The church has a traditional Cistercian plan with a square presbytery and two chapels in each transept. The cloister and monastic buildings lie to the S of the church. Only the N nave arcade, parts of the S aisle, traces of early Gothic lancets in the W gable, and the monks' processional doorway from the cloister remain from the late 12th or early 13thc. building, while the rest dates from the rebuilding after 1431.

There is said to have been a Benedictine monastery on the site before the arrival of the Cistercians, but the evidence is inconclusive. The abbey was colonised from Monasteranenagh in 1180, although the foundation charter from Domnall Mór Ua Briain dates from 1185/6. It was confirmed in 1228 by Stephen of Lexington as having sufficient revenues to maintain itself. The abbey was largely rebuilt in the 15thc., beginning in 1431. It was transformed into a secular college in 1539/40, until 1561, when it was granted to Thomas Butler, earl of Ormond. The abbey continued to function as a parish church, and in 1971-5 was restored.

The foliage forms on the capitals are vaguely reminiscent of the 'School of the West'.