It is claimed that originally a
Viking temple dedicated to
Odin stood on the site.
First church on site There was an earlier church on the site: it was here in 1169 that
Diarmait Mac Murchada signed the first
Anglo-Irish peace treaty. The abbey was built with
Dundry stone and dressed
granite. A synod was held there in 1240. In the early 1400s Ardcolm Church,
Castlebridge, was appropriated to Selskar by the
Bishop of Ferns,
Patrick Barrett. We have a glimpse of life in the abbey through a letter which
John Topcliffe, the
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, addressed to
Henry VIII in 1511. He complained that the monks who "time out of mind" had chosen their own
Prior, had elected a "good blessed religious man" as Prior, but that the
Abbot had turned him out. It is unclear why the Chief Justice, who was an Englishman without any obvious ties to Wexford, nor to the Augustinian Order, was so concerned about the affair, nor why he thought the King would be interested. The King's reply, if any, is not recorded.
Suppression and later history The Abbey was suppressed in 1542 and the property was given to
John Parker, the
Master of the Rolls in Ireland. It later passed to the Stafford family. The Abbey was reportedly sacked in 1649.
Today Selskar Abbey is part of the Westgate Heritage Tower; it reopened to the public in July 2012. However it can only be visited as part of a guided tour, run by volunteers from Wexford Lions Club (Monday to Saturday, at 11am leaving from the heritage centre at Westgate(Y35 X2DK) - in July & August). ==References==