What is recorded here

Whaley Abbey in County Wicklow is a ruined church and graveyard where early medieval graveslabs still lie beside modern headstones. One slab carries a ringed openwork cross, while another bears the name Fachtain and a prayer for him. The abbey may have been a small religious house, a trading stop or a sacred marker on a busy coast road. Its stones suggest people lived, died and were remembered there long before the present wall enclosed the ground.

Situated in gentle undulating terrain, a rectangular graveyard (dims. c. 50m E-W; c. 35m N-S) defined by a modern wall with the poorly preserved foundations of 'Whaley Abbey' (WI035-014001-) in the centre. Within the church is an early medieval graveslab (WI035-014003-) (L 1.56m) with a full-length ringed openwork cross on the upper face. A second slab from the site (WI035-014004-) with a ringed interlace cross and an inscription 'OROIT DO FACHTAIN' is now in the NMI (Braybrook 1879-81, 407). Several mid-18th and early 19th-century headstones also occur within the graveyard. (Price 1946, 64). Compiled by: Claire Breen Date of upload: 21 August 2013

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.