[1] Originally founded in the 15th century, it is located in what is known locally as the "Abbey Meadow", in the north-east of the town, on the banks of the Kings River.

[2] In 1461, Edmund MacRichard Butler successfully petitioned Pope Pius II for the foundation of the friary.

[citation needed] While the domestic buildings and the cloister court no longer survive, a freshwater well remains on the grounds of the abbey.

[9] The well is a rectangular area of c. 1.2-3m surrounded by a wall with an opening to the south from where the water flows to join the King's River.

[10] In the poem, he describes how "a drink from its depths [..] Would act on one's frame like a magical spell", and that "nothing in life so refreshing [..] As the water which shone in the old abbey well".