St Mary's Abbey Chapter House

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free for everyone; entry is only on the OPW's free guided tours, booked on Eventbrite (one free ticket type). No membership card is needed.

ParkingNo car park

Arrive on foot, by bike or by public transport.

Parking details

OPW names no car park and gives no directions beyond the address. The APCOA car park on Jervis Street is about 215 m away; its tariff is not stored. The Luas red line passes nearby on Abbey Street.

Driving pin: OPW's own pin at 4 Meetinghouse Lane, the entrance down the lane, which Google's listing and the Eircode share.

About

St Mary's Abbey, founded in 1139, was one of the largest and most important medieval monasteries in Ireland, and its memory survives in the street names around it: Abbey Street, Mary Street, Little Mary Street and Capel Street. Of its buildings only the chapter house and the slype remain, hidden about two metres below street level down a back lane off Mary's Abbey in Smithfield. The chapter house was the most important room after the church, where the monks gathered each morning to hear a chapter of the Rule, pray for the dead and confess; the Council of Ireland also met here, and in 1534 Silken Thomas renounced his allegiance to Henry VIII in this room and began his rebellion. The rib-vaulted room is seen only on the OPW's free hour-long guided tours, booked on Eventbrite and held on weekdays at 11:00 and 12:30 on scheduled days. Reviewers call the storytelling spellbinding; bring a jacket, as it is cold below ground, and the entrance is by stairs only.

Check today’s timesSee all times

St Mary's Abbey Chapter HouseClosed today; free guided tours at 11:00 and 12:30on scheduled weekdays, next on Tuesday 20 October at 12:30

Opening times may change at short notice.

OPW prints no opening hours, only 'Access via guided tour'. The free hour-long tours are booked on Eventbrite and run on scheduled weekdays at 11:00 and 12:30, never at weekends; in 2026 they ran every month, mostly Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, with Mondays and Fridays only through the winter of 2025 to 2026. As of 19 October 2026 the next tours are Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October at 12:30, then 26 to 28 October at 11:00 and 12:30; OPW adds dates month by month, so check Eventbrite. Visitors arriving a few minutes early have been let in.

The chapter house is about two metres below street level and reached by stairs only, so it is not accessible to visitors with mobility requirements. It is cold inside even in summer; bring a jacket. Much of the hour is spent seated listening to the guide. No toilets, cafe or shop.

Photo: The rib-vaulted chapter house of St Mary's Abbey, with its three lancet windows and interpretive panels along the walls. Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dublin_St._Mary%27s_Abbey_Chapter_Room_1997_09_25.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.