In this series of articles, we want to look at historical recollections relating to Clonmacnois. The early heritage of the site has been well documented in books and pamphlets dealing with its archaeology and the history of the monastery, most recently in The Heritage of Clonmacnois, a series of essays, edited by Mary Tubridy in 1987.

Brendan Molloy
The new interpretative centre now open will increase visitor numbers to the area. The High Crosses and some of the slabs are now secure in the new building and can be studied and enjoyed to a greater extent than when in the open. The displays and video will heighten awareness and the dramatic impact of the wax figures will not be lost on the younger visitors. It was heartening to see that the name of Brendan Molloy was not forgotten. There is on exhibition a copy of a local paper for 1939 giving details of a lecture given by Mr. Molloy to the then recently formed Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society, at that time ably led by its secretary, James Rogers of Tullamore, solicitor and county registrar.


William Shaw Mason
In the next few weeks, I want to review some of the literature of the "holy city", and to start at a much later date - at Clonmacnois on the eve of the Famine. An account of Clonmacnois in the early years of the ninteenth century was published by William Shaw Mason, as part of his three-volume A Statistical Account or Parochial Survey of Ireland, drawn up from the communications of the Clergy (1814 - 19). Included in this survey is one Offaly parish - that of Clonmacnois.

Shaw Mason was born in Dublin in 1774 and died there in 1853. He was for many years involved in the pursuit of history and was secretary to the Commissioners of Public Records. One attractive sinecure he had was Remembrancer or receiver of first fruits.

Patrick Fitzgerald
The contributer of the Clonmacnois piece was the local vicar, Patrick Fitzgerald, who recorded the following:

1. The name of the Parish, Situation, Extent, &c.
CLONMACNOIS is the ancient and modern name of the parish. It is situated in the barony of Garrycastle, in the King's County, and in the diocese of Meath. Longitude 8o 5' west; latitude 53o 20' north. Its boundaries are, on the north the river Shannon, by which it is separated from the county of Roscommon, on the east, by Kilcleagh and Lemanaghan parishes, on the south, by Thesaurin parish; and on the west by part of Thesaurin parish, and by the Shannon, which divides it from Galway and Clonfert. The length of the parish from east to west is about eight Irish miles; the breadth from north to south is about three. About 3723 acres are arable, and fit for pasture; the meadow ground is in general indifferent; there is but little upland meadow, as it mostly lies along the banks of the Shannon. But it contains more than double the above-named number of acres of bog; as a large branch of the great bog of Allen, runs up into the parish; so that, including every kind of soil, it contains upwards of 12,000 acres.
There is no river in or adjoining to this parish except the Shannon, which mears it as already mentioned. A lake called Clonfalagh, [Clonfanlough}, which is computed to cover ninety acres, produces good pike and perch, and some eels. This sheet of water is situated nearly in the centre of the parish, and derives its name from the townland in which it is. On the north and east it is surrounded by hills, which, if planted, would produce a fine effect; and on the south and west by a large bog. The parish abounds with hills, the tops of which are allotted to pasturage, as all the valleys are tilled, and produce fine crops of corn; though the general appearance of the soil, which is very light and sandy, might lead at first view to an opposite conclusion. There are neither mountains or woods here, nor have there been any remarkable indigenous plants found.

II. Mines, Minerals, &c.
Limestone is the general substratum of the soil in all parts: when mixed with bogstuff and clay, it makes an excellent compost for the purposes of manuring.

III. Modern Buildings, &c.
The high road leading from Ballinasloe to the counties of Meath, Kildare &c. runs through the parish, in a direction east and west; another crosses it nearly from north to south; there is also a third road, but of very little note. It can boast but of one town, that of Shannonbridge, so called from a very handsome bridge built across the river. Here is a small barrack, capable of accommodating a company of soldiers. A large tower and battery are building and in a state of great forwardness on the western (or Connaught) side of the bridge, this is the great pass from that province to Leinster. A magazine has been already erected behind the barrack. There is no market held here, the want of which is severely felt by the soldiers, who are obliged to purchase their meat at Ballinasloe, six miles distant. The village contains a few slated houses of two stories high; the rest, to the number of 280, are thatched. In consequence of the great number of artificers employed in the military works, house rent has increased rapidly. The average rent for buildling ground amounts of three shillings per foot. Its inn is nothing more than a carman's stage; but it contains several shops for retailing spirits without licence, better known throughout the country by the name of Shebeen houses.

It is singular, that not a possessor of a fee simple d..bate resides in the parish: neither, if we expect the glebe-house, is there more than one good slated house in it, which belongs to Mr. Coghlan, who holds about 200 acres of land, on which he resides.

IV. Ancient Buildings, &c.
The abbey of Clonmacnois is situate near the river Shannon. It was built about the year of our Lord 561, at which time it was held in high veneration. The church-yard annexed to it contains nearly two Irish acres; it is one of the greatest burial places in Ireland, upwards of four hundred corpses are supposed to be buried there annually. There are also the remains of ten other chapels of lesser note, now totally in ruins; a door of one of them is very curiously and beautifully carved. (Engravings of these may be seen in Ledwich's Antiquities). About half quarter of a mile thence, are the remains of a bishop's palace, now wholly in ruins; some of the walls are the only parts that have as yet escaped the ravages of time. In the church-yard are two large round towers, one about 62 feet high, and 56 in circumference; its walls are 3 feet 8 inches thick; the other is 56 feet high, 7 feet in diameter, and 3 feet thick. Here are also two large crosses, one of which is marked with some rude carving, and bears an inscription in antique and unknown characters. At a small distance stands, what appears to have been a religious house for nuns; it is also in ruins, no part of the building remaining except a single arch. A full account of this interesting place may be found in Archdall's Monasticon Hibernicum, and Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland.

Fitzgerald noted that there was no town in the parish of Shannonbridge which had a few slated and 280 thatched houses. The parish had 586 families, comprising over 3,000 of a population with only eight Protestant families. Potatoes and milk were the basic foodstuffs with some fish. English was the usual tongue with only some Irish spoken. Patron Day was 9th September as it still is but at that time 3,000 to 4,000 people would attend. The principal owners of land in the parish were Lord Rosse, Rev. Henry Mahon, Edward Armstrong-Frazier and H. P. Lestrange.

V. Present and Former State of Population, Food, Fuel, &c.
From every information that could be procured, it appears that there are 586 families in the parish, comprising 1618 males, and 1558 females. Eight only of these families are Protestant, the rest Roman Catholic. The people in general are very comfortable, and dress neatly, some in grey frize, and some in coarse blue cloth. Potatoes and milk form the geneal food; to which is often added, fish procured from the Shannon and the lake. The poorest keeps one cow; some have three or four. There are very few who do not keep one horse for work; some have two.
The fuel is turf, which is very plenty and of good quality. The houses are in general very neat and comfortable; mostly built of stone and mortar. One person only is named here, as having lived to 90 years of age; few arrive to 70.

VI. The Genius and Disposition of the Poorer Classes, &c.
The people here are very industrious: they are courteous to strangers; but of a stubborn disposition in their intercourse with each other. Their general language is English, though they sometimes speak Irish to one another.

There is but one patron day here, on the 9th of September, in honour of St. Keiran their tutelar saint; it is numerously attended. From 3000 to 4000 people assemble there to do penance from different parts of Ireland, even the county of Donegall. Tents and booths are erected round the church-yard for the accommodation of the people. This assemblage continues for two days, and often ends in quarrels. Some persons have been obliged to keep their beds for weeks, in conseqence of beatins received at such meetings.

VII. The Education and Employment of Children &c.
The children are brought up to husbandry. Some parents send their children to the petty schools in the neighbourhood, during the idle season of the year. When asked why they did not send them regularly and constantly, their answer was, that they could not spare them from the work. The girls are generally employed in spinning.

There are no public schools: the parish clerk keeps a licenced Protestant school., which is very badly attended; not more than fifteen children receiving instructions from him. There are, however, three Roman Catholic schools, whose average number of pupils fluctuates from forty to eighty. In harvest time and spring, the number sinks much lower in consequence of the children being kept to assist in the agricultural labours. The quarterly salary for tuition is 1s 8d for reading and spelling; 3s 4d for writing and arthmetic. There is no public library, nor any collection of Irish or other manuscripts relating to Ireland.

VIII. State of Religious Establishment, Tythes, &c.
Clonmacnois is a vicarage in the gift of the Bishop of Meath, and is not united to any other parish. About two miles and a half from the church stands the glebe house, where the vicar resides on a glebe of about forty acres. All sorts of grains pay tythe. Wheat, bere, and barley, are set at from 10s to 12s per acre; oats and flax at eight shillings: neither meadow, potatoes, nor rape pay tythe. Sheep pay at the rate of £1 13s 4d per hundred. The tythe is but indifferently collected; some indeed pay punctually; but others very badly. There are two Catholic chapels in the parish, with a priest to each.

IX. Modes of Agriculture, Crops &c.
The inhabitants adhere very tenaciously to the old modes of agriculture. Burning for manure is much practiced; it is called boiting. The ground when thus prepared, is planted with potatoes, then wheat, barley and oats. The wages of labourers are 10d a day in summer, and 8d in winter, without victuals; but somewhat higher in harvest. The stock is chiefly cows, horses, and sheep, of the old Irish breed. The general acreable rent, particularly for late takes, is from a guinea and a half to two guineas, but on old takes, from 15s to a pound. No duty services or payments are exacted from the tenants. Most of the land is set in small farms of from 10 to 15 acres; there are a few of 25 acres. There is neither market not fair, not even a pound or a constable in the parish.

X. Trade, Manufactures, Commerce &c.
None.

XI. Natural Curiosities, Remarkable Occurrences &c.
List of Incombents from the First Fruits' Records.

The Rev. Philip Barret, Clerk, was collated the 26th day of May 1743, to the Vicarage of Clonmacnois in the King's County, and Diocese of Meath.
Stephen Bootle, 14th July 1762, Vicarage Clonmacnois, King's County.
Joseph Pasley, 4th February 1763, Vicarage Clonmacnois, King's County.
William Donaldson, 7th November 1764, Vicarage Clonmacnois, King's County.
John Baily, instituted 15th December 1778, Vicarage Clonmacnois, King's County, episcopally united to Rectory of Ballygart in County Meath.
John Fitzgerald, instituted 10th October 1799, Vicarage Clonmacnois, County Westmeath.

XII. Suggestions for Improvement, and Means, for meliorating the Condition of the People.
None.
14. "Cluanmacnois" or as pronounced "Cluainmacneesh" is evidently derived from "Cluain", a retired lawn, or small nook of land, free from wood or rocks,. near a river, and "Mac-naoish", son of Aeanguish, pronounced "Aennesh", the adopted son of Eughusius, who is recorded to have been the abbot that succeeded to Kiaran, the founder of the monastery here. In the 11th Number of Vallancey's Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, William Beauford, Esq. defines "Cluainmacnois" to be the "retirement or resting place of the sons of the chiefs."

20. "Lagherra", (half a plowed farm), which may also import, according to its accentuation among the native Irish. The "Pool at the end of the farm", is by Mr. Archdall, in his valuable work, the Monasticon Hibernicum, said to denote "the half of Ireland" , as if from "leah-Eire", as if the people who first gave the townland that appellation, had determined its geographical situation, with respect to the whole island. This much it may not be uneccessary to observe, as Mr. Seward, and other geographers and writers and gazetteers have adopted those derivations, without enquiry or actual examination.

It may surprise some to hear that Clonmacnois parish was from the shiring of the counties of Offaly and Westmeath in the mid-sixteenth century treated as part of Westmeath. Piers in his A Chorographical Description of the County of Westmeath written A.D. 1682, states that it was until 1638 part of the barony of Clonlonan in the county of Westmeath but that due to the influence of Terence Coghlan (the great north-west Offaly family) was annexed to the barony of Garrycastle in Offaly. Coghlans own country had been incorporated in King's County or County Offaly in 1582. So it was that when Coote wrote the Statistical Survey of King's County published in 1801 for the Royal Dublin Society, Clonmacnois was included in the account of Garrycastle barony where he wrote:
"On the banks of the river, and on the confines of this county and that of Westmeath, in a very wild country, stand the ruins of the seven churches called Clonmacnoise, or Cluainmacnois, which signifies, the retreat or reflecting-place of the sons of the chiefs, or the cemetery of the nobles or kings. This place was famous for having entombed the ancient Christian monarchs of this country; 'tis situate on a gentle ascent, and it also was called Druim Tiprac, which was expressive of its central situation, as, the church in the centre. In the year 548, 549, an abbey was founded here, by St. Keiran, or Ciaran the younger; and Dermot the son of Ceronill, king of Ireland, granted the site, on which the church was built, and which was afterwards converted into a cathedral and bishop's see. Around this were erected seven, or as some say, nine churches, built by chiefs or kings of the country, as their mausoleums; they were inclosed in a space of about three statute acres. 'Tis said there was also an episcopal palace here, and several smaller sepultures, which are now entirely in ruins, entombing the chiefs and bishops. Many stones are found with characters of various workmanship, and bear inscriptions of the Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Irish tongues. In the year 1552 this abbey was plundered by soldiers from the garrison of Athlone; they despoiled every thing in their way, and carried off whatever was of value, not sparing even the books that belonged to the cathedral. Here are also two of the these round towers so peculiar to Ireland, and from their near situation to churches, are considered to have been erected for religious purposes. It has been argued, that they were appropriated for penance in the early days of Christianity, which Doctor Mullock, who is a good antiquarian, seems to think; and, in support of his opinion, he states, that there was a penance, which still exists in name, and styled the Thurris Penance: what the nature of this atonement was, I have not learnt, but the words come near in found to Turris, which in Latin signifies a tower; and as in the Romish church, particularly in this country, both the Latin and Irish tongues were often in old times intermixed and confounded, it is not very improbable, this may be a sort of confirmation in the opinion of those, who believe that those towers were erected for penitentiary purposes (Coote had no knowledge of the Gaelic language obviously). But in those elaborate and uncontradicted historical accounts of dates of many places of antiquity, contiguous to those towers, we have not a single authority of the use of them, or at what time they were erected; which rather argues, that their origin was in far earlier days, before the era of Christianity; and as they were built for some particular purpose, possibly a religious one, the districts around them certainly became remarkable places, and well known; for which, and perhaps, other good reasons, the founders of churches were induced to build in their vicinity; and it may have been the cause, that these towers were then appropriated by them to religious purposes: but all conjectures on this head only tend to confirm their uncertainty, and place their date before the period of the introduction of Christianity into this island. The deanery is at present the only part of the chapter which exists, as the see was united to Meath: to this deanery the prebend of Cloghan was united, and he hath a seal of office, which perhaps, was the ancient episcopal seal of the see. A topographical account of Clonmacnoise is to be seen in the introduction, as copied from Sir James Ware's Antiquities of Ireland; the plates annexed to Ware's Antiquities give a very clear view of this venerable place." [mentioned below and completed by the artist J. Blaymires].

T.J. Westropp
What is obvious from the Coote survey is how little was known about Clonmacnois at the time and indeed what was thought of antiquarians at the time, concerning round towers and so forth. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that this ancient site came to be fully appreciated. Thomas Johnson Westropp in an article published in the RSAI Journal in September 1907 recounts some of the earlier descriptions of Clonmacnois as follows:

"Copies remain of the medieval "Register" of Clonmacnois. Dr. Ussher, then Bishop of Meath, reported in 1622 that it had been "conveyed away of ye practice of a lewd fellow." It is attributed to Bishop Moriertagh O' Muridhe in 1320, recte 1213, but alludes to events in 1400, and is evidently interpolated, at least in the extant copies. It collects from a Life of St. Kieran the rights of various churches and officers of Clonmacnois to churches and dues in various parts of Ireland. We have only space here to state that among the places are alluded to are Temple Hurpain or the church of Torpain, the Toghars or causeways, Tempoll Fynyn or MacCarthy's church, the Nunnery, and Tempull na Gamnythe. The information about the buildings is slight, and it regards O'Rorke's "castle-like" round tower as a monument.

In 1684, Anthony Dopping, Bishop of Meath, visited the site mainly in search of the non-existent "Hebrew inscriptions" named in the Register. He mentions the churches as:-
1. The Cathedral or Temple Mac Dermot, so called because Toomultagh Mac Dermot built it in 1336. 2. Temple Rei, built by Mulloghlan. 3. Temple Keren chapel, which still retained its roof. St. Kieran's hand was usually kept there, but was hidden on his approach. 4. Temple Conor. 5. Temple O'Kelly. 6. Temple Mac Carthy. 7. Temple Fynane. 8. Temple Hurpan or Mac Turpen, still roofed, and 9. Temple Ganny. There was also a stone cross with illegible characters, another cross south of the cathedral, and "two Danish towers." The tomb of Murtagh O'Murry, Bishop of Clone, lay to the east of the cathedral, with the epitaph "Jah an Shunaly Moretagh O'Murry, Aspug Clone Kean Mee", i.e. the sepulchre of M., Bishop of Clone, Head of Meath.

Sketches in 1738
The first published archaeological survey, with views of Clonmacnois, dates nearly 170 years before our time. It was carried out in October, 1738, at the expense of Walter Harris, by an artist, J. Blaymires, whose career is worthy of the research and grateful commemoration of modern antiquaries. He was not a very skilled or artistic draughtsman; his sense of proportion was not infallible, his perspective preternatural, and his trees somewhat like those on the Bayeux Tapestry; but he was a man of keen intelligence and observation and of much patience, who strove to show things as they were, and to understand the subject of his view in all its bearings before sketching it. Anyone who studies his views in Harris's "Ware" may find how rarely any feature of importance is omitted; slabs, corbels, peculiarities in masonry, breaks in the walls - all are there; and, perhaps, in none of his sketches was he more painstaking than in those of Clonmacnois. His very interesting and spirited letter on the subject was published in these pages, in 1870 (the R.S.A.I. Journal). He tells how he had reached Clonfert, and was engaged on its fine door. He significantly notes that the Bishop was not held in any high esteem, and perhaps the prelate did not imitate the Bishop of Meath and Clonmacnois in paying for the engraving of his cathedral, which is not illustrated by Harris. The Shannon was swollen, and the only large boat removed, so Blaymires had to cross in a little cot, swimming his horse, and incurring some danger, as a great storm arose. He was weather-bound for nearly a week, and the worked day and night on Clonmacnois, being assisted by a man who uncovered the tombstone and brought provisions from Athlone. Contradictory reports began to be spread about him, and the country folk were much excited. Some said he was the Pope's Nuncio coming to repair the churches; others, that he was the agent of the Protestant Bishop coming to pull them down; so some of his visitors blessed him, while others caused him no little apprehension. Some of the parish priests came ten or twelve miles to see for themselves, and he had to entertain them, to his great distress, for his money was running short, and no supply came from Dublin. To add to his troubles, the air was bitterly cold, and the Shannon rose over the meadows, to within thirty yards from his door. In spite of all these disadvantages, he sketched all the principal features of the ruins, made plans of the cemetery and Nuns' Church, and copied a large number of Irish tombstones - he was not "learned" enough to describe them as "Hebrew" or "Phoenician," like later and more erudite writers. One may ask are the Harris papers preserved, and, if so, are the Blaymires sketches among them? It would be very desirable to find and reproduce the unpublished drawings.

Taking the engravings, we see that the ruins at the present day have altered far less from their condition in 1738 than some have been led to believe. He names O'Rourke's Tower, Temple Hurpan or Mac Laffy's Church, Temple mac Dermot (the Cathedral), Temple Ry or Melaghlin's Church, Temple Kelly, Temple Conor, Temple Kieran, two burial-places of the Malones (attached to Temple Conor), Temple Finian or Mac Carthy's Church, the Black Cell (sacristy), Temple Doolin (then a parish church), Temple Ganny, and the four crosses. "At nobis et posteris innotescat splendida majorum pietas." Temple Kelly has utterly perished since that period, when its north wall and east gable remained. We note the uncovered roof timbers standing on Temple Kieran, and the east end of the Cathedral, which had either an unusually lofty and narrow light, or, more probably, a slit in the gable above the chancel vaulting. The sacristy was then called "the Black Cell." Temple Doolin was roofed and used as the parish church; the other churches were roofless. Of the various buildings marked on the plan, "the Malones' cemetery" was reduced to foundations; the castle was practically as it stands, only the arch of the north gate has since fallen; the nave of Temple Finghin was in its present condition, and the roof of the tower was perfect. Blaymires shows carefully the herring-bone masonry in the cap. He also draws accurately the corbelling where it joins the
tower, the double window in Temple Melachlin, and the double plinth of O'Rouke's Tower. Of the beautiful choir arch of the "Riaghalta Colliaugh," or Nuns' Church, only the inner order was then entire, standing as if by a miracle, for the block next the keystone had slipped down and hung by one corner alone. The whole was in a frightful state of decay, and the west door possibly, even then, had been overthrown, from the artist's apparent omission of so notable and beautiful a feature.

In August 1779, some excellent plans were made by Bigari, and at the same time Gabriel Beranger notes in his diary that one of the churches was constituted a parish church and locked up, and another, as appeared from an inscription, was built in 1689. The next most important events for archaeologists were Dr. Petrie's visits in 1821 and 1822. His notes and views of the remains, including 140 of the tombstones, are the basis of much of the published material on this most interesting site.

Henry O'Neill, in his beautiful volume on the sculptured crosses of Ireland, included the Cros na screaptra and its companion. Unfortunately the details of his drawings prove very fanciful. He evidently did not appreciate "the crude accuracy of the photograph," which some still think a ruinous charge against antiquarian drawings. He honestly says that he did not confine his pencil to sketching the actual interlacings: "with respect to the figure subjects," he says, "I have not represented a line which is not in the originals." This needs great qualification - for example, he substitutes interlacings for the face of Christ in the tomb, and takes a free line in drawing the bases. He adds: "A thorough acquaintance with ancient Irish ornament as it exists on stone, metal, and manuscripts has enabled me to unravel a complex design which, from being injured, would to a tyro be inextricable confusion.... This has only been done where ... I was fully confident of being right." So his five splendid lithographs are no certain guides to students.

The work of accurate archaeology was furthered in 1869 by the visit of the Rev. James Graves and W. M. Hennessy, who secured sketches of other inscriptions, and edited those of Petrie: this laid the foundation of the annual volume of our Society for 1870, edited by Miss Stokes. The latter, was unfortunately, not spared to publish such work on Clonmacnois as she had done on Durrow and other high crosses. She edited Lord Dunraven's somewhat scanty notes on the ruins.

Lastly may be noted much good material in the work of Richard Rolt Brash, 1874. The latter has the credit of first elucidating the problems suggested by the east end of the cathedral, and the tower of Temple Finghin".

Westropp's survey of early work on Clonmacnois is of interest. The Blaymires sketch of 1738 was commissioned for Walter Harris's edition of Ware's Antiquities published in Dublin in 1739. I recently had a look at a copy of it once owned by Lord Dacre. The Clonmacnois illustration is certainly worthy of reprinting. Among the subscribers to that early work were several Offaly residents including Francis Magawly of Kilcormac, Guy Atkinson of Cangort, Daniel Jackson of Tullamore and Anthony Dopping, Dean of Clonmacnois, Colley Lyons and Lawrence Parsons. Mary Turbridy in her article on The Decline of the Monastery and the Emergence of the National Monument, in The Heritage of Clonmacnois, mentions that the antiquarian Edward Lhuyd, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, visited the site in 1709. Apparently he later sent a drawing of a grave slab to his friend, William Molyneux, Provost of Trinity and a man who had travelled at least as far as Moate, (see his journals), but did not reach Clonmacnois. The Lhuyd drawing is reproduced in The Heritage of Clonmacnois.


Visitors and Views of Clonmacnois
Notwithstanding the work of the eighteenth century engravers such as Blaymires for Harris' edition of Ware's Antiquities, it was not until the early nineteenth century that Clonmacnois became better known to the public. As with Blaymires, an account of a visit by Gabriel Beranger in 1779 survives. Beranger was born in Rotterdam and was of French Huguenot origin. An artist by profession, he was accompanied on a tour of Connacht in 1779 by an Italian architect, Angelo Maria Bigari. An account of this visit remains in the memoir of Beranger prepared for publication by Sir William Wilde and published as a monograph in 1880. Beranger proceeded to Clonmacnois on August 12th 1779 having hired a boat:

Gabriel Beranger
"Set out at 5 in the morning, in a long narrow boat, with Mr. Bigari and our interpreter; this vessel was so narrow that the seats held but one person, so that we were sitting one behind another, with order of the conductor not to lean to right or left, or that if we did we should be overset and drowned, which not choosing, we kept in an erect posture, having got only leave to move our head to admire the Shannon and its pleasing banks. Tedious as this posture was, we continued strictly to observe it; but being tired of it, we landed on an island, spread the cloth upon the grass, and eat a cold fowl, which we washed down with wine and water; went in our vehicle with great care, and arrived at Clonmacnoise, ten miles from Athlone, which voyage took up three hours, though the vessel (by its structure) went fast, one man making it go by two oars or paddles; staid here the whole day, working and finishing everything, very hungry, and nothing to eat, there being nothing to be found in the few miserable cabins but sour ale, and smoked whiskey. Clonmacnoise, or the Seven Churches, is described by Sir James Ware, in his Antiquities; it is situated on an uneven rising ground on the banks of the Shannon, in the King's County, ten miles of Athlone, where the river is rather narrow. We left this place rather late, and returned to Athlone by moonlight."

In a further letter which was published in the Old Athlone Society Journal (Volume 1), Beranger wrote, probably to Col. Vallancey as follows:-

"We have been at Clonmacnois full of hopes of finding great antiquities, but were mistaken and found nothing equal to our expectations except the two round Towers...." He continued in that strain but noted the Charles Coghlan inscription of 1647 in the cathedral "in Roman characters on a large flag inlaid in the wall with a molding". Failing to get accommodation which apparently they hoped to get at Mr. Moony's of the Doon the visitors spent the night in Athlone and returned next day to Clonmacnois "by water to save our horse, taking our dinner with us, and arrived there in three hours; we took various views and plans. I enquired for the Anchorites but the people thereabouts did not hear of them". Referring to the high crosses Beranger wrote that "they are much wore, children throwing stones at them and the figures blunted." The children came from the hedge-school then in operation in the ruins. Beranger mentioned a building apparently Temple Connor which was "roofed and mended serving for a parish church".

None of the Beranger or Bigari drawings of Clonmacnois survive as far as I can establish to date. The Elmes-Hewson catalogue has nothing to offer in this regard. In Peter Harbison's recently published Beranger's Views of Ireland, he notes that stone churches and early Irish high crosses largely failed to attract Beranger's attention and this was to continue to be the situation until Petrie's time in the 1820's. However, in saying that, one should not overlook Edward Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland, (Dublin 1790 and new edition 1803), where there is a superb "Stone Cross of Clonmacnois" and "North door of Temple McDermott" done by J. Ford.

Francis Grose
The best of the older style antiquarian views of Clonmacnois can be seen in Daniel Grose (1766 - 1838) The Antiquities of Ireland, a supplement to Francis Grose. This book was published by the Irish Architectural Archive in 1991 and is by way of a supplement to Francis Grose The Antiquities of Ireland (1792, 2 vols). It consists of a book of water-colours of Irish antiquarian remains and contains two views of Offaly interest, that of the McCoghlan castle at Cloghan (now demolished and not to be confused with that near Banagher) and Clonmacnois. The Clonmacnois view is not in fact by Daniel Grose as the artist was Reverend Charles Moore. The editor of this supplementary volume comments that Moore's composition was weak and unreliable in detail. It was prepared sometime between 1815 and 1825. Stalley, the editor of this supplementary volume, says that it was thirty years too late and that it was out of step with the new techniques of topographical artists such as George Petrie (1790 - 1866) which are painstaking and accurate in detail.

The Petrie drawings are the best known of Clonmacnois today. It was he who provided the illustrations for Thomas Cromwell's Excursions through Ireland (1820) and Brewer's Beauties of Ireland of 1826. The Cromwell Excursions include views of Garry Castle (near Banagher), Clonony Castle, Banagher bridge, the castle at Clonmacnois and McCarthy's church and tower at Clonmacnois. His drawing for Brewer in 1826 is outstanding and a beautiful representation and superior to the romantic colour view of Pilgrims of Clonmacnois reproduced in The Heritage of Clonmacnois (1987) of which more in a later article.

Petrie's first impressions of Clonmacnois
Of his first impressions on visiting Clonmacnois, about 1820, Petrie writes:-

"It was not without a considerable feeling of romance that we approached this, the most interesting spot that our island affords; nor without some emotion of awe that we entered its lonely and sacred precincts. Once the chief seat of piety and learning of the Insula Sanctorum, now a place hardly known to the inhabitants of Ireland, yet for ages held the most sacred and venerated; the Iona of Ireland, which her princes embellished, and containing the tombs of her noblest in blood. Journeying thither, we indulged our fancy in such pleasing anticipations as that we should find, among the ruins of those ancient temples, sufficient evidence that Ireland was not ignorant of architectural art, as practised in Europe during the early ages of Christianity; and that among the tombs we should discover inscriptions which would show her ancient history was not, as is generally believed, a fable. Those pleasing hopes were more than realized."

Sketching Birr Castle
The following letter to his newly married wife has an interest in showing that while employed in working for the public taste as a professional artist, he was not unmindful of those higher objects to which he had at so early a period directed his attention. The letter is reproduced from William Stokes, The Life and Labours in Art and Archaeology of George Petrie, (London 1868), p. 27.

Birr, August 1st 1820
I have been for two days at Clonmacnoise, a wild spot on the banks of the Shannon, where there are the remains of ten or eleven churches and two round towers. I have got some delightful subjects, and have been so singularly fortunate as to meet with several Irish monumental inscriptions of the sixth and seventh centuries, which will go father towards establishing the truth of our ancient records, than all the writings of the learned for the last two hundred years. The event has, in truth, put my mind into a greater state of fermentation than I can recollect to have experienced for several years. Today I have been till now (four o'clock), sketching a nobleman's seat here (Lord Rosse's) which, though very fine, cost me a great deal too much time; but, in fact, it has been the same with all the subjects of that character which I have hitherto done; less than four or five hours will not suffice for one sketch. The weather continues broken and windy. I should not have been able to sketch today but for the leeward side of a haycock, which I had the good fortune to meet with. Notwithstanding the very bad weather we have had, I have made a considerable number of sketches for the time."
Geo. Petrie.
This sketch can be seen in Brewer's Beauties of Ireland (2 vols. 1826).

Petrie at Clonmacnois
Alongside John O'Donovan and Eugene O'Curry the name of George Petrie will forever be remembered as one of Ireland's greatest scholars of the first half of the nineteenth century. It was a time when tremendous work was done by for Irish archaeology and history. Petrie was a major figure in the historical research section of the Ordnance Survey. Jeanne Sheehy in her The Rediscovery of Ireland's Past 1830 - 1930 states that he was the founder of systematic and scientific archaeology in Ireland. Herity and Eogan in their Ireland in Prehistory were not so generous to him. Petrie's famous essay on the Round Towers was published in 1845.

Petrie began his career as a painter and was the only child of James Petrie, a miniature painter. It was as a result of his visit to Clonmacnois that his interest extended from art to antiquities. It is said that while at Clonmacnois in 1820 he made over 300 drawings of the monuments there. In fact it may have been 1822 while on a later extended visit. Many of these drawings were reproduced in Margaret Stokes (ed.) Christian Inscriptions in the Irish Language (Dublin 1872).In Stokes' memoir is published an account of Clonmacnois written by Petrie possibly in 1820 or shortly afterwards and as follows:

First Visit
The road from Shannon Harbour to Cluain M'Noise presents no interesting feature. Extensive views of flat moory ground partake indeed of the character of desolation that surrounds and harmonizes with the solitary ruins we were journeying to, but not sufficiently so to affect the mind, and we look in vain for the Irish Ganges, the mighty Shannon, which is shut out from view by a range of calcareous hills along the eastern shore, to relieve the mind from the oppression of the surrounding dreariness.

At about a mile from Clonmacnoise we ascended these hills and saw the ivied round towers on an eminence below us, but the Shannon was still concealed, and neither the towers nor the scenery assumed a striking character till, on descending through these hills, we found ourselves suddenly among the ruins on the bank of the great river. Here, indeed, we looked at each other with expressions of excited astonishment, and involuntarily exclaimed, "This is worth having travelled for."

Let the reader picture to himself a gentle eminence on the margin of a noble river, on which, amongst majestic stone crosses and a multitude of ancient grave-stones, are placed two lofty round towers and the ruins of seven or eight churches, presenting almost every variety of ancient Christian architecture. A few lofty ash trees, that seem of equal antiquity and sanctity, wave there nearly leafless branches among the silent ruins above the dead. To the right an elevated causeway carries the eye along the river to the ruins of an ancient nunnery, and on the left still remain the ruins of an old castle, once the palace of the bishops, not standing, but rather tumbled about in huge masses on the summit of a lofty mound or rath, surrounded by a ditch or fosse, which once received the waters from the mighty stream, now no longer necessary. The background is everywhere in perfect harmony with the nearer objects of this picture; the chain of bare hills on either side, now sere and wild, but once rich with woodland beauty, shut out the inhabited country we so lately left, and the eye and mind are free to wander with the majestic river in all its graceful windings in an unhabited and uninhabitable desert, till it is lost in the obscurity of distance! Loneliness and silence, save the sounds of the elements, have here an almost undisturbed reign. Sometimes, indeed, the attention is drawn by the scream of the wild-fowl, which inhabit this solitary region, or the shot of the lonely sportsman. At other times we could hear the measured time of the oar, or rather paddle, of a solitary boat, long before the little speck in the water became visible; and the melancholy song of the shepherd or the milk-girl, might sometimes be heard in the boggy flat, although the singer was too remote to be visible. To such sounds I have been glad to turn for company during the course of the day.

Readers who have no experience of the feelings excited in the mind by scenes like this, can have little idea of the deep effect they are capable of producing, and will, perhaps smile when I tell them that I have felt a degree of regret when the song of the milk-girl ceased, and the paddle of the boatman would no longer be heard, and when the little dusk figure of the fisherman was no longer found on the margin of the river, like the depression caused by parting with a friend whom we do not expect to meet for a long time again.

Pilgrims
This landscape, so striking and harmonious, is rendered still more affecting by the appropriate figures of groups of pilgrims that give at once increased interest and picturesqueness to the scene.
This is but an outline of Clonmacnoise, such as may be intelligible to general readers. The deep interest which this astonishing place afforded in detail, can only be appreciated by the enthusiastic painter or accomplished antiquary. The former will understand the kind of delight with which I was inspired by those groups of pilgrims, clothed in draperies of the most picturesque form, and the most splendid and varied colours. The aged sinner supported by his pilgrim's staff, barefooted and bareheaded, his large gray coat, the substitute for the forbidden cloak or mantel, sweeping the road, his white hair floating on the disregarded wind! The younger man, similarly attired, whose face betrays the deepest guilt, hurrying along with energetic strides. The females of all ages, to whom uninquiring faith and enthusiastic devotion seem natural and characteristic; but, above, all, the young and beautiful girl, with pale face, blue eyes, long black eye-lashes, and dark hair, whose look betrays no conscious guilt, in the midst of her sighing prayers, but rather a feeling of love and devotion; who, notwithstanding her religious duties, is not so entirely unconscious of the power of her beauty, but that she can spare an occasional glance towards the strangers who are endeavouring to fix her figure on their paper or on their memories - a figure, as a friend well observed, that no one but Raphael could draw.

Such are the poor remains of the once celebrated Cluainmacnoise, for a considerable time the chief retreat, not alone of piety, but also of such learning as the age possessed. A place which the petty kings of three of the provinces of Ireland contributed to adorn; a spot so sacred, that all who were high in the land desired it as their last resting-place.

Petrie, an able scholar, has given us a second account of his visit and of that of pilgrims to the site. In 1828, Petrie completed his well known painting of The Last Round of the Pilgrims at Clonmacnois. Some ten years later this work was redone on a large scale for the Royal Irish Art Union for 100 guineas. The picture, now in Fota House Cork, is a romantic treatment of pilgrims visiting the site and Petrie explains his approval of the painting in a letter reproduced in Stokes' memoir (Dublin 1868) where he states that it was his wish to produce an Irish picture "somewhat historical in its object and poetical in its sentiment - a landscape composed of several of the monuments characteristic of the past history of our country, and which will soon cease to exist..." (The story of Pilgrimage in Ireland is well covered in Peter Harbison's study (London 1991). Petrie was involved in the work of the Ordnance Survey from 1833 for three or four years. He was very much a polymath and in his late years published a volume of Irish music arising from his efforts to collect and preserve old Irish music. He died in 1866, and is buried in Mount Jerome cemetery. His account of visiting pilgrims to Clonmacnois is of interest:

It will be seen from the above outline, that the scenery of Clonmacnoise is of a character altogether lonely, sublime, and poetic. These qualities are rather enhanced than abated by the appearance of the figures usually found here, and which are so identified in character with the ruins that they may be truly said to belong to each other. These figures are of pilgrims who come hither from various and frequently the most remote parts of Ireland, to court the favour or avert the displeasure of God by a long and painful penance. Their simple costumes, of every varied colour, give animation to the landscape, while the character of their countenances presents subjects for observation of the deepest interest.

They consist chiefly of females and men of middle age, in whose physiognomies the indications of intense devotion or despairing guilt are often strongly denied. Characters of a more pleasing kind, however, are by no means uncommon. The anxious mother may be seen endeavouring to procure health for her decaying child; the blind and decrepid to obtain deliverance from their ailments; the unfortunate to obtain a cessation of their afflictions; and the aged, with their white locks floating on the wind, shortening their road to a better world by a toilsome penance in this. Their attitudes too, and the situations in which they are grouped, are often in the highest degree picturesque and striking. Sometimes kneeling or prostrated round a grassy hollow - the ruins of some holy shrine; at other times creeping on their bare knees to some place of still higher sanctity; now arranged in silent prayer round the rude bur gorgeously sculptured stone cross, which they afterwards kiss with the utmost fervency of devotion; and now, hurrying rapidly along to some more distant object of worship. In all their movements there is an abstracted intensity of feeling that carries the mind back to remote times, and a rapturous expression of devotion and holy love may occasionally be observed, which a philosophic observer might, perhaps, envy or wish to participate in. The casualties of season or weather are wholly disregarded, and the observations of strangers unnoticed. Figures of a higher rank and less picturesque costume seldom appear here, and such indeed I have seen but once. They were a lady and her two daughters, habited in elegant mourning dresses, who entering the graveyard with hurried step, advanced to a tomb of recent erection, round which they knelt in silent prayer for an hour or two, while the tears which flowed continually down their cheeks showed the intensity of the sorrow which brought them hither. After they had retired, I had the curiosity to examine to whom the monument had been raised. He was a gentleman of the name of Coghlan, a descendant of the ancient princes of the country.

Death Crys or Ulligaun
Such are the figures usually to be seen, among the ruins of Clonmacnoise. Few days, however, pass over, in which it does not, for a while, present a scene of wild commotion, when the silent solitude is disturbed by the ulligaun or death-cry, raised as some peasant of the country is borne to the grave of his ancestors. On those occasions the sorrowing kindred of those interred here, give full vent to their excited feelings of grief and affection at sight of their graves, throwing themselves on the grassy hillocks, which they kiss and press with melancholy ardour, now praying fervently, and now making the most distressing lamentations. These noisy, temporary visitors are not less in character with the place than the silent pilgrims who usually haunt this desolate ruin. Both alike come for those purposes that brought others here for more than a thousand years, with the same customs and ceremonies, the same lamentations and death-cry, and the same peculiar and intense feelings. Then, indeed, when the ulligaun was raised, it was for some person of the highest rank or glory, and among the pilgrims might be seen the richly-adorned figures of princes leaving their caps and sandals at the church door, and, with staff in hand, performing the routine of penances now only the duty of the peasant.

But Clonmacnoise herself was then proud and splendid, the bells of her lofty towers were heard with joy by the distant traveller, and her temples, shaded by the solemn gloom of the sacred grove, resounded to the eternal praises of the living God. The figures seen here on those found now, which, like the falling temples they wander amongst, and the dead and dying trees that shade them, all equally belong to other times and other feelings.

Pilgrimage in Decline
The number of pilgrims who came annually to perform at Clonmacnoise was, even to a recent period, very great; but their number is daily declining - so much so indeed, that on a recent visit here we have passed a whole day without seeing one. What can be conceived more solitary than Clonmacnoise at such times! It is in scenes like these that the social habits of man's former greatness strikes the imagination with a greater sense of loneliness than the most dreary mountain solitude.

The appearance of a canoe on the silent stream, or a fisherman - a little speck on the river's bank - or a fowler pushing his boat through the long rushes in pursuit of the wild birds that make such solitudes their homes, these have been marked by us at Clonmacnoise with pleasing interest; and the loud sounds of the boatmans paddles, the disappearance of the fisherman, or the discontinuance of the sportsman's shots, have excited a feeling of regret that we should have hardly supposed but for such experiences.

To the student of Irish history there is not a less more striking or more sad than may be drawn from the state of desecration of our ancient churches and places of sepulture. Without and within the abbey walls, neglect and confusion are everywhere apparent. The church is often a shelter for cattle, while noisome weeds grow through the confused mass of broken tombstones. From a natural clinging to the sanctity of the place, the poor peasant seeks to inter the remains of those he loved within the walls of the old church, ruined though they may be. Old graves are thus violated, and heaps of skulls and whitened bones fill the corners of the building. This is no exaggerated picture, as they will find who visit many of the ruined abbeys of Ireland, of which the remains still exist to tell the story of centuries of violence, confiscation, and decay.

On this feature of the country, Petrie, alluding in his journal to the condition of the ruins of Clonmacnoise, thus wrote over 150 years ago:-

Graveyard in disrepair
The graveyard has ever been held sacred to pensive meditation and to moral thought. It is there that the tears of the child, which the cares and the pleasures of life have dried up, burst forth as fresh for the parent whose beloved voice can never in this world be heard again. Thither the good repair, to offer their tribute at the shrine of departed excellence, and the lover of liberty and truth, to give honour to the noble and virtuous. In such a place none but the best feelings of our nature are called forth; and he must be base indeed who can depart from the solemn abode of death without being excited to useful thought, and feeling a wish that he had been, or might yet be, a better man. Hence the pious care that the tomb has ever received among civilized communities; and there cannot be a more striking proof given of the want of proud and honourable feeling, or the excess of national debasement, than in this reckless indifference to the sacred monuments of the dead.

Petrie's cry was echoed many times since the 1820's in connection with Clonmacnois. It was not until 1955 that the cemetery was taken in charge by the Office of Public Works. In 1993 a new interpretative centre was opened to preserve and display the highlights of the artistic remains at Clonmacnois.