Ballintubber Abbey

Ballintubber was founded in 1216 by Cathal Crobhdearg O'Conor, king of Connacht, on a site associated with Patrick, and its claim is continuity: Mass has been celebrated here without a break since then, which no other church in Ireland can say. It was suppressed in 1542 and the monks kept going. It was burned by Cromwellian troops in 1653 and left roofless, and services continued in the ruin, through the penal laws, for nearly three centuries - the roof was only restored in 1966. The medieval fabric survives well: the chancel, transepts, sacristy and chapter house are thirteenth-century. Outside are a penal-era rock altar, the remains of the cloister and a Rosary Way. The abbey is the traditional starting point of Tochar Phadraig, the thirty-five kilometre pilgrim path to the foot of Croagh Patrick, which walkers still follow.

What you actually see

• The unbroken continuity - Mass here every year since 1216.
• The thirteenth-century fabric - chancel, transepts and chapter house.
• The roofless centuries - services held in the open shell from 1653 to 1966.
• Tochar Phadraig - the pilgrim path to Croagh Patrick starting here.

When to go

Any season; it is a working church, so services and weddings limit access at times. The pilgrim path is walked mainly from spring to autumn.

Honest expectations

An active parish church - it is not a museum and access depends on services. The roof and some fittings are twentieth-century. Free, with donations requested and limited facilities.

Nearby

Croagh Patrick is west at the end of the pilgrim path; Castlebar is north.