The catch with Ahamore Abbey is that the sea decides how close you can get. The ruin stands in the old graveyard on Abbey Island, a sand-capped islet off the Derrynane shore in County Kerry, close to the mainland grounds of Derrynane House. The tide can cut off the sandy approach to the island, so follow local warnings and stay on the mainland paths for a coastal visit.
Most people know the place as Derrynane Abbey rather than Ahamore. It sits within the Derrynane National Historic Park, a short walk from Derrynane House. The surviving building is a low, roofless church whose three arched windows face out to sea, and the graveyard around it is still in use.
The founding and what is left
The site is reckoned to have been founded in the 6th century by St Fíonán, the same figure associated with the monastery on Skellig Michael and with Church Island. Derrynane is usually glossed as Doire Fhíonáin, the oak wood of Fíonán. The earliest foundation would have been a simple cell; the roofless Romanesque church dates from around the 10th century, and the site later passed to an Augustinian community. When a chapel was added to Derrynane House in 1844, it was modelled on these ruins.
Centuries of Atlantic weather took the roof and outbuildings, leaving roofless structures on a small island. The three sea-facing windows of the church are the best-preserved feature. The graveyard kept being used into the 20th century, so modern family plots sit alongside weathered headstones and old crosses.
What there is to see
It is a small site, and this was never a large church. The three arched windows facing the sea frame Derrynane Bay, and they are the thing to look for.
In the graveyard, the white-tiled tomb of Mary O’Connell, wife of Daniel O’Connell, is the most prominent grave, though the tiling has been chipped away in places. The marker for the poet Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin is far plainer; his verse, including Amhrán na Leabhar, recorded the hardship of the Great Hunger. The dunes and coastal scrub draw seabirds.
Tides and water safety
Abbey Island is cut off by the sea at times, and the strand around Derrynane has strong currents in places. Do not rely on a crossing, never try to reach the island as the tide rises, and follow any local warnings and water-safety advice. If you are in any doubt, enjoy the abbey from the shore and keep to the mainland paths of Derrynane National Historic Park. Heritage Ireland gives current visitor information for the house and national historic park.
The graveyard is active, so treat the stonework and the graves with respect. The terrain is not suitable for wheelchair users or buggies.
Nearby
- Derrynane – The house, gardens and visitor centre on Daniel O’Connell, close to the shore.
- Skellig Michael – The UNESCO-listed monastic settlement on a sea stack, reached by boat from the peninsula in season.
- Ballinskelligs – A coastal village with its own beach and castle ruins, on the Skellig Ring.
- Ring of Kerry – Derrynane and Abbey Island sit just off the main loop on the Iveragh Peninsula, an easy detour.
The Kerry Way passes close to Derrynane Bay. If you only have time for one thing here, take the mainland paths and look across to the church windows; the rest of the park keeps for another day.