Baltinglass Cistercian Abbey is situated close to the banks of the river Slaney and somewhat hidden away deep in the Wicklow Mountains. Now on the outskirts of the town of Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, the abbey was a more extensive foundation consisting of conventual buildings and a tower house (demolished in 1882 and used in the fabric of the Church of Ireland rectory). Although only part of the church survives above the ground, Baltinglass offers an excellent example of Romanesque architecture and sculpture, apparently the work of local masons – one known as the ‘Baltinglass master’ whose work is also evident in Jerpoint – and possibly of English West Country sculptors.
