The Cathedral and Augustinian Priory, Trim, Co.Meath

The Cathedral and Augustinian Priory of SS Peter and Paul . Built by Simon de Rochfort in about 1202. It was at that time one of the largest cathedrals in Ireland. It was closed in about late 1530s. What remains is only a portion of the former exterior east wall, you can also see the remains of a small medieval parish church. It containes the late sixteenth-century tomb of Sir Lucas Dillon and his wife Jane.

Priory of St. John The Baptist, Trim, Co. Meath

These are the ruins of the Priory and Hospital of St John the Baptist. The priory was founded for the ‘Crutched Friars’(named after the wooden staffs they carried which were topped by a cross) by Simon de Rochfort c 1202, about the same time as he founded the Cathedral and medieval parish church. The Friars were Augustinians who ran hospitals and guest houses.Their hospitals were built similar to all Augustinian monasteries, but with special facilities for caring for the sick. Among the remains is a church with a nave and chancel and a large three-light window in the east wall, see above. Part of a long two story building remains as well as remnants of a 15-16th century enclosing wall with one small corner turret still standing. The most prominent building is a 15th century three-storey residential tower which is vaulted above ground floor and forms part of the defensive wall. The priory was dissolved in 1540 and the buildings were re-used as a private residence.

Bective Abbey, Co. Meath

This Cistercian abbey was founded in 1147 as a ''daughter house'' of Mellifont Abbey.
The community here was Anglo-Norman. In 1386 men of Irish birth were effectively barred from entering the monastery. The cloister (a covered walkaway for contemplation and prayer) and the domestic buildings where the monks lived and worked, were rebuilt on a smaller scale in the 15th century. Two sections of this cloister walkaway survive; there is a carving of an unidentified ecclesiastic at one corner.
A large defensive tower was built above the south range of the abbey in the 15th century, a reflection of troubled times in the English Pale.
After Bective was ''dissolved'' in 1536, as part of  the campaign of Henry VIII to control the wealth and power of the church, the complex was converted into a great mansion with the insertion of new fireplaces, chimneys and large stone windows.