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....

Here St. Clomans Mac Lenene founded a monastery of which the round tower and fire house remain.
A building believed to be St. Colmans oratory is nearby....

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...