Ireland Guide
The Midlands: Westmeath, Longford, Offaly and Laois
Clonmacnois
The substantial remains of Clonmacnois (daily: mid-March to mid-May & mid-Sept to Oct 10am–6pm; mid-May to mid-Sept 9am–7pm; Nov to mid-March 10am–5.30pm; last admission 45min before closing; €5.30; Heritage Card 
www.heritageireland.ie )
, pre-Norman Ireland's most important Christian site, enjoy an idyllic location 10km south of Athlone on the grassy banks of the gently meandering Shannon. The monastery was founded, as a satellite of St Enda's house on Inishmore, in around 548 by St Kieran (Ciarán), who with the help of Diarmuid of the Uí Néills, the first Christian High King of Ireland, erected a wooden church here.
Clonmacnois' three magnificent high crosses have been moved into the excellent visitor centre to prevent further damage by the weather. The finest is the Cross of the Scriptures, a pictorial sermon showing the Crucifixion, Christ in the Tomb and the Last Judgment. It was erected in the early tenth century by Abbot Colman and Flann, the High King of Ireland, who may be depicted together (with Flann holding a pole) in the bottom scene on the shaft's east face.
Elsewhere in the visitor centre there's a good audiovisual on Kieran's life and the history of Clonmacnois, and an interesting reconstruction of a dairthech (oak house), the type of small oratory that would have been built out of wood at this and other monasteries throughout Ireland before stone began to be used in the tenth century.
Most of Clonmacnois' nine churches are structurally intact apart from their roofs, the largest being the cathedral straight in front of the visitor centre. It was built in 909 by Abbot Colman and King Flann, but its most beautiful feature now is the fifteenth-century north doorway, featuring decorative Gothic carving surmounted by SS Dominic, Patrick and Francis. The last High King of Ireland, Rory O'Connor, was buried by the altar here in 1198. Several smaller churches encircle the cathedral, notably Temple Ciarán, the burial place of St Kieran, dating from the early tenth century.
In the western corner of the compound rises a fine round tower, erected in 1124 by Abbot O'Malone and Turlough O'Connor of Connacht, High King of Ireland and father of Rory. Down towards the river, Temple Connor, which probably dates from the twelfth century, is still used by the Church of Ireland for Sunday services in summer. There's another round tower attached to the nave of Temple Finghin, which is Romanesque in style and thought to date from 1160–70.