Clonmacnoise Monastery

Ciarán is believed to have died in the middle of the 6th century, not long after the foundation of Clonmacnoise. Different chronicles suggest dates between AD 543–549. But the monastery would become his great legacy, as it grew steadily in power and reputation. The famous Donegal saint, Colmcille (also known as Columba) is said to have visited Clonmacnoise towards the end of the 6th century during the abbacy of Alither, as recorded in Adomnán’s Life of Columba – a hagiographic account of Colmcille’s life and works, written around a hundred years after his death.

However, this welcome to Colmcille did not extend to his followers in subsequent centuries. The year AD 764 saw a bloody battle between the communities of Clonmacnoise and the nearby Columban monastery of Durrow, with over 200 men being lost. This was also echoed by writers such as Tírechán, who in around the year AD 700, complained that the community of Clonmacnoise forcibly held many churches that he claimed were founded by St Patrick. This was a symptom of the political power struggle of these great monastic sites. They were not always quiet, serene and holy places of contemplation. In Clonmacnoise’s case, it was surrounded by a large, thriving settlement. It was referred to at the time as Ciarán’s Shining City. These were Ireland’s first proto-towns, in the years before the Vikings arrived to establish true secular urban centres. This burgeoning lay community worked and farmed the large estates held by Clonmacnoise, there were masons, carpenters, metalworkers, and craftspeople of all kinds.

The purpose-built Visitor Centre was first opened in 1993 and it is run by the Office of Public Works. Inside you can book your place on a guided tour, or discover the exhibitions and audio-visual displays that tell the story of Clonmacnoise and early medieval Ireland. You can also find artefacts recovered during the excavations, and see the original high crosses that have been moved inside to protect from the effects of weathering. There is a reconstruction of a dairthech, a typical small oak church, such as the ones that may have stood here at Clonmacnoise prior to their reconstruction in stone.

One of two round towers at Clonmacnoise, it is situated on slightly higher ground in the north-west of the site. This round tower is one of the few examples that has its exact completion date noted in the annals. Chronicon Scotorum records that it was completed in 1124 by Ua Maoleoin, Abbot of Clonmacnoise, with help from Turlough O Conor, King of Connacht. Today the round tower is over 5.5m in diameter, and 19m tall. However, originally when it was built in 1124, the tower would have been much higher. Indeed, it is thought that over a third of the building collapsed in 1135 after a huge lightning storm. The tower was then modified and adapted to its current size and the eight openings at the present top of the tower were probably added around this time.

This round tower at Clonmacnoise would have had several uses when the site was a functioning monastic centre. It is now commonly believed that round towers would not have been a particularly effective defence against Vikings or other raiders, so the more common use for them would likely have been as a bell tower – in the Irish annals, round towers are generally referred to as cloigh teach or ‘bell house’. Another probable use for the round tower was as a marker in the landscape. The presence of a well situated and visible round tower may have acted as a sort of high status beacon to indicate to pilgrims in search of alms and a place of worship that a Christian site was within view.

This building is the largest church in Clonmacnoise. According to the annals, this church was built in around AD 909 by Flann Sinna (also known as Flann mac Máel Sechnaill) – King of Mide from AD 877 and High King of Ireland between AD 879–916 – and Colmán, the abbot of Clonmacnoise at that time. The cathedral is the largest existing pre-Romanesque church in Ireland.

The church was originally a simple rectangular structure, but during the 12th century a new west door and east window were added and a sacristy was built to the south. Later, in the 13th century, the south wall was completely demolished and moved further north and, in the 15th century, an elaborate north doorway was added. This doorway features a finely vaulted masonry canopy with relief carvings of three saints: St. Dominic, St. Patrick and St. Francis. Although St. Francis’s head is missing, each saint is identified by an inscription. Another inscription in latin on the carving indicates that a dean named Odo commissioned the work. Odo, also known as Dean O’ Malone, died in 1461. The doorway is known as ‘the Whispering Arch’, if two people stand either side of the door and whisper into the grooves of the architrave, someone with their ear to the opposite side can hear them. The cathedral is the last resting place of Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht (buried in 1156), and his son, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, the last High King of Ireland, who died in 1198.

This church is located to the south of the cathedral and the building includes part of a pre-Romanesque structure dating to the 10th century. This was extended in 1689 by Edmund Dowling of Clondalare. Prior to this renovation it was known as Temple Hurpan. A plaque recording this extension is located over the new doorway. Some of the remodelling includes non-functional antae which are projecting side walls, typical of the pre-Romanesque style in Ireland. This part of the church is now named after Edmund Dowling in recognition of his renovations and alterations. The church was later extended by the addition of a separate eastern chamber, probably largely used for burials and now named Mac Laffey’s Church. If you look closely at the interior of the north wall you might be able to spot an inscribed grave slab which was reused as building stone in the original church. Translated, the inscription reads: ‘a prayer for Dithraid’

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The building dates to the early 13th century and is Transitional – an Irish blend of Romanesque and Gothic – in style. During the late medieval period the church was altered and the doorway in the south wall was rebuilt. It has fine late 12th / early 13th century east windows. Another name for the church is Teampall na Rí, which means ‘the Church of the Kings’. Clonmacnoise became the main burial place of the Ua Máel Sechnaill Kings of Mide, the Ua Ruairc Kings of Breifne, the Kings of Uí Mháine, the Mac Cárthaigh Kings of Munster and the Ua Conchobair Kings of Connacht. This church is solely associated with the Máel Sechnaill Kings of Mide.

According to tradition this small church is the last resting place of the saint and founder of the monastery. It is thought that until the 17th century it also contained relics associated with the saint. This small and strangely shaped church is one of only six existing examples of the unique architectural type known as the early Irish shrine chapel. These were probably the earliest mortared stone structures in Ireland and Temple Ciarán is the only one of the six to have a true-arched doorway.

Radiocarbon dating which has been carried out on samples of mortar found between stones of the wall suggests it may date to the 8th or 9th century, making it among the very earliest mortared stone churches in Ireland. The soil within the chapel was in great demand for centuries as it was believed to have curative and other beneficial properties, it was particularly noted for protecting crops against disease.

Only fragments of this 12th century church remain, close to the north east corner of the cathedral. It is thought that the church was founded by Conor O’Kelly, King of Uí Mháine, in 1167 in place of an earlier dairtheach or oak church. Although the remains are fragmentary, the church is an important indication of building on the site in the 12th century. Like Temple Melaghlin and Temple Conor it is an important example of a royal mortuary chapel in this monastic centre.

This church dates to the 12th century and as the name indicates this church was the final resting place of the O’Connors (Ua Conchobair), Kings of Connacht. All that remains today of the 12th century building are the west doorway which was built in the Transitional style, and the window at the east end of the north wall. Like Temple Melaghlin, it is a testament to the final period of royally commissioned worship towards the twilight of Clonmacnoise. It is a plain rectangular church which has been re-roofed and in use as a Church of Ireland place of worship since the mid-18th century. The church acts as a reminder that although Clonmancnoise today is mostly ruins and echoes of the past it continues to fulfil its purpose as a living place of worship.

Temple Finghin stands at the extreme edge of the monastic site towards the river. The marshy and waterlogged nature of its immediate surroundings must have been similar in the early medieval period. The church itself is one of the two examples of the Hiberno-Romanesque style at Clonmacnoise and it is thought to date from around 1160–70. Another unusual feature is the south doorway. The integration of the tower, and the decision to build a doorway in the side rather than end wall, shows a deliberate reference to Cormac’s Chapel at the Rock of Cashel. The Romanesque chancel arch appears to have been damaged by fire and parts were reconstructed using limestone at a later date. The attached round tower is sometimes called the second round tower of Clonmacnoise and is about 16 metres high.

The monastic buildings are surrounded by a historic graveyard, and burials here go back all the way to the 7th century as people clamoured to be buried within the same soil as St. Ciarán to ensure resurrection into Heaven. In 1955 the core of the monastic enclosure, with the exception of Temple Conor, was transferred to the State by the Representative Body of the Church of Ireland. As the Old Burial Ground was more than full after 1200 years, Offaly County Council declared it to be closed and agreed to provide a new burial ground. The land adjacent to the Old Burial Ground was purchased and laid out as the New Graveyard. During grave digging in this area, the first ogham stone ever discovered in County Offaly was found, and led to a series of excavations by the late Heather King which revealed evidence for habitation and activity, as well as the great enclosures of the monastery. Today visitors can walk in the footsteps of the countless people who sought spiritual respite before them, following the Pilgrim’s Path for 400 metres or so to the Nuns’ Church.

The Annals record that the Nuns’ Church was completed for Derbforgaill in AD 1167. She was the daughter of Murchad Máel Sechnaill, King of Mide, and of his wife Mor, daughter of Muirchertach Ua Briain. Derbforgaill is perhaps best remembered in history as a sort of Irish Helen of Troy. According to the more lurid accounts of the events that led to the Norman invasions of Ireland, it was Derbforgaill that was abducted from from her husband, the King of Breifne Tigernán Ua Ruairc, by Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster, in 1152. This led to such a deep enmity and spiral of revenge that some believe resulted in the Normans coming to Ireland at Diarmait’s request. Though Derbforgaill was a far more interesting and influential figure than that, as discussed in this fascinating episode of the Irish Medieval History Podcast.

The Nuns’ Church is a beautiful legacy for this powerful medieval noblewoman. It is in a field to the east of the main monastic complex and is one of the finest examples of Hiberno-Romanesque architecture in Ireland. Serpents, plants and highly stylised animal heads are all represented, and if you have a keen eye, you might just spot a small romanesque sheela-na-gig type figure hidden in the decoration of the chancel arch.

The Normans left their mark on the site by constructing Clonmacnoise Castle to ensure they controlled the strategically important crossing point of the Shannon. The remains consist of a hall-keep within an enormous D-shaped earthwork enclosure. The castle was established in 1214, and it was under the control of Geoffrey de Marisco. It was on the front line from its foundation. The Annals of Loch Cé recorded an attack shortly after it was built in 1214: ‘Cormac son of Art, sent into Delbhna again, and his people carried off a prey of cows from the castle of Clonmacnoise, and defeated the Foreigners of the castle.’ There are no architectural features later than the 13th century in the fabric of the castle and it has been suggested that it may have been undermined and perhaps abandoned in the early 14th century, during the period of the Gaelic resurgence.

The remains of Clonmacnoise, as spectacular as they are, are just the very innermost core of the ancient monastery. It once had a wide hinterland surrounding it. This hinterland was well farmed by the lay community, providing the monastery with food, fuel and building materials. One of the most significant discoveries that shed light on this aspect of the monastery was Kilbegly Mill, a site I excavated in advance of construction of the M6 Motorway in 2006. Under a thin layer of peat in a hollow at the base of a field, we discovered a wooden mill, with its flume, millpond, undercroft, tailrace and more all perfectly preserved under the peat. We dated the site to between AD 650–850. This mill was built next to a small early church site, historically linked as a satellite site of Clonmacnoise. The mill was one of the finest examples of the era ever discovered in Europe. All the timbers have now been conserved and are in storage with the National Museum of Ireland.