and parts of the south aisle. Most of what impresses the visitor dates from a 15th-century rebuilding, which began in 1431 with the help of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, and was finished by the late 15th century.

• Ribbed stone vaulting over the transept and chancel, which Tuatha.ie says still carries the marks of the masons who carved it.
• The sedilia, a carved canopied niche. The Cistercian database ranks it among the finest pieces of medieval church furniture in Ireland, and Tuatha.ie calls it the most outstanding. A cross-carved tomb nearby is traditionally linked with Isabella of Angoulême.
• A hunting scene painted on the west wall of the north transept, which Tuatha.ie describes as an unusually secular image to find in a church.
• The east window and tracery, part of the same Ormond-era work.

The Butler connection runs on: in 1558 the abbey was granted to Thomas, Earl of Ormond. The Cistercian database adds that at the Dissolution the abbey became a secular college, with the last abbot, Philip Purcell, as provost.

Ruin, state care and rebirth

The site was bought by a Dr Charles Wall in 1833 and passed into state care in 1880. Wikipedia records it as scheduled a national monument that year, with the order that it be preserved and not used for worship. That changed in the 20th century. Special legislation in 1969 allowed restoration as a place of worship, and Tuatha.ie says the work, led locally by Fr Willie Hayes with the backing of Archbishop Thomas Morris and the OPW, began in 1970 and took over five years. The abbey was consecrated on 25 September 1975, and Mass was celebrated there again.

Wikipedia adds that an authenticated relic of the Holy Cross, obtained through the Vatican, was received in connection with the restoration.

Visiting

Tuatha.ie says entry is free, with donations welcome, and that a guided tour has a suggested donation. Because it is a parish church, please keep quiet during Mass or prayer, and note that dogs are not allowed. Parts of the site have steps and changes of level. Times for visits and guided tours change, so check the abbey’s own website and heritageireland.ie before you travel rather than relying on a printed guide.

From Ardfinnan

Holy Cross is about 50 km from Ardfinnan, roughly 50 to 60 minutes by road, and it combines well with the Rock of Cashel, which is closer to Ardfinnan. Ardfinnan is itself a Norman castle above the Suir, best seen from the village bridge. The Suir links the two, flowing past Holy Cross, on through Cahir and Ardfinnan, and out to Waterford. For more castles and sites in the county, see Castles of Tipperary.