Dunbrody Abbey

Dunbrody Abbey

Features

Dunbrody Abbey is a vast 12th century monastery ruins located in south-west County Wexford.

The ruins are ideal for filmmakers who need large visually impactuful religious ruins or for filmmakers who need a variety of ruin locations in one compact area. The abbey features a ruined church, a cloister, and many other smaller former monastery rooms. The church is exceptionally long, at around 60m long, and its walls are well preserved. The cloister is around 25m by 25m and is lawned. With the high visual quality of the building, these individual rooms and spaces give the filmmaker many different appealing ruin locations to set their scenes.

Also on the grounds are a hedgemaze and a ruined castle, giving filmmakers even more historical locations to make use of.

The abbey was founded in 1170 after the Norman invasion of Ireland. The first abbot of the monastery was an uncle of Strongbow, Herve de Montmorency. The monastery was dissolved in 1542 and came into private hands from then on. In 1911, the Chichester family donated the abbey to the Office of Public Works.

A railway line cuts across the grounds on the north side, but it is obscured by hedgerows when viewed from the abbey.

More Info

For filmmakers looking for a slighly more intact monastery ruins, Tintern Abbey may be more suitable.

Operated by OPW.

Parking: ~25 spaces in the visitor’s centre.

Nearest village: Campile, 3km away.

Nearest town: New Ross, 15km away or Waterford, 18km with a ferry.

Photographer: Gordon Wycherly, Celtic Routes