Tintern Abbey was said to have been founded in 1200 when the powerful Norman knight William Marshal set out to pay his first visit to Ireland after his inheritance as Lord of Leinster. However his ship was struck by a storm off the east coast and was close to foundering. He vowed to God that if he safely reached the shore he would found an abbey wherever he landed. He managed to get ashore at Bannow Bay in County Wexford, and Marshal kept his vow, granting 3500 hectares to the Cistercian order to establish an abbey. Hence why Tintern was occasionally called 'Tintern de Voto' or 'Tintern of the Vow'. As the Earl of Pembroke, William Marshall was also the patron of Tintern Abbey in Monmouthshire in Wales, he brought monks from the Tintern in Monmouthshire to settle in his new foundation in Wexford, which they also named Tintern in honour of their original home.

Tintern was a wealthy and powerful Cistercian foundation, thought to be the third wealthiest Cistercian abbey after Mellifont and St. Mary’s in Dublin. Tintern would have followed the standard format for all Cistercian Abbeys in Ireland based on the ‘Mother House’ of Mellifont. The cloisters were positioned at the south, and were surrounded by a range of domestic and spiritual buildings, with a cruciform shaped church to the North. Excavations have revealed a number of these features, including the discovery of a thirteenth-century sewer. Although a little unpalatable to some (ahh the glamorous life of an archaeologist), this stone lined drain produced real insights into thirteenth century life, and particularly the diet of the monks. They ate cereals, apples, figs, raspberries, sloe berries, hazelnuts, beef, mutton, pork and goat. They also had seafood with evidence being discovered for mussels, oysters, cockles, and whelks. This shows they had a rich and varied diet that was probably far above what the general population would have enjoyed in the thirteenth century. 

I'm particularly fond of the unusual sandstone gargoyle heads that run along the northern side of the chancel wall of the church (facing the carpark). I'm sure one or two of them look familiar from a night out in Coppers!

Close up of the decorative heads

Like most other Irish monastic sites Tintern became private property after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1540s during King Henry VIII’s reign. The lands were granted to Anthony Colclough, an army officer and he and his descendants made extensive changes and modifications to the Abbey to change it from a Cistercian place of worship into a fashionable but fortified home.

One of the most identifiable features of Tintern is the lovely castellated bridge over the head of a stream and tidal inlet. It dates to the eighteenth century. Nearby is the remains of a large limekiln which shows some of the more industrious activities needed on a large estate of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Tintern is a lovely place to visit. It is free to enter and is under the auspices of the Office of Public Works. Please see here for more information on opening times http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/tinternabbey/. You’ll find Tintern roughly 16km south of New Ross off the R734, or 29km from Wexford off the Wexford to Ballyhack road R733.

I hope you enjoy our blog posts. Ireland has such a wealth of great heritage sites to visit and I hope to cover more around the country. Next week I’ll be visiting sites in Ulster, particularly in Counties Derry, Donegal, Antrim and Fermanagh so if anyone has any suggestions for places to visit I’d love to hear them. Please leave a comment below or find us on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

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'Baginbun – where Ireland was both lost and won'

In a little departure from our usual historical sites, this tranquil looking beach is Baginbun, the scene of epic high drama in 1170 AD. While the first Anglo-Norman invasion landed at Bannow Bay in 1169, the second wave landed here at Baginbun just south of the Hook Head Peninsula in Co. Wexford in early May 1170. The invasion consisted of just around 80 men, but they were led by Raymond le Gros, a man with great military skill and cunning. Raymond had chosen Baginbun as he knew that there was an ancient Irish promontory fort that could serve well as a temporary defensive camp before he moved on to attack nearby Waterford.

Raymond knew that Waterford would be well defended and he also needed supplies for the invasion, so he decided to coax the Waterford men out to fight on his terms. He had his men raid the surrounding countryside for cattle, they drove the massive herd back to the ancient promontory fort where the Normans had established their camp. This enraged the Waterford men, and they quickly gathered their forces to attack.

It is estimated that between 1000–3000 Waterford men marched to Baginbun to kick these cheeky invaders back into the sea, and when they saw the tiny size of the Norman force they must have felt confident of victory. However they reckoned without the cunning of Raymond le Gros, he ordered his small force to attack the large army of Waterford, and then he ordered them to quickly retreat, feigning panic. The Waterford men were jubilant at the site of the fleeing Normans and charged after them along the narrow promontory. When they were committed to the narrow pass Raymond had the massive herd of cattle stampede into the ranks of the onrushing Waterford men, scattering them and causing panic and devastation to their ranks. His men followed hot on the hooves on the cattle, cutting down the now panicked Waterford force in droves. They captured a large number of men, Raymond had hoped to use them as bargaining chips to gain ransoms from Irish chieftains but he was to be disappointed. It was recorded by the Norman Chronicler Gerald of Wales, that a fearsome female Welsh warrior, Alice of Abergavenny, was enraged by her husbands death on the battlefield, she took an axe and beheaded seventy of the Waterford men in revenge for her husband, and threw their bodies off a cliff.

The bloody scene was set for the Norman assault on Waterford. It just goes to show that even a tranquil a spot as Baginbun can often have a dark story to tell.

Baginbun is located at the very southern tip of the Hook Head peninsula. It is about 2kms south of Fethard on Sea on the R734. The promontory has restricted access but the beach is open to the public. If you are in the area, why not visit the Bishops Palace in Fethard on Sea. This is located on the outskirts of the village, and dates to the fourteenth century. There is an earlier motte (a type of Anglo Norman fortification) located behind the palace.