Val O'D รีทวีตแล้ว
A massive monastery stood on the site of Trinity College. Before Thomas Cromwells head was chopped off, he assisted King Henry VIII in dissolving Irish monasteries. One of the greatest of was the Augustinian Priory of All Hallows, now the site of TCD, founded by the King of Leinster in 1166 CE. Then outside our venerable city walls, neaby Blind Gate at Dublin's eastern portal.
The Priory was self-sufficient, land and staff for farming. Trinity's walls now follow the original monastic boundaries. Cattle and sheep grazed the fields surrounding the perimeter wall.
There's evidence that the Augustinian monks were active in the local community, especially with health care. The surrounding neighbourhood then was utterly unrecognisable. Where Grafton Street is now located was a stretch of bogland, sustained by a stream flowing downhill from where Stephen's Green is. Monks would traverse the bog using a stone causeway. The marshland was like a miniature Irish everglades. The archaic River Steyne flowed past the Priory, and the medieval banks of the Liffey extended to Townsend Street.
In 1156, the nunnery of the Blessed Virgin Mary del Hogges was established where College Green is now. The convent managed the area around Dame Street and Andrew Street. The area became known as the "Hoggen Green" Old Norse for burial mound. College Green was an ancient Viking graveyard consisting of several tombs or "barrows".
It's even quite possibly the resting place of Dublin's Viking Kings! This makes sense when you consider the nearby Thingmote (Viking community centre). That was located between what is now Church Lane and Suffolk Street, and remnants of it were still in use in the early 17th century. Financial and political power in those days clustered around the Castle and the Tholsel near Christchurch Cathedral.
It's ironic that famous foreign dignitaries often speak on stage at College Green. Because in 1171 CE a massive stage and stands was constructed there to facilitate the Irish and English aristocracy. King Henry II was visiting Dublin. He was the first English monarch to visit Ireland.
But back to Henry VIII. Despite the King's actions often being portrayed as selfish revenge on the church, Henry was sincerely trying to promote education and closer ties with his rebellious Irish subjects. He wanted large monasteries converted to colleges and providing for the poor. He wanted local labour, under English supervision, to rebuild them. He even began to include the Irish harp in his royal insignia to symbolically curry favour.
During Henry's reformation, Thomas Cromwell basically had jurisdiction over Ireland. But semi-Gaelic Dublin then was not particularly excited about losing their Celtic-Christian variety of Catholicism. It's important to remember Cromwell's prestigious job was a poison chalice. Part of Cromwell's job was to be a scapegoat.
The FitzGeralds Earls of Kildare continued to sponsor the Priory, adding to Cromwells' reformation headache. Yet even before King Henry decided to dissolve the Priory, its glory days were well behind it. Parts of the site were dilapidated and it was shabby and understaffed.
All Hallows finally surrendered in 1538. In a final coup de grace to the old order, the Priory’s monument to the Earls of Kildare was ripped out. It's preserved now in old St Werburgh’s Church. In 1539 the Priory was gifted to Dublin Corporation.
When Henry married Anne of Cleves, she was not as attractive as Cromwell had promised. Henry did his thing and moved on to Katherine Howard. On the day they married, Henry beheaded his old friend Cromwell.
Finally, in 1576, the Priory became a quarantine colony for plague victims. Its steeple was used as a ‘pest house’. In 1592 the priory went to the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College. And to quote Samuel Beckett, it's been home to the "cream" of Irish academia ever since. Rich and thick!
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Dublin City, Ireland 🇮🇪 English
