Situated on the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford, Ireland, Dunbrody Abbey is a great day out for the whole family.

unbrody Abbey was founded in 1170 on the instructions of Strongbow, by Herve de Montmorency (his uncle), after the Norman invasion of Ireland. It was completed circa 1220, but additions may have continued for some time. Herve de Montmorency made a grant of the lands to the monks of Bildewas in Shropshire (England), on condition that they should build the Abbey, for some monks of the Cistercian, or White Order (they wore white robes), and upon condition that there should be a Sanctuary in the Abbey for all malefactors. Dedicated to “St. Mary the ever Blessed Virgin, and St. Benedict” it has sometimes been called the Abbey of St. Mary de Port, for the refuge it contained by the express condition of its founder.

My personal recommendation is to explore this place in the evening after the opening hours or staying there from the later afternoon.