clondalkin round tower

The foundation of the first monastery is attributed to St. Cronan, otherwise called Mo-Chua, who lived possibly in the 6th century. The monastery is first mentioned in 776.
It was plundered by the Vikings in 832. In 1076 the southern half of Ireland demanded the expulsion of O'Ronain from the abbacy as it was claimed that he held it against the rightful abbot.

This probably means that the monastery had fallen into lay hands by that time. The most important remnant of the monastery is the Round Tower which is 84 feet high and has its original conical cap.
In the Church of Ireland graveyard opposite there are two granite crosses (one ringed), a granite baptismal font, and the remnants of a medieval church which was largely destroyed as a result of the explosion of 260 barrels of gun-powder at a neighbouring powder-mill in 1797.<