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.