Visit Longford dates the foundation to 1205 and names Richard Tuite as its founder. The abbey later became a daughter house of St Mary’s in Dublin, linking this part of Longford to a wider monastic network.
The Cistercian community’s buildings once included a cloister south of the church. Later repairs and alterations can be read in the surviving walls; by 1550 the monastic house had been dissolved.
The heritage account records a Sheela-na-gig carving on the south wall of the church. Interpretations of these medieval figures remain debated, so it is better to describe the carving than insist on a single meaning.
Graves dating from the sixteenth century onwards show the site’s continuing importance to local families. Follow the marked approach, keep away from unstable masonry and leave gravestones undisturbed.