monastery ireland

Ireland's premier monastic site is set in tranquil and inspiring surroundings on the banks of the River Shannon. The site includes the ruins of a cathedral, two round towers, eight churches, three high crosses as well as a large collection of early Christian grave slabs
Features include a visitor centre and museum display, a multi-lingual audio-visual presentation, a coffee shop and a tourist information office....

Gateway: The Gateway to the old monastic city is the only surviving one of its kind in the country. Originally comprising of a keeper's house and a small tower, the principal remains now consist of two semi-circular archways supported by granite piers. The gateway is of later origin than the other buildings of the lower group, it having been part of the surrounding defensive wall which was constructed to secure the city from attack....

The monastery was founded by St. Rioch around 530. It is mentioned in the Annals in 750, 809 and 916, and it was raided by the Munstermen in 115 and 1089. Two churches still remain. The more southerly church is a nave-and-chancel building with round-headed windows in the chancel, and a pointed door in the south wall of the nave. Near the north-eastern point of the island is the other church consisting of a nave, and a transept of almost equal size as well as a sacristy. To the north of the...

The majority of artefacts relating to St Columb are housed here in this historic church founded in 1784. It occupies the site held to be that of St Columba's original monastic church founded in the sixth century. The church has since evolved into a monument to the saint. The kneeling stone now stands upright to avoid further erosion from usage as the deep gauges into the stone were created by people rubbing the stone continually over the years. Admission : Free Opening Hours : 8:00am - 9:00...

This monastery was founded for monks who came to the mainland here from the offshore island of Skellig Michael in the 12th or 13th century. As with their former monastery, this one was also dedicated to St. Michael.

The buildings have been partially eroded by the sea. The two remaining churches seem to date however from the 15th century and have windows and a door with dressed stones. Adjoining one of the churches is a 15th century cloister garth with a large hall on the other side...

In the sixth century A.D. a Christian monastery was founded on the hill of Derry. The site was allegedly granted by a local king who had a fortress there. A similar kind of fortress can be seen at the spectacular Grianan of Aileach, a few miles west of the city and now in County Donegal. According to legend the monastery of Derry was established by the great Irish saint Colmcille/Columba (521-597). Colmcille founded many important monasteries in Ireland and Britain, including Durrow in the i...

The monastery was probably founded by St. Feichin of Fore who died in 664. St. Gormgall 'Chief Confessor of Ireland' died and was buried here in 1017. One of the important manuscripts of the Life of St. Feichin was written on the island. The most important ruin is a rectangular church, with a flat-headed doorway.

The doorway may not be original as the lintel of the door is an old cross-slab. The east end of the church is destroyed. Around the church are the remains of beehive huts,...

This early monastery is dramatically situated on the slopes of a barren and rocky island which stands sentinel against the Atlantic waves on the south-western coast of Ireland. Tradition attributes the foundation of the monastery to St. Finan. The deaths of some of its monks are recorded in 823, 950 and 1044, but the monastery continued till the 12th or 13th century when its monks transferred to the mainland at Ballinskelligs. The monastic remains are sited on a saddle in the rock about 550 f...

Ireland's Pleasure Lake, Lough Derg is the largest of the Shannon's lakes, and is almost an inland sea. It is renowned for game and coarse angling, boating, sailing, windsurfing, and skiing. The shores of Lough Derg on both the Tipperary and Clare sides are bound with picturesque villages, including Dromineer, Terryglass, Garry Kennedy and Mountshannon. The lake is dotted with many islands, the most famous of which is Inis Cealtra - Holy Island, which is the site of a 7th century monastic s...

Kilcoona derives its name from St Cuana who founded a monastery here in the 7th century. Cuana is noted as one of the ancient Irish writers and the - Annals of Cuana - are attributed to him. These writings bring the chronology of our country down the year 628 A.D. Nothing remains of the original monastic buildings of church but the existing ruins, which have recently been conserved date from the 12th century....