| Saul Monastery | |
| Other Names: | Sabhull Padraig; Sabhul Padruic; Sepulturam Patricii; Baile itá Saball; an Sabhall; Horreum Patricii[1] |
| Native Name: | Sabhall Phádraig |
| Native Name Lang: | ga |
| Order: | Celtic monasticism Canons Regular of Saint Augustine |
| Founder: | Saint Patrick |
| Established: | AD 432 |
| Disestablished: | 1542 |
| Diocese: | Down and Connor |
| Status: | ruined |
| Style: | Celtic monastic |
| Location: | Saul, County Down |
| Coordinates: | 54.3434°N -5.6797°W |
| Map Type: | United Kingdom County Down#Northern Ireland#Island of Ireland |
| Public Access: | Yes |
| Remains: | ruined church, mortuary house, cross slabs |
Saul Monastery is a former Christian monastery located in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is traditionally associated with the 5th-century Saint Patrick, who is said to have founded it shortly after arriving in Ireland, and having died there at the end of his missionary work.[2]
Found in the village of Saul, Saul Monastery is located 2.7 km (1.5 mile) northeast of Downpatrick; the River Quoile is 1.5 km (1 mile) to the northwest.
According to tradition, the monastery was founded by Saint Patrick shortly after his arrival in AD 432; he landed via the nearby River Slaney and was granted a barn (Old Irish saball) by the local chieftain Dichu.[3] [4] He then placed it under the protection of Dunnius (Mo Duin).[5]
It is the traditional site of death of Saint Patrick, who died at Saul on 17 March 465.[6]
Saul Monastery survived for over three centuries before being destroyed by Viking raids.[5]
The Annals of the Four Masters mention a "Ceannfaeladh of Sabhall, bishop, anchorite, and pilgrim" in 1011.[7] A stone church was burned at Saul in 1020.[1]
Some time after 1130 Saul was refounded as an Augustinian priory of Canons Regular by Saint Malachy;[8] legend claims that he had a vision of the monastery before he constructed it.[5] [9] In 1164 Saul was plundered by Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn with the men of Fearnmhagh, the Cenél Conaill, and the Cenél nEógain.[10] In 1170 a lengthy description of the expulsion of monks from Saul is given:
In 1289 or 1293, Nicholas Mac Mail-Issu discovered the remains of Saints Patrick, Colum Cille and Brigid of Kildare at Saul; he placed them in a shrine.[11] [12] By 1296 Saul is described as greatly impoverished.
It was destroyed by Edward Bruce's armies during the Bruce invasion of Ireland in 1318. In 1380 a statute forbade any Gaelic Irish from becoming religious at Saul; only British settlers could.[5] The seal of the Abbot of Saul was on a petition to King Henry IV c. 1410. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey, with two castles, a garden and land were granted to Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare in 1542.[13]
A pattern took place at Saul on the second Sunday of June, "Saul Sunday."[14]
One wall of the Augustinian abbey remains, and a stone monastic cell (also called the "mortuary house")[13] in the old graveyard. There is also a cross slab in the graveyard.[15] Other gravestones have been moved to the Down County Museum.
The present Church of Ireland building was opened on All Saint's Day 1933; it replaced a simple 1788 structure.[16]