Black Abbey – Kilkenny's Rosary Window

The reason to come to the Black Abbey is the window. The Rosary Window fills the south transept – about 45 square metres of stained glass, five vertical panels showing the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, made by Mayer of Munich in 1892. It is the largest stained-glass window in Ireland. Stand under it on a bright morning and the colour moves across the stone floor as the sun comes round. If you only have time for one thing here, time your visit for the light and look up.

The rest is a bonus, and there is a fair bit of it. The abbey (Irish: an Mhainistir Dhubh) is a Dominican priory founded in 1225 by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, one of the first Dominican houses in Ireland. The friars wore a black cappa, which gave them the name ‘Black Friars’ and the abbey its own. It sits just outside the line of the old town walls, on the Bregach River, on what was once the boundary between native Irish Irishtown and the Norman-English town. Kilkenny Castle is about a kilometre away, so this slots easily into a walk round the city.

The thing that sets it apart from most Irish abbeys: it never became a ruin. It is a working parish church, with daily Mass at 10.30am and 1.05pm and a Saturday vigil. That is the catch, too – it closes to tourists during services, so if you turn up at the wrong time you’ll be asked to come back.

A turbulent few centuries

The community took the Black Death badly in 1349, losing eight friars in three months; some say the abbey’s name owes as much to the plague as to the friars’ habits. In 1558, under Elizabeth I, the crown seized the property and turned it into a courthouse. Between 1642 and 1649 it was the seat of the Confederation of Kilkenny – the Irish Catholic Confederation – which made it briefly one of the more important buildings in the country. Cromwell took Kilkenny in 1650, and a stone slab in the nave is still called Cromwell’s Bed, where his soldiers are said to have rested during the siege.

The Dominicans came back. They began renting the site in 1776 and had it restored as a priory by 1816, with the first public Mass on 25 September 1816. It was reconsecrated on Trinity Sunday, 22 May 1864.

What to see

Beyond the window, two pieces are worth tracking down inside:

• The oak statue of St Dominic, carved in the 17th century. It is the only surviving wooden statue of the order’s founder in Ireland.
• A 15th-century alabaster Holy Trinity, found hidden inside a wall during 19th-century repairs. It shows God the Father on a throne holding a crucifix, with a dove for the Holy Spirit.

Outside, the stone tower dates to 1507, alongside heavy turrets and a set of 13th-century stone coffins. The Bregach still floods now and again, which is part of why the lower stonework looks the way it does after eight centuries. The nave, tower and choir follow the standard Dominican plan; the ribbed timber vault overhead is newer, added in the 1970s.

There is a small monastic garden around the building – seasonal beds, clipped hedges, a bench or two. It is a quiet spot rather than a destination in its own right, and a pleasant way back into the medieval streets.

Getting there

It is an easy walk from anywhere central. From Kilkenny Castle, head onto Castle Road, turn left onto High Street and carry on to Abbey Street – about ten minutes on foot.

Train – Kilkenny MacDonagh Station is a 15-minute walk away. Trains run from Dublin Heuston in around an hour and a half.

Bus – The nearest stop is on Ormonde Road (Bus Éireann Route 1). From there it is roughly 500m along High Street.

Car – From the M9, follow signs for the city centre, then the R694 to Abbey Street. Street parking nearby is limited; the larger car parks are in the city centre.

Visiting tips

• Entry is free. A small donation in the box helps keep the fabric standing.
• The Rosary Window is at its best in early morning or late afternoon light.
• No flash inside. The exterior and garden are the easier subjects for photos anyway.
• Accessibility is mixed: the main entrance and nave are level, but some of the older parts have stone steps, so wheelchair access is limited.
• Check the Mass times above before you go, or you may find the doors shut to visitors.
• During the Kilkenny Arts Festival in August the abbey sometimes hosts choral and classical concerts – worth checking the programme if you’re in town then.

Nearby

• Rothe House and Garden – a Tudor merchant’s house with exhibitions and a heritage garden, about a three-minute walk away.
• St Canice’s Cathedral – a short walk north, with its 9th-century round tower you can climb.
• Medieval Mile Museum – a few minutes’ walk, covering 800-odd years of the city’s history.
• Jerpoint Abbey – a 12th-century Cistercian abbey south of the city, better preserved than the Black Abbey and worth a half-day. (Jerpoint Abbey)
• Dunmore Cave – a 10km drive out, a limestone cave with a grim Viking-era story attached. (Dunmore Cave)

Practical information

For current visitor information, see the official Dominican community page: Black Abbey – Dominican Community.