Mucross Abbey on the Lake of Killarney

View of Muckross Abbey on the Great Lake of Killarney, in Ireland. An abbey stood on this site in the 6th century, built by St Fionan, housing monks from the Innisfallen island monasteries, however this was destroyed by fire in the 12th century. Donal MacCarthy was responsible for building a new abbey here in 1448- the work took over 50 years to complete. It is a typical Franciscan abbey with the cloister, nave and transept on the lower floor and the kitchen, dormitories and refectory on the upper storey. The fCloister is noteworthy because the four sides were built at different times and surrounds a yew tree which is thought to be older than the Abbey.