Baltinglass Abbey

Dermot Mc Murrough, King of Leinster, founded Baltinglass Abbey for the Cistercian monks in 1148. In the early 16th Century Baltinaglass abbey was one the richest abbeys in Ireland. Though the abbey ceased to function from the mid-16th century due to the reformation. Fragments of the church and traces of the cloister survive. The nave aisle has alternate squares and cylindrical piers, the bases and capitals of which are decorated with a range of designs in Irish motifs. Adjoining the abbey is a great pyramid-style granite mausoleum, built in 1832 as a tomb for the Stratford family.