Ferns triptych

I stopped in the little village of Ferns, Co Wexford, on Sunday (on a detour off my way back from Wicklow). It must have been a hive of activity down through history.
This image is taken from inside the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey. It was founded about 1150 by Diarmuid McMurrough (who later brought the Normans to Ireland!) and was home to a community of Augustinian monks. Across the field on the right are the ruins of the first Cathedral in Ferns which was built in the thirteenth century. Beside it is the contemporary Church of Ireland Cathedral — St Edan's which was built in 1817. Curiously, the modern Roman Catholic Cathedral (St Aidan's!) is located in Enniscorthy but the RC Diocese is also called Ferns!