Sligo Abbey

Sligo Abbey was founded around 1253 by Maurice FitzGerald as a Dominican friary. It burned accidentally in 1414 and was rebuilt, then sacked in 1641 during the rising, after which it was abandoned. What survives is substantial for a town-centre ruin: the church with its choir and nave, a fifteenth-century tower over the crossing, and a cloister with three sides of arcading intact, some of the best-preserved cloister carving in Ireland. The stone high altar in the choir is the only carved fifteenth-century high altar surviving in any Irish monastic church - almost all others were destroyed at the Reformation. There are also good sixteenth and seventeenth-century wall monuments, including the O'Craian tomb. Bram Stoker's mother came from Sligo and the abbey appears in Dracula. It is a compact site in the middle of the town with seasonal staffing.

What you actually see

• The high altar - the only carved fifteenth-century example left in Ireland.
• The cloister - three sides of arcading, unusually well preserved.
• The crossing tower - fifteenth-century, over the church.
• The wall monuments - sixteenth and seventeenth-century carved tombs.

When to go

April to September, when the site is staffed; it closes for the winter. An hour covers it. It is in the town centre, so easy to combine with other stops.

Honest expectations

Seasonal opening only - closed for much of the year. Roofless throughout, so wet weather makes for a poor visit. Compact; an hour is enough.

Nearby

Sligo town centre and the Yeats Building are close; Drumcliffe is north.