St. Mary's Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey located near Abbey Street in Dublin, Ireland. The abbey was built in 1139 for monks from Chester belonging to the Congregation of Savigny, which in 1147 joined the Cistercian order. In 1303, a great part of the abbey and church were destroyed by fire, but were re-constructed. However, many the city records in chancery stored in the abbey were destroyed. The abbey was one of the largest and richest in Ireland at that time. Silken Thomas started his rebellion of 1534 here, by throwing down his Sword of State.