The Lavabo at Mellifont Abbey

Mellifont Abbey in County Louth was the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland, founded by St. malachy in 1142AD. It later became the largest Cistercian settlement in Ireland as the order flourished here in the era of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.

Much of the old monastery and its churches and various buildings are in ruins. Perhaps the most iconic of those ruins is the 13th century lavabo. The lavabo was basically a wash room for the monks, situated within the cloister. Although lavabos were common in Irish monasteries, nothing else like this survives elsewhere in Ireland. It is a unique remnant of medieval monastic architecture.

I have been at Mellifont Abbey with my camera on many occasions throughout the past 25 years, and captured a lot of photographs of this very special place. However, experience tells me that iconic images require a special effort!

In this case, the special effort not only required me to be there at night, but to run around among the ruins using flashguns and torches to light up the monuments, which are otherwise in darkness.

The result of my efforts is this long-exposure photograph showing the lavabo and nearby arches, and the fast-moving clouds above were illuminated by the lights of the nearby city of Drogheda.

I hope you like this unique view, and perhaps you like it enough to want a limited edition print of it to adorn your home? Prints range in size from medium (12x8in) to a super-large size of 36x24in.