Holy Cross Abbey
Encyclopedia
Holycross
Holycross is a village in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is in the barony of Eliogarty. Unusually, the civil parish straddles two counties and the baronies of Eliogarty and of Middle Third . It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.The village developed around the...
near Thurles
Thurles
Thurles is a town situated in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly...
, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, situated on the River Suir
River Suir
The River Suir is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of .Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout...
. It takes its name from a relic of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
or Holy rood
Holyrood (cross)
The Holyrood or Holy Rood is a Christian relic considered to be part of the True Cross on which Jesus died. The word derives from the Old English rood, meaning a cross, or from the Scots haly ruid...
.
The fragment of that Holy rood was brought to Ireland by the Plantagenet Queen, Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême was queen consort of England as the second wife of King John from 1200 until John's death in 1216. They had five children by the king including his heir, later Henry III...
, around 1233
1233 in Ireland
-Events:A fragment of that Holy rood was brought to Holy Cross Abbey, County Tipperary by the Plantagenet Queen, Isabella of Angoulême, around 1233....
. She was the widow of King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
and bestowed the relic on the original Cistercian Monastery in Thurles, which she then rebuilt, and which was thenceforth thereby named Holy Cross Abbey.
With time, Holy Cross Abbey and the sacred relic of the True Cross became a place of great medieval pilgrimage, and with the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, also a rallying-point for the dispossessed and victims of religious persecution. As a symbol and inspiration for the defence of the Catholic faith, resistance and the struggle for freedom, it also drew a complaint by Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, to Queen Elizabeth I in 1567
1567 in Ireland
-Events:*8 May - Battle of Farsetmore, fought near Letterkenny in Donegal, Shane O'Neill, chief of the O’Neills of Tyrone, is defeated and the O’Donnells free themselves from O’Neill overlordship....
.
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland recount that in 1601
1601 in Ireland
-Events:*30 November - Prince Hugh Roe O'Donnell, on his way to the Battle of Kinsale, visited and venerated a relic of the True Cross on the Feast of St. Andrew, at Holy Cross Abbey....
, Prince Hugh Roe O'Donnell
Hugh Roe O'Donnell
Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill, anglicised as either Hugh Roe O'Donnell or Red Hugh O'Donnell , was An Ó Domhnaill and Rí of Tir Chonaill . He led the Irish forces against the English conquest of Ireland from 1593 and helped to lead the Nine Years' War from 1595 to 1603...
, on his way to the Battle of Kinsale, true to his family arms and Constantinian motto (In Hoc Signo Vinces
In hoc signo vinces
In hoc signo vinces is a Latin rendering of the Greek phrase "" en touto nika, and means "in this sign you will conquer"....
) and in anticipation of the battle to come at Kinsale
Kinsale
Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork City on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and...
, visited and venerated a relic of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
(Holy rood
Holyrood (cross)
The Holyrood or Holy Rood is a Christian relic considered to be part of the True Cross on which Jesus died. The word derives from the Old English rood, meaning a cross, or from the Scots haly ruid...
) on the Feast of St. Andrew, on November 30, 1601 at Holy Cross Abbey. At that period it was a rallying point for the defence of religious freedom and for Irish sovereignty. From there he sent an expedition to Ardfert
Ardfert
Ardfert is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. Historically a religious centre, the economy of the locality is driven by agriculture and its position as a dormitory town, being only 8 km from Tralee.-Origin:...
, to win a quick victory and successfully recover the territory of his ally, Fitzmaurice
Fitzmaurice
Fitzmaurice is an Anglo-Norman/Hiberno-Norman surname originating in County Kerry, Ireland. It is patronymic as the prefix Fitz- derives from the Latin filius, meaning "son of". The surname variants include FitzMaurice, Fitz Maurice, Fitz-Maurice, fitz Maurice, and the alternate spelling Fitzmorris...
, Lord of Kerry, who had lost it and his 9-year old son, to Sir Charles Wilmot. It was the last victory before the defeat at Kinsale
The Holy Rood relic was last exposed for public veneration in 1632
1632 in Ireland
-Deaths:*Domhnall Spainnach MacMurrough-Kavanagh; the last king of Leinster*John Rider, Latin lexicographer and Anglican Bishop of Killaloe from 1612 to 1632 ....
, and following the Cromwellian
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
war, Holy Cross Abbey fell into ruins. Local people used the roofless ruins as a burial place after 1740
1740 in Ireland
-Births:*7 April - Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl Belmore, politician and High Sheriff .*22 October - Philip Francis, politician and pamphleteer .-Full date unknown:*Richard Barrett, poet and United Irishman ....
. It became a scheduled national monument
National Monument (Ireland)
The Irish state has officially approved the following List of National Monuments of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, a structure or site may be deemed to be a "National Monument", and therefore worthy of state protection, if it is of national importance...
in 1880
1880 in Ireland
-Events:*2 February - Charles Stewart Parnell addresses the United States Congress.*March - April - General election.*27 April - Charter founding the Royal University of Ireland.*17 May - Parnell elected chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party....
, "to be preserved and not used as a place of worship".
Special legislation in the Dáil on its 50th anniversary, 21 January 1969
1969 in Ireland
-Events:*January 1 - The People's Democracy civil rights march leaves Belfast for Derry.*January 4 - Militant loyalists, including off-duty B-Specials, attack the civil rights marchers in County Londonderry....
, enabled Holy Cross Abbey to be restored as a place of Catholic worship, exceptionally for a national monument. The Sacristan of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
in the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
provided an authenticated relic of the Holy Cross, and the emblem of the Jerusalem Cross
Jerusalem cross
The Jerusalem cross, also known as Crusaders' cross, is a heraldic cross or Christian symbol consisting of a large Greek cross surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each quadrant....
, or Crusader Cross, has been restored for the Abbey.
In a raid on the Abbey on the 11th October 2011, Two crosses were stolen, including the cross containing the relics of the true cross. A portable angle grinder, hammer and screwdriver were used by the masked raiders to remove the relics that gave the village and the Abbey its name.
See also
- List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Tipperary)