Inch Abbey is the extensive remains of a Cistercian Abbey founded in 1180, by John de Courcy, who led the 1177 Anglo-Norman invasion of East Ulster. It is set in a beautiful location beside the River Quoile, with distant views towards de Courcy's Cathedral town of Downpatrick. Most of this substantial Cistercian Abbey is now in ruins, but the east end of the church, with its early English lancet windows, chapter house and refectory remains. Inch Abbey was used as a filming location for the recent popular HBO series "Game of Thrones".
The Abbey is located approximately three quarters of a mile from Downpatrick along the main road to Belfast (A7). If approaching from Downpatrick, the turning to Inch Abbey is on the left hand side and is signposted. Continue a third of a mile along this road then turn left and proceed to where the road forks, keep to the left and arrive at the car-park.
IMPORTANT: the final cache is set away from the monument and graveyard. It is not necessary to disturb these sensitive locations in any way in order to arrive at the cache. Please help to protect this site by observing standard Geocaching guidelines.
- Waypoint 1 N54° 20.228 W005° 43.897 Year mentioned on sign. Add the first two digits together. Note as (A)
- Waypoint 2 N54° 20.135 W005° 43.799 Count the number of long horizontals on this object. Note as (B)
- Waypoint 3 N54° 20.172 W005° 43.791 What number does this shape resemble? Note as (C)
- Waypoint 4 N54° 20.193 W005° 43.784 Plaque on wall – see year “repaired”. Note second digit as (D)
- Waypoint 5 N54° 20.267 W005° 43.848 What year was this erected by Doctor Hutton? Note second digit as (E)
FINAL CACHE N54° 20.(A)(B-A)(E-C) W005° 43.(C)(D-B)(B)
Checksum = 31
Cache is a small tab-lock box containing a logbook, and a selection of swap items.