Gryphon Park
Europe Fall 2001:

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Boyle Abbey

Boyle Abbey in County Roscommon is a Cistercian monastery established in 1229. The Cistercians were a stern order. The choir monks were required to pray 6 times per day, had a rule of silence and only ate two meals per day in the harvest in season and just one otherwise. The carved columns pictured below are unusual for a Cistercian monastery as the order normally disdained ornamentation as a distraction from their mission.