Baltinglass Abbey

The ruins of a Cistercian abbey founded around 1148 by Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster, in the valley of the river Slaney. Notable for its finely carved nave arcade, where alternating rounded and pointed arches rest on massive piers, it shows the transition between Romanesque and Gothic building. A later church was raised within the medieval walls and remains in use. The contrast between the roofless monastic nave and the newer parish church makes it an unusual layered site in the town centre.