As you follow our trails you will have an opportunity to enjoy medieval architecture and history all in a rich and varied natural environment.  You are walking in the footsteps of Cistercian monks who resided in Tintern for 300 years and the Colclough family who lived here for a further 400 years.

Tintern Abbey was founded by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, in 1200, in thanksgiving for having survived a storm at sea off the south Wexford coast.  The Abbey became known as Tintern Minor or Tinterrn de Voto and was home to the Cistercian Monks until the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry V111 in 1536. It then granted to Sir Anthony Colclough, a soldier in King Henry’s army, and the Colclough family retained possession until 1959. The Abbey is now a designated National Monument in the care of the OPW.

The surrounding woodlands where most of the walking trails are located is owned by Coillte and is home to a rich collection of trees, fungi, small animals, birds, insects and wildflowers.  The most spectacular of which is a carpet of bluebells and wild garlic in Spring. At the trail head, near the Abbey, you will find details on many of the wildflowers found along the trails.

As you walk and enjoy the natural environment keep an eye out for a number of unusual and interesting features.  These include several carvings, a meditation labyrinth, a “flotilla” of boat seats looking out over the estuary, and two “larger than life” size carvings of the Abbey’s founder William Marshal and his wife Isabel.

Other points of interest include:

• Colclough Walled Garden – this restored Georgian era walled garden was originally built and planted by the Colclough family.
• The Capella which dates back to the era of the Cistercians and is believed to be the final resting place of members of the Colclough family.
• The Mill located by the river near the Abbey was built in the late 1790’s by John Colclough and accidently destroyed by fire in the 1800’s.