Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey is a Cistercian abbey located on the stunning Hook peninsula in County Wexford.

The Abbey was built in c.1200 by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, as the consequence of a vow he had made when his boat was nearly capsized in a storm nearby.  While the specific date of foundation is unconfirmed it is thought that the foundation date was 3 December 1200. 

Once established, the abbey was then taken over by monks from the Cistercian order at Tintern in Monmouthshire, Wales, of which Marshal was also a patron for. To differentiate the two, the Abbey in Wales was often known as "Tintern Major" and the abbey in Ireland as "Tintern de Voto" (Tintern of the vow). 

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the abbey and its grounds were granted to firstly to Sir James Croft, and then to Anthony Colclough, a soldier of Henry VIII. His descendants became the Colclough Baronets. The final member of the Colclough family to reside at Tintern was Lucey Marie Biddulph Colclough who donated the abbey to the Irish state.