| Category: | Historical |
|---|---|
| Address: | South of Athlone |
Clonmacnoise was founded in 545 by Saint Ciaran in the territory of Ui Maine at the point where the major east-west land route through the bogs of central Ireland along the Eiscir Riada, an esker or moraine left by the receding glaciers of the last ice age crossed the River Shannon. It was visited by the Pope in 1979.