The first monastery on this site was founded by St. Baedán, who died around 809. The Augustinians settled here in the 12C and by the 13C it had become one of the most flourishing monasteries in the diocese. Most of the relics date from the 15C. Although the building was passed on to the de Burgh family at the time of the Dissolution in the 16C, the monks moved back into the monastery in 1637 and began to restore the building.