Sligo Abbey

We live in Kilkenny, so we have Jerpoint Abbey close by and St Canice’s Cathedral in Kilkenny, but if you appreciate your history the cloisters in Sligo Abbey are a must as there are three sections more or less in tact and you get a definite feel for the times when it was built. We would highly recommend an hour here and at only a fiver to get in it was well worth the price

Very beautiful building in the heart of Sligo. You have to get a ticket to visit (5 eur), but you have a good glimpse from the outside, if you don’t wish to pay.

We visited Sligo Abbey which is managed by the OPW earlier this year and it’s really interesting - several intricacies of interest and also you can see the abbey from the stairs and balcony that’s been constructed, giving you a much better view. Gorgeous. Don’t forget that you can buy an OPW card for €40 for the year or €10 if you’re a student - it might be worth your while if you plan to visit several places.

Pay for admission but can be viewed from the street pavement.
Some what solid in its remaining walls.

I visited the Abbey in August 2019 with 11 of my family members (with 2 13-year olds and 1 18-year old). We had a guided tour and the tour guide, while very well-versed in and very passionate about the history of the Abbey, did not cater the tour appropriately for our group and did not read his audience well at all. He droned on incessantly, talking very quickly, making it very difficult to understand him. There was no opportunity for questions because he never paused. Perhaps his tour would have been suitable for a group of art historians but it was way too detailed and long-winded for a lay audience. Overall, the Abbey was very interesting but the depth and amount of information provided to us in such a short time period was too comprehensive to be appreciated and prohibited us from having the time to explore all of the parts of the Abbey. I would recommend only doing the self-guided tour. It is not a large area but it is an interesting site to explore with some cool history.