monastery ireland

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...

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...

In the tranquil valley of the River Mattock, a subsidiary of the Boyne, lie the noble ruins of Mellifont, the first Cistercian monastery to be established in Ireland. Founded in 1142 by St. Malachy, the monastery was consecrated amidst great pomp and ceremony in 1157 at a great national synod attended by seventeen bishops and the High King. The new monastic order was successful in re-introducing discipline into what has become a very lax Irish Church. Over forty other Cistercian monasteries w...

The monastery was founded by St. Molaise or Laisren in the early 6th century, and was plundered by the Vikings in 802. The old monastery is surrounded by a stone wall up to 13 feet high which has five entrances leading into the central area measuring 175 by 135 feet. It is not certain whether this wall existed before the monastery was founded or not. The central area is divided into 4 enclosures, the largest of which contains Teampull na bFhear (The Men's Church), a church with antae and with...

Shortly after the Norman invasion, about 1206, a hospital for the sick and infirm was founded here by Ursus de Swemele and his wife Christina, the care of the hospital being put in charge of a religious community. By the end of the 13th century, it was taken over by the Augustinians or Crutched Friars, and the subsequent history of the Abbey was an uneventful one. After a period of decline it was reformed by the Observantines in 1519.

At the dissolution of the monasteries, after the Re...

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...

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....

Little or nothing is known of the history of the monastery; its name signifies 'Island of the Foreigners'. Two churches remain. St. Patrick's was originally a simple rectangular church, with a flat-headed doorway, but a chancel was later added to it. Linked to it by an old roadway is The Saint's Church, which is a Romanesque nave-and-chancel church restored in the last century by Sir Benjamin Guinness.

Its main feature is the fine Romanesque west doorway with heads on the capitals an...

This piece 'The First Step', depicts a mother helping her child to take its first step in life. This theme reflects the renewed efforts of the local community to mould the economic revival of Kiltimagh and its hinterland at the end of the 20th century....

Nothing is known of the history of this monastery beyond the fact that it was dedicated to St. Brendan the Navigator, who lived in the mid 6th century. The remains consist of three churches, three beehive huts, part of the old monastic wall and some inscribed crosses. Of the three churches, St. Brendan's Oratory is rectangular and has a sloping roof, a flat-headed doorway and a square-headed east window. The Saint's Church nearby uses mortar to bind the stones together, and it is probably lat...