Wexford · Easy · Circular

Tintern Abbey and the Colclough woods

A woodland loop on Coillte's waymarked trails past Lady's Well and Tintern Abbey, the Cistercian ruin in the Colclough woods.

Distance
3.2 km (2.0 mi)
Ascent
56 m
Time
About 1 h
High point
45 m
Grade
Easy
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Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), drawn by Global Adventurer.

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Tintern Abbey and the Colclough woods
Audrius Janecka · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The walk

From the walkers' car park at the north end of the Tintern Trails, follow the waymarked path south through the woods to Lady's Well and the abbey's old cistern, then loop west through the trees and come to Tintern Abbey, the Cistercian ruin founded about 1200. From the abbey the path climbs back north through the woods to the car park. It follows parts of the red Marie Biddulph Colclough Trail and the purple John Torrell Cistercian Trail.

It is 3.2 km round with 56 m of ascent; allow about 1 hour. The grade is Easy: woodland paths and tracks, mostly level.

The tracks can be muddy after rain. The abbey itself is a Heritage Ireland site with an admission charge and an opening season, and only assistance dogs are allowed in it.

Coillte's walkers' car park has 38 spaces and its page gives no charge; there is more parking at the abbey's visitor centre. No railway station is near.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.

Good to know

  • William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, founded Tintern Abbey about 1200, in fulfilment of a vow made when a storm caught his boat nearby, and it was colonised by Cistercian monks from Tintern in Wales.
  • After the abbey was dissolved in 1539 its lands passed in 1575 to Anthony Colclough, and the Colclough family lived here until 1959.
  • Coillte's Tintern Trails are five waymarked walks, from a 1 km garden trail to an 11 km loop; the red Marie Biddulph Colclough Trail is named for the last of the family to live here.
  • The abbey is run by the Office of Public Works as a Heritage Ireland site, and the woodland round it is Coillte's.

Getting there

Start: Tintern Trails walkers' car park. 52.24340, -6.83458

Directions to the start

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Places to stay nearby

Rooms in and around JFK Memorial Park Miniature Railway: Booking.com → Expedia → Hotels.com →

Affiliate links: if you book, Global Adventurer earns a small commission at no cost to you.

Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line is drawn along OpenStreetMap paths and the figures are worked out from it; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.