We were reminded how localised the weather is today. We had spent the morning at the house in fine weather, although it had rained overnight. We set off for the ferry across to Wexford and went through a band of heavy rain in the short trip across the peninsula (10 km). It was fine most of the day where we were although at one stage we did here very loud thunder. When we arrived back at 8pm the ground was wet here and it had clearly rained quite heavily.

We took the car ferry over to Wexford county and went straight to Tintern Abbey . This is the abbey that was built by William Marshall after he promised God to do so if he survived the storm at sea on his first visit to Ireland. Because of his Welsh connections it was called Tintern and the mother house was Tintern Abbey in Wales. It is also known as Tintern de Voto, Tintern of the Vow. The abbey was disbanded by Henry VIII but is well preserved because the family that took it over kept it as a manor house.

We were given a copy of the visitors guide to use and given an overview by the man at the counter. We then went into the ground floors of the abbey. The walls were almost all intact although the surfaces had deteriorated. We could see where shapes would have been carved but the surfaces had worn smooth over time. This abbey had been noted for its gargoyles and we also saw the remains of these on the outer walls as we left.

The order was Cistercian which was meant to be an austere order. However, there is evidence that sculptures and stained glass were in the abbey and it was the third richest abbey in Ireland at its height.

The tower was a bell tower for the abbey. It was fortified by the Colclough family that took it over and refurbished inside to use as a manor house. An example of Wattle and daub panels was also on display. These partitions dated from the conversion in 1556. These were oak frames filled with woven hazel rods covered with mud . Some years later, the main rooms were lined with oak paneling and some of the paneling remained. As well as looking good these added a lot to the warmth of the rooms.

One room was filled with information about the family history. The abbey plus 5321acres was given to Anthony Colclough as a reward for service in Henry VIII’s army. It was a cheap way for the King to impose English authority in Ireland. The second owner married twice, a Protestant and a Catholic and the abbey stayed in the family although it was alternatively owned by Protestant and Catholic descendants. Under Cromwell it was restored to the Protestant branch of the family.

The family history included death by drowning, death in a duel, beheading, madness, bankruptcy, missing wills, political exile, family lawsuits and even an alleged poisoning (of an owner by his wife). It was like reading an over the top gothic novel. The abbey still stayed in one branch or other of the family until 1983 . The last and 14th owner was ‘Miss Marie” who inherited in 1912 and lived there at times in serious poverty as the land was sold off. She was remembered locally as being keen on music and the church and she gave the abbey to the Nation when she moved out in 1983.

There were a number of filing cabinets in the room. They contained mainly documents such as the various wills but also a rather gruesome head!!

By 2pm it was almost hot. We did a short and very attractive forest walk by a river to find a cache then headed for Wexford town. We were going to go to the Heritage Park but when we looked at the Park we realised we had seen most of the items in the display (round tower, oghen stones etc) already and in their original places so decided not to go in.

We used caches as a focus for a drive. We went to a monument which marks the bravery of lifeboat men who attended disasters at sea . One disaster mentioned was the sinking of a schooner. One lifeboat crew saved 10 men from the schooner. However, another lifeboat capsized and nine crew drowned. The memorial was by the sea and included a picnic area as well.

We went to Our Lady Island which was the site of an ancient monastery dedicated to Our Lady. The ruins of the Augustinian Priory are still to be seen, as is the Norman tower which leans at a greater angle than the tower at Pisa. This is the site of an annual pilgrimage that lasts for some weeks and we happened to arrive on the last day.

Finally we went to Kilmore Quay, because I had heard it was a particularly attractive fishing village. It had a lot of thatched cottages near the entrance and the harbour is a busy port for fishing boats. The cache took us to a memorial in the town that we may otherwise not have known about. It did have some similarity to the seaman’s memorial in Nelson although this was much bigger.

The cache notes told us about the Memorial Trail and Garden, set up in remembrance of those lost at sea. The Garden is at Forlorn Point, an area reached by crossing a narrow causeway, overlooking Ballyteigue Bay, known as the graveyard of a thousand ships. The theme of the Trail and Garden is the experience of loss and the journey to recovery. It was the idea of Fr Jim Cogley, a local curate, and was achieved through the work of a voluntary committee .

The garden is not just a memorial to the dead but a place to help all those who are grieving to come to terms with their loss. A Vigil Sculpture of two grieving figures looking out to sea and supporting each other, by local artist Ciaran O’Brien, leads to the garden which is designed in the shape of a ship and includes a Ship’s Wheel sculpture, a Compass Fountain, a propeller recovered from SS Lennox—lost off the Saltee Islands in 1916, and a tall mast, supported by a plinth on which the names of people lost at sea are carved.

The number of names was staggering. It included a list of people who died in an aircrash, a family who had lost people from three generations and 3 children who had drowned while swimming on the same day. One plaque didn’t list the dead as there were 387 people. It told us of the sinking of an emigrant ship sailing from Liverpool to New York that foundered off the coast of Wexford. There were 373 passengers and 37 crew. 18 crew and 5 passengers survived and the plaque said the crew had ‘battened down the hatches’ (shutting the steerage passengers into their area so they had no chance to save themselves) in order to keep the life rafts for themselves. It was a sobering read.

We then drove back to the ferry and had a drink at the Strand Hotel, mainly to use the wifi so we get check our emails etc. We then went back home to cook pasta for tea and an early night as we are going west tomorrow.