Muckross Abbey

"Darkly grows the quiet ivy
Pale the broken arches glimmer through
Dark upon the cloister-garden
Dreams the shadow of the ancient yew."
~ Attribution Unknown ~

It was these words, which I found on the web, that sent us in search of the yew tree that stands in the cloister court. The tree is traditionally accepted as being as old as Muckross Abbey, which was founded in the mid-15th century.

The ruins of the Franciscan abbey are set amidst a graveyard ... occasionally used for burials even now. The abbey was a short 20-minute stroll from Muckross House. The overcast added to the moody, dramatic ambiance as we wandered around the cemetery and the ruins.

I’m glad that the rain remained a light drizzle, with the sun peeking out periodically, thus allowing us to find our way to check out the abbey ruins.

As we were leaving, we even saw a couple of herds of the red deer that live in Killarney Park. It was pouring rain by then and the iPhone camera was not up to the challenge of photographing them. We inscribed the memory in our brains instead.Read more