Duleek

Duleek

Duleek , five miles South-East of Slane on your tours of Iteland , is an historic little place founded by St Patrick , who settled St Ciaran here to build the first stone church in Ireland and found a monastic settlement ; it was also an early bishopric.

The ruined St Mary’s Priory you see today was probably founded in the 12th century, and was abandoned after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries : there are some fine tombs in the roofless building , and nearby a squat , 10th century high cross.

In the town square is a wayside cross of different nature , erected by Genet de Bathe in 1601 as a memorial to William , one of her husbands , and one of the finest examples of a type of cross that crops up all over Ireland.

Have a look on any Ireland tours.