The spiritual wants of the tenants and dependants were attended to by one of the monks, John Byrrel, whose name occurs first in the list of those belonging to Mellifont to whom pensions were granted. He is styled Parson of Mellifont. It is probable, too, that others of the abbey priests ministered to Tullyallen parish (though it is scarcely probable that the present parish is conterminous with the old one), to Monknewtown and Donore; for in the English Episcopal Registers, twelve volumes of which have been recently published, it is noted that their brethren in England served the parishes in the immediate vicinity of the monasteries; and, moreover, we find in the list of pensioners of other Cistercian houses in Ireland, the names of three or more, in the same monastery, who are called parsons. Medical advice and medicine were dispensed gratis at the Abbey. The sick poor were visited and cared for in their homes by physicians employed by the monks; they were also admitted into the hospital at the gate. On fixed days weekly, the poor of the locality came for and received loaves of bread which were specially baked for them, and meat in abundance, with beer, was distributed to them. In those days there were no poor laws; for the monks provided for all the wants of the indigent. The monks were in constant touch with all classes of society, at least the principal officers were, and they were the advisers, as well as the instructors, of all. The History of the English Abbeys of the Order, or the fragments that have survived the vandalism of the Dissolution, and which have been published by impartial Protestants, clearly prove that this picture of far-reaching and ungrudging beneficence is by no means fanciful. (_See Ruined Abbeys of Britain, by Frederick Ross._) The Abbot of Mellifont took a prominent place in the councils of the nation. He ranked as a Peer, and had a seat in the House of Lords before all the other Religious superiors, twenty-three more of whom were privileged to sit there. He was bound to supply a certain number of horsemen for the King's musters, and to maintain them at his own charge. Tradition has it that he could ride on his own territory from the sea at Drogheda to the Shannon at Athlone, but this requires confirmation. He owned some 4,000 acres at the suppression, extending on the south side of the Boyne from Drogheda to Rossnaree, and on the north, to Slane, including the fisheries and five salmon weirs on the river. He rented the fishing of sixteen corraghs at Oldbridge, for which he got £13 13s. 4d. annually. The _town_ of Tullyallen belonged to him. It was then in a flourishing condition, but has fallen since from its rank as a town to that of a mere village, composed of a few scattered cottages. The district was then populous; for another village grew up near the Abbey occupied by tradesmen and dependants who were constantly employed by the monks. It was called Doagh. It is now level with the field.