Chauffeurdriven vacation int the South west of Ireland

Today was a special day as we visited the famous monastic settlement at Clonmacnoise in County Offaly. The picture above was taken as we entered the town of Shannonbridge where you cross the mighty Shannon river before entering Clonmacnoise.

Crossing the Shannon in Shannon bridge.

The stone at the entrance to the settlement. The monastery here dates back to the 11th century but great saints like St Ciaran and St Colman spent time here hundreds of years before that and shortly after St Patrick's time.

Now i am showing just how little i know about computers. I honestly do not know how to turn this picture up the right way. Anyway, it is one of the magnificent high Celtic Crosses for which Clonmacnoise is famous. The most important ones have been moved inside to preserve them from the weather as they were slowly but surely being eroded. The carvings on the stones were used to teach people about the life of Christ, featuring scenes from those days.

The cathedral is surrounded by other smaller churches from different periods. Here you see a group of German tourists on an educational tour.

Here we go again.....another sideways view of one of the round towers at the site. These towers had various uses....they housed the bells, they were places of refuge if there was any sign of danger, and they were used as safe storage places for valuables also. The entrance was roughly twenty feet above the ground and, once inside, the monks could pull their ladders up after them and seal themselves inside.The top of this tower was destroyed by lightning.

This second round tower still has its top. The chapel in the foreground was built when the site was taken over by the English in later years and is still in use by the Anglican church, eventhough the whole area was handed back to the Irish national monuments in more recent times.

Here you see Karen studying and photographing a grave with a Celtic Cross headstone. For people like Karen, people who have a hunger to learn more about Ireland, its culture and its religious history, places like Clonmacnoise are a treasure trove.