monastery ireland

Nendrum owes its origin to St Mochaoi who died before 500, and who is said to have been converted to Christianity by St. Patrick. It may not have developed into a monastery until the 7th century, when its island location made it easily accessible by sea, though this later proved a disadvantage when it probably fell a prey to the Vikings.
The location of the ancient monastery was rediscovered by Bishop Reeves in 1844, and Lawlor's extensive, if inadequately recorded, archaeological ex...

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,...

A small monastic settlement on a small island off Beginish Island in Valentia Harbour. Nothing is known of its history. Originally the monastery consisted of a small wooden oratory and a round hut of which nothing remains. These were later replaced by the existing long, rectangular, stone, corbel-vaulted oratory, a rounded stone hut probably roofed with straw, as well as a square house near the edge of the island. The wall surrounding the monastery is a later addition. A stone with an inscr...

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....

Roundstone Bog and Wilderness Walk:

Connemara's finest hill and bog walk through Errisbeg and Roundstone Bog. A world heritage site with its hundreds of lakes and islands, Dogs Bay the regions finest beach, Inis Ni and the Aran Islands. See the landing site of the first ever non-stop transatlantic flight and Marconi station, where the first ever flight transatlantic radio messages were transmitted to Nova Scotia, Canada 1907.

12 Bens Mountain Walk:

Cl...

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...

Situated 1/2 mile west of the crossroads hamlet of Harristown and better known in the locality as Leac an Scail, this is the tallest portal-tomb in Ireland. The monumental entrance to the chamber consists of two majestic orthostats each 12 feet high, with a massive door slab set squarely between them. The pitch of the capstone is unusually steep and its front edge soars out over the portals to a point nearly 15 feet above the ground. It rests at the back on a smaller, secondary capstone, laid...