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On our way back from Galway to Dublin, we stopped at the monastic site Clonmacnoise. |
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| Clonmacnoise was founded by St. Ciarán in 548 A.D. on the River Shannon. Shown here are Temple (from the Irish word teampall, or church) Meaghlin on the left and Temple Kieran on the right. |
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| One of the richly-decorated High Crosses of Clonmacnoise. This is actually a replica -- the original has been moved inside for protection. |
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| The Cross of the Scriptures stands in the foreground with the 20m-high O'Rourke's Tower behind. Lightning blew apart the top of the tower in 1135, but the remaining structure was used for another 400 years. |
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| A view back at the temple buildings from one of the site's cemeteries. |
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| The largest building at Clonmacnoise is the cathedral, with its 15th century Gothic doorway with carvings of St. Francis, St. Patrick, and St. Dominic. A whisper carries from one side of the door to the other, and supposedly lepers used this feature to confess their sins without infecting the priests. |
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| A view of the Temple Finghin round tower through the windows of one of the other temples. |
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