a crossing point on the Barrow asserted itself and the town came under the opposing influences of the O’Mores of Laois, the Hiberno Norman Earls of Kildare and the English Pale. Abbots of Monasterevin, therefore, had to inherit St. Evin's talent for politics. Abbots of Monasterevin held a seat in the Irish Parliament while assisting outlaws and rebels against the crown of England. By 1427 Rosglas had fallen on hard times and in 1541 the Abbey was handed over to Henry VIII of England as part of his reformation. He, in turn, leased it to his nobles. During the Elizabethan period, there were several occupants including Sir Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex after whom Essex Bridge is named (commonly called the Pass Bridge because he passed over it on his way to his disastrous campaign against the native Irish in Munster). It is not recorded whether he passed that way again on his way to be beheaded at the Tower of London. Early Modern Era King James I granted the Abbey and demesne of Rosglas at Monasterevin to Sir Adam Loftus in 1613. The Earls of Drogheda married into the Loftus family. Charles Lord Moore Earl of Drogheda married Jane Loftus in 1699. Their son Edward became the Fourth Earl who sold the Mellifont estates and transferred the family seat to Monasterevin. The coming of the Moores marks an important point in the history of Monasterevin. Its rise as the "Venice of Ireland" was encouraged by the many improvement works undertaken by the family and the influx of a mixed Protestant and Catholic merchant class. The First Earl had laid out the streets at the centre of Dublin, Drogheda Street (O'Connell Street), Moore Street, Henry Street, and Mary Street. His descendants continued this tradition of town planning by laying out the grid-pattern of the town with the parallel Main Street and Drogheda Street which were connected by several crossing streets and lanes, some of which have disappeared. Monasterevin has an unusual number of Bridges giving rise to its nickname of the Venice of Ireland. Arriving in 1786, the Grand Canal lends support to this name. Originally the spur connecting the mainline the Barrow in Athy was carried down the bank by locks into Barrow and up the other side. The Grand Canal allowed the local distilling industry to flourish. The captains of this industry were the Cassidy Family whose whisky