Howth Abbey

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free for everyone; an open-air monument with no staff, tickets or booking. No membership card is needed.

ParkingNo car park

Arrive on foot, by bike or by public transport.

Parking details

OPW names no car park or transport. Reviewers park on the road above (Church Street) and take the steps down into the graveyard; public car parks line the harbour below, but the way up from them is by private steps. Howth DART station and the harbour bus stops are in the town.

Driving pin: the iron gate at the top of the path from Church Street, 36 m from the ruin. OPW's directory pin is on the Church of the Assumption, about 330 m away, and is wrong.

About

High above Howth harbour, with views over the marina to Ireland's Eye, the ruined church of St Mary, known as Howth Abbey, stands on the site of two earlier churches: the first founded around 1042 by Sitric, King of Dublin, the second in 1235 by the Archbishop of Dublin. What survives is mostly a late 14th and early 15th-century collegiate church served by three or more priests, its two aisles divided by an arcade of pointed arches and later brought under one roof, with the west gable widened to carry a triple bellcote. Behind iron railings lies the 15th-century tomb of Sir Christopher St Lawrence and Anna Plunkett, ancestors of the Earls of Howth, the knight carved in armour and his wife in a turreted headdress. The church is viewed from outside only, but the castellated graveyard, now cared for by Fingal County Council, is open to walk round. Reviewers love the harbour views and warn of steps down from Church Street.

Open in daylightFrom OPW Heritage Ireland's published times

Open any reasonable time in daylight

Opening times may change at short notice.

An unguided open-air national monument in OPW's care with no staff and no facilities. OPW warns that care and caution should be kept throughout a visit to its unguided sites.

OPW's notice: external access only; the church interior is not open.

Fingal County Council's burial-ground bye-laws give 'Old Abbey, Howth' 24-hour pedestrian access.

Steps down from street level and uneven paths; not wheelchair accessible (a reviewer); the top gate is stiff. No toilets.

Dogs: Dogs may accompany visitors in the graveyard but may not be exercised there, and owners must clean up after them (Fingal County Council's burial-ground bye-laws); the church interior is closed to everyone.

Photo: The ruined church of Howth Abbey with its bellcote gable, above Howth harbour and Ireland's Eye. Jonjobaker, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:County_Dublin_-_St_Marys_Abbey-Howth_-_20190505175350.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.