Mellifont Abbey is the first Cistercian abbey to be built in Ireland.
Founded in 1142 on the orders of Saint Malachy (the Archbishop of Armagh), the Abbey sat on the banks of the River Mattock , some 10 km (6 miles) from Drogheda.
Mellifont Abbey became the model for other Cistercian abbeys built in Ireland, with its formal style of architecture imported from the abbeys of the same order in Europe, and was the main abbey in Ireland until it was closed in 1539, when it became a fortified house.
William of Orange used Mellifont Abbey as his headquarters during the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Mellifont Abbey is now a ruin. Little of the original Abbey remains, save a 13th century lavabo (where the monks washed their hands before eating), some Romanesque arches and a 14th century chapter house.
