| Fourknocks |
Fourknocks is a
Passage Chamber Tomb built 5000 years ago. Its name may come from the
Irish Fuair Cnocs, 'Cold
Hills'. The zig-zag patterns carved above its three recesses are
reminiscent of the Cassiopeia constellation, which would have been
visible from the tomb at the time it was constructed. |
| The Hill of Tara |
Known
in Irish as the Teamhair
na Rí or 'Hill of the Kings', the Hill
of Tara is one of Ireland's most important ancient sites. For more
information see the Tara
page. |
| Monasterboice |
Founded by Saint
Boice
who died in 521 AD. Monasterboice contains two of the finest high
crosses in Ireland, dating from the ninth century - the cross of
Muiredach and the Tall Cross. |
| Glendalough |
Glendalough, 'the
glen
of two lakes' or 'the city of the seven churches', was founded fourteen
centuries ago by Saint Kevin. For five hundred years, despite
attacks by the Vikings, it served as one of Ireland's key
centres
of learning and religion. In 1163 its abbot, Laurance O'Toole, became
the Archbishop of Dublin. However, in 1214 Glendalough monastery was
destroyed by the Norman invaders, and its influence declined
thereafter. Reconstruction began in 1878. |
| Mellifont Abbey |
A twelfth century
Cisterian
monastery founded by Malachy. Its first monks arrived from Clairvaux in
1142. Mellifont hosted the Synod of Drogheda in 1152. In the early
thirteenth century, Mellifont was embroiled in resistance to reform
amongst the Cistercians, in what became known as the 'Mellifont
conspiracy'. Further attempts to reform the monastery
occurred
two centuries later, but before they could be completed, the English
Reformation took place and Mellifont was dissolved by King Henry VIII.
The Abbey building passed into private hands and eventually fell into
ruin. |
| Kildare |
Kildare's saint is
Brigit, born around 450 into a family of druids. The
shrine devoted to her was once used for pagan worship. Kildare is home
to three abbeys, the White, the Grey and the Black. The White Abbey was
founded by William de Vesci, lord of Kildare, in 1292; he also founded
the Grey Abbey for the Franciscans in 1260. The Black Abbey
is older,
founded by the Knights Hospitaller in 1212. |
| Slane Abbey |
Slane,
or Baile
Shláine, is
a village in County Meath. The Hill of Slane stands to the north of the
village. According to tradition, Saint Patrick lit a Pascal fire on
this hill top in defiance of King Laoghaire, who had forbidden any fires
to be lit before his own had burnt on the Hill of Tara.
Laoghaire sent
men to confront Patrick; however one of them dropped dead on the
mission, convincing another of the group, Erc, to convert to
Christianity. He subsequently became the Bishop of Slane. Laoghaire was
so impressed by Saint Patrick that he allowed him to continue to spread
Christianity, and the Hill of Slane became a centre of learning and
religion for centuries after Saint Patrick's time. The ruins of a
Franciscan monastery built in 1512 can still be seen on the Hill. |
| Aran |
The
Aran
isles - Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer - are home to a number of
huge stone forts, said to have been built by the Celtic Firbolg tribe.
The Dun Aengus and Dun Duchathair iron age forts perch on the cliff
edge at Inishmore. The isles are also dotted with crumbling
stone
churches. Saint Enda founded a monastery on Inishmore in the fifth
century. |
