Tallaght and the Dominican Retreat Centre
Tallaght first enters history in the 8th century with the foundation of its monastery by Saint Maelruain, who was an outstanding figure in the reform movement in Celtic monasticism at that time. Tallaght was the movement’s most important centre. Valuable documents from that time are the Martyrology of Aengus, the Martyrology of Tallaght, and the Stowe Missal.
Maelruain died in 792. In 811 the Vikings sacked the monastery, as they had sacked many another. A new monastery was built in its stead, but it was the end of the golden age of Irish monasticism.
Tallaght survived as a rural bishopric down to 1152. The last mention of Saint Maelruain’s monastery is in 1125, and in 1179 Saint Laurence O’Toole, the last Irishman to be Archbishop of Dublin before the Reformation, received the grant of Tallaght, with all its possessions, to the See of Dublin.
After the Norman invasion, Tallaght passed into the hands of foreign prelates, and it was to suffer in many an Irish raid on the Pale. In 1300 the town was fortified, and some years later a castle was built on the site of Maelruain’s monastery. Tallaght castle, with the neighbouring castles at Tymon and Drimnagh, was to be an important link in the line of forts defending the Pale.
From the middle of the 17th century the castle appears to have gone into ruin, and in 1729 all was demolished except one tower. This is the tower you see in one of the pictures in the gallery attached to the home page. It now forms part of the Dominican Priory. In its interior is a beautiful prayer room, still in daily use by the community.
The Dominicans were founded in 1221; they came to Dublin in 1224, and made foundations throughout the country. After the turbulent centuries of persecution they settled in Tallaght in 1856. The buildings bear witness to the development since then.
The Retreat House, opened in 1936, was reconstructed in 1957. To this day, the stream of visitors has never ceased. For more than 70 years it has been an oasis of tranquillity for countless people, as Tallaght developed from a little country village into the third largest centre of population in Ireland. A symbol of the abiding presence of God in the midst of change, it continues to be a place of peace, contemplation, and renewal for all who come here.
