A ruin and a working church on one site
St Mary’s stands on a rise over the east bank of the River Barrow, and the reason to climb up to it is the medieval half: a roofless 13th-century chancel and transepts, largely intact, holding one of the largest collections of medieval funerary monuments in Ireland. A plain 19th-century Church of Ireland nave, still in use for worship, occupies the footprint of the old church’s nave right beside the ruin. It’s a National Monument (ref. 443), and the medieval end is where you’ll spend your time.
Marshal’s church
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and his wife Isabel de Clare - daughter of Strongbow - built New Ross and its church together, completing St Mary’s in 1210 in sandstone and imported Dundry stone from near Bristol. Local tradition puts an earlier monastery here, attributed to Saint Abbán in the 6th century, though the standing building is firmly Norman.
The centuries were hard on it. The bells were stolen in 1654 during the Confederate Wars. By 1813 the great west aisle had been pulled down to make room for the present nave, with a spire added in 1870. The medieval eastern arm was left alone, and that neglect is why the stonework survives.
What to see in the chancel and transepts
The east-facing chancel is the heart of it: three lancet windows, and a full set of the fittings a medieval church needed for the Mass - aumbry, sedilia, piscina, and a carved tomb canopy. Among the floor slabs, look for a cross carved with the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), a motif tied to the Knights Templar. Marshal fought alongside the Templars, and a Templar settlement operated nearby at Temple Town on the Hook, so the slab isn’t as fanciful as it sounds.
The north and south transepts are packed with funerary monuments spanning the 13th to 17th centuries, remembering the Dormer, Archer, Roth, Butler and Devereux families among others. In the north transept, look for faint medieval graffiti scratched into the plaster, including a tiny ship. The south transept has a finely carved 13th-century male effigy in Dundry stone and a rare double marriage slab, showing one woman laid to rest beside both of her husbands.
The crypt and graveyard
Beneath the south transept is the crypt, the only roofed part of the medieval church. Its two vaulted chambers still show the curved imprints of the wicker-work centring the masons built the vaults over. The medieval markers are long gone; what’s left are 19th-century monuments to the Nixon, Tyndall and Cherry families. For a spell the crypt was used as a coal bunker before being restored. The graveyard outside shifts in mood over the centuries: earlier stones carry skull-and-crossbones memento mori; later Victorian ones turn to scriptural scenes.
Legends
The stonework has always fed local storytelling. One tale tells of a “Black Hole” under an arch, where a soldier went in with his dog and only the dog came out. Another has a thief die in the act of prising a cross from the chancel. A cenotaph inscribed Isabel Lagen marks the tradition that Isabel de Clare’s heart is buried here, tying the ruin to one of the most powerful women of Norman Ireland.
Practical information
- Getting in: Collect a refundable €1 key from New Ross Town Hall, at the corner of Quay Street and South Street, and it unlocks the interior and crypt. This is the catch worth knowing before you go: no key, no medieval interior, and the town hall keeps its own office hours, so it’s a weekday, daytime visit.
- Opening: Accessible during daylight hours, subject to town hall opening times.
- Accessibility: The modern nave is wheelchair-accessible. The ruins, transepts and crypt have uneven stone floors, steps and low doorways.
- Parking: No dedicated car park; limited free on-street parking on the surrounding roads.
- After dark: The church is floodlit at night, so it’s worth a look on the way past even when the key is back at the town hall.
- Contact: 051 421348
Nearby
St Mary’s is a short walk from the town centre and the Kennedy Bridge. With more time, drive out to Ferns for its cathedral and castle, or south to Duncannon for the fort and coastal walks. The River Barrow Blueway runs close by for walking and cycling. The church is a stop on the self-guided Norman Way, and seasonal William Marshal walks can be booked through the New Ross Heritage Centre.