Irish Forgotten Places

Irish Forgotten Places Visiting forgotten historical places in Ireland to uncover our lost heritage

It is not often that I go to a 5-Star Golf Resort like Kilkea Castle to find a 5th century Irish saint. However the nam...
02/09/2026

It is not often that I go to a 5-Star Golf Resort like Kilkea Castle to find a 5th century Irish saint.
However the name Kilkea shows the place was first occupied by St Kea (‘Cell of Kea’). The Castle part is a reminder that it was a stronghold of the Fitzgeralds who ‘ruled’ Ireland on behalf of the English Crown for over 350 years.
Like a number of ‘more Irish than the Irish’ Norman-Irish families the Fitzgeralds survived the ups-and-down of history by managing to serve two traditions, the British and the Irish.
They sided with the British Crown in major conflicts until their temporary head, young Silken Thomas, rushed into a rebellion against Henry Vlll in 1534 and lost nearly all they owned.
They eventually recovered and in the 17th century British Civil War sided with the king, Charles l. The Irish were also part of the Confederation of Kilkenny and Kilkea Castle hosted the Papal Legate Archbishop Rincuccini when he was encouraging the Irish parties to continue their struggle.
The widow of the 14th Earl of Kildare (a Fitzgerald) leased Kilkea Castle to the Jesuits in 1634 and their base was there until 1646 when the tides of war changed.
Today as you enter the castle grounds you are greeted by a statue of St Kea, carved from a tree trunk. He has not been completely forgotten.
The Fitzgeralds turned St Kea’s church there into their family burial place and their graves survive among the ruins, within chipping range of the golf course.
St Kea is more correctly known as Caoidh but it was easier to pronounce as Kea or Kay. He is also associated with Inishbeg in Wexford harbour and Donadea church (in my local Donadea Forest Park). Living around the time of St Patrick, he was one of the pioneers who moved around, setting up small outpost of Christianity across the country.
Like many of the great Irish landlords the social power of the Fitzgeralds declined in the 19th century and they had to sell their estates. Interesting, their two main centres, Maynooth and Kilkea, both retain their ‘nobility’ as 5-star golf resorts.
The Old Cemetery at Kilkea is a jumble of walls and graves, hidden by trees.
Nearby the wooden statue of a rugged St Kea continues to greet guests. Arriving golfers may wondered how he managed to have gained entrance.

Photos: St Kea, the Castle, the church and graves.

When I read how Samthann of Clonbroney responded to Maelruan, the up-coming star of Tallaght Monastery, I had to see th...
26/08/2026

When I read how Samthann of Clonbroney responded to Maelruan, the up-coming star of Tallaght Monastery, I had to see the place where she lived.
The story is recorded in the 8th century manuscript, ‘The Monastery of Tallaght’, Maelruan’s base. Here is a transliteration.
There was a monk in Munster in the time of Samthann who carried greetings from her to the ‘Sons of Life’ (Celi De followers) in the country. Once she called him to carry a message and bound him not to change the wording in any way.
‘Say to Maelruan,’ she said, ‘that I have the greatest respect for him among the “clerics of the Desert” (ie in the Desert Fathers and Mothers’ tradition) and ask him whether he accepts women as soul–friends.’
(A soul-friend or anam cara in the Celtic tradition is a religious companion who understands you completely, supports your spiritual growth and accepts you as you are.)
The monk took the message to Maelruan and when he heard Samthann’s high opinion of him he felt honoured. When asked whether he would accept Samthann’s soul-friendship, he replied, ‘Tell her I would seek counsel from her’.
The messenger told this to Samthann and she said, ‘Indeed, something will come of that youth’. But then she drew her brooch out of her mantle and stuck it into her cheek. No blood came out. Finally a drop of water came out. She put it on her nail and said, ‘As long as there is this much liquid in his body let him bestow no friendship nor confidence upon womankind.’
This reply must have given Maelruan a jolt because the story is recorded in the Book of Tallaght. He went on to become a leader of the Celi De movement keeping the spirit of the Desert Fathers & Mothers alive in Ireland.
What I found when visiting Clonbroney was disappointing. The community there had existed from St Patrick’s time. According to the 9th century ‘Tripartite Life’, at Granard St Patrick ‘blessed the veil’ of the two sisters who set up the community at Clonbroney, probably the first for women in Ireland.
Over two centuries later Samthann was a member and so highly regarded that her ‘Life’ was recorded in Latin late in the 8th century.
Today there is nothing in Clonbroney to remind us of its founders or Samthann. The only hints of their presence are in a road sign and Samthann’s name on the local national school.
I wonder if the school’s pupils know about Samthann’s message to Maelruan and what they would make of it.
Despite its history and significance this very Irish site is the most neglected I have seen in Ireland.
Photos: Clonbroney today, the Road Sign, the School.

Granard’s historical claim goes back to 236 BC. Does that make it Ireland’s oldest town? Mentioned in the ancient epic, ...
19/08/2026

Granard’s historical claim goes back to 236 BC. Does that make it Ireland’s oldest town?
Mentioned in the ancient epic, the Táin Bó Cuailgne, it is one of the places where Queen Medb and her army stopped on their way to capture the Brown Bull of Cooley. The ‘Tain Trail’ is still signposted around the town.
When St Patrick came to the territory of Tethbha (now Longford) he was given land near where Granard now stands. Patrick left Guessach, the son of Milchu, as bishop of the locality. Milchu had been Patrick’s slave-master.
According to the 9th century ‘Tripartite Life’, when Patrick returned to Ireland one of his first acts was to head north to seek a reconciliation with Milchu.
The former slave owner could not accept that a servant had anything to teach him and rather than meet killed himself by burning his house down around him.
His son Guessach and two daughters however had known Patrick from growing up together and joined him on his missionary travels. At Granard when Patrick made Guessach bishop he ‘gave the veil’ to the two sisters making them, probably, the first formal Religious Women or nuns, in Ireland.
However where Granard stands today is not the original site. A mile away on another hill is Granardkille where a church, monastery and town had developed. Edward Bruce (brother of Robert) burnt the town down in 1315 and rather than rebuild it the people moved to greater security under the great Motte of nearby Granard Hill. A town grew beside the hill fort which had been strengthened by the Normans in 1199. Today it is still one of the best examples of a motte-and-bailey in the country.
After scrambling up the sides of the impressive Motte and admiring its commanding view of the countryside, I set out to see what remained of the original town, Granardkille.
Today there is no sign. A graveyard marks where Bishop Guessach’s church stood. I looked among the well-tended graves for traces of an old building but had to settle for speculative photos.
Milchu’s two daughters moved on to Clonbroney, ten mile away. The place name means ’Meadow of Broney’ but Milchu’s daughters were said to be both named Eimer. Who was Broney? Was there an earlier female saint there? If so, the two sisters were not the first in Ireland. (Such puzzles come up during a visit. I discovered later that Broney was a name of one of the sisters. They couldn’t call both Eimer all the time!)
We know that the community of Women Religious that started there survived until 1163. In the 8th century one of its members was a nationally famous spiritual guide (Anam Cara). Her ‘Life’ was recorded in Latin shortly after her death in 739.
Her name is Samthann and I was interested in her correspondence with Maelruan of Tallaght. He was an up-and-coming member of the Celi De movement trying to preserve the spirit of the early Desert Fathers & Mothers tradition in the Irish Church. Her message to the famous Maelruan shows a rare spirit of independence and confidence.
More on her and Clonbroney next time.

Photos: Part of the Motte, site of Granardkille, remains of old church?

Two families in Stradbally living centuries apart, one famous for its historic manuscripts and the other for ‘Electric P...
12/08/2026

Two families in Stradbally living centuries apart, one famous for its historic manuscripts and the other for ‘Electric Picnic’, were brought together in an unexpected way in 1990.
From the time of his arrival in Ireland in 1564 to occupy 2000 acres of land at Stradbally seized from the O’Mores, the soldier and planter Francis Cosby was fighting for his family’s survival. He is still remembered for the Massacre of Mullaghmast in 1577 where he arranged the slaughter of 100-400 O’More leaders whom he had invited for negotiations.
In the years that followed the family prospered at Stradbally, loyal to the English Throne. They took over the old church at nearby Oughaval for their family vault. Francis’s body is not there. It lies in the Wicklow hills where he died fighting the Irish at the 1580 battle of Glenmalure.
The Cosbys continued to supply soldiers and administers for England, remaining staunchly Protestant. I saw what this meant for their Catholic tenants when I came across a Mass Rock in Oughaval Woods, just outside the Cosby demesne. It dates from Penal Times (1691-1727) when the Catholics of Stradbally had to go there secretly to celebrate their faith out of sight of their landlord.
The situation eased in 1796 when Admiral Philipps Cosby, a serving naval officer, granted a lease for a Catholic place of worship in the town.
The family remained Church of Ireland until unexpectedly in 1990 their then head, Adrian Cosby, was impressed by a family he knew and joined the Greek Orthodox Church. He built a domed Russian Orthodox-style church in the town and named it ‘St Colman of Oughaval’. Was it a coincidence?
The Cosby family vaults at Oughaval stand on the 6th century site of Colman Maca Laoighse’s monastic community. Daily life in Colman’s monastic ‘family’ faithfully followed the ‘Desert Fathers’ spiritual and scholastic tradition dominant in Ireland between 500 and 1100.
Among the famous manuscripts it produced was the ‘Book of Leinster’, now in Trinity College Dublin. It contains the oldest version of the epic Ulster Cycle tale, ‘The Cattle Raid of Cooley’.
The Orthodox Churches also faithfully follow the ‘Desert Fathers’ tradition. They differ only in cultural preferences. While the Orthodox treasure their icons, the Irish continued to use natural symbols and practices to approach the sacred. In the ‘holy space’ beside the Mass Rock in Oughaval Wood you will find a ‘sacred tree’, complete with fragments of prayer cloths.
Did Adrian Cosby see the connection between Oughaval and the Orthodox Church when he named his church ‘St Colman of Oughaval’?

St Colman of Oughaval is celebrated in the Orthodox calendar on 15 May.

Photos: The Mass Rock, the Demesne back gate, the Sacred Tree.

A rocky mound outside Stradbally attracted visitors long before ‘the ultimate rock n’ roll circus’ (‘Electric Picnic’) c...
05/08/2026

A rocky mound outside Stradbally attracted visitors long before ‘the ultimate rock n’ roll circus’ (‘Electric Picnic’) came to town.
Is the crumbling building there a fort or a church or both? Go inside and its religious function becomes obvious but you could still spend an hour wandering around trying to make sense of its layout.
The confusion is due to the local Cosby landlords who adopted the old church there for their ancestral vaults.
In 1565 Francis Cosby had been granted 2,000 acres at Stradbally for military services in Europe. The lands of Laois and Offaly had been confiscated by the English Crown to reward the military and to secure it from it hereditary owners, the O’More clan. Francis benefitted from both.
The rest of his life was spent struggling with the O’Mores. An uneasy coexistence ended in 1577 when Francis invited the O’More leaders for negotiations at Mullaghmast ring fort and massacred from 100 to 400 of them.
At the age of 70 he joined Lord Deputy Arthur Grey in an attack on O’More allies, the O’Byrnes of Wicklow. He was killed in the ensuing Battle of Glenmalure, August 1580.
The family prospered however and amassed land around Stadbally. They took over the ancient church at Oughaval for their family vaults, adding a chancel and a warren of nooks for their tombs.
Francis’ remains are not there, they lie in the hills of Glenmalure.
In more recent times the Cosbys encountered financial difficulties and leased land for the annual ‘Electric Picnic’, ‘Ireland’s largest gathering of music & arts’. It was a striking break with their history but long before the Cosbys came Stradbally had been famous for its art, whatever about music.
In the 6th century a young pilgrim-scholar, Colman mac Ua Laoighse, founded a monastic school on the site of the Oughaval ruins. He had studied on the Scottish island of Iona under the famous Columcille and on his way home had visited the school at Clonenagh run by the scholarly Fintan. Fintan was noted for living on ‘bread of woody barley and clayey water of clay’ and his community was not allowed to own even one cow.
Colman’s school, however, was to become known for scholarship. Today its Lebor na Nuachongbála, Book of Oughaval, also known as The Book of Leinster, can be seen in Trinity College Dublin. It includes the oldest version of the epic Ulster Cycle tale, Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley). Also the Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of Invasions), tracing the earliest days of Irish history.
One ‘family’ of Oughaval/Stradbally helped preserve Irish self-awareness with it invaluable manuscripts and a later ‘family’ contributes to Irish life with ‘Electric Picnic’. In 1990 the two ‘families’ came together in unlikely circumstances. More on that next time.

Is Roscrea the oldest town in Ireland? Were there even towns in Ireland before the Vikings settled in Dublin and Waterfo...
29/07/2026

Is Roscrea the oldest town in Ireland?
Were there even towns in Ireland before the Vikings settled in Dublin and Waterford?
Today Roscrea is a Heritage Town of 6,000 people centred on an impressive 13th century stone castle. Inside its walls is the elegant three-storey Georgian Damer House from the early 18th century. Among its facilities is an information office.
I went there to find out about the town’s origins. The two friendly ladies in the office apologised for the absence of their colleague more knowledgeable of that period and did their best to inform me. The town had been founded by St Cronan in 610 and his High Cross and Pillar Stone were in the nearby Black Mills. Unfortunately the Mills were closed that day but there was a copy of the cross on its original site nearby.
Gradually I put St Cronan’s story together. It helped that his ’Life’ had been written in 11th century Latin, though sometimes over-enthusiastically.
Cronan left Tipperary to study with a famous scholar at Assaroe, Galway. To quote the biography, there ‘Like a prudent bee he collected honey, that is, the sweetness of religion and piety’.
He graduated to the already-famous monastic centre of Clonmacnoise where he got a reputation as a gifted student with a habit of taking time off from books and prayer to look after travellers and the poor.
Eventually this is what led him to found Roscrea. When he returned home he first settled at remote Seanros, near the hermits’ lake island of Monaincha known as ‘The Island of the Living Saints’.
However he did not want to be completely cut off. When a group of visitors looking for him got lost in the forest he said, ‘I shall not stay here in a remote place where neither guest nor the poor can find me. I shall stay on the public road where they will be able to come and see me.’
He moved to where the ancient highway, the Slighe Dala, passed on its way from Tara to Limerick and there the town of Roscrea sprang up. He died in the year 640 but already his monastery was famous, eventually earning its own Round Tower. Its scriptorium produced the 8th-century Book of Dimma, now in Trinity College Dublin, and the medieval Annals of Roscrea.
A substantial town grew around the monastery, an important stage on the ancient Slighe Dala highway. Was it the first town in Ireland? Probably not. There were other expanding monastic towns appearing in the Irish county side at that time.
When the Vikings arrived it was these towns that they attacked for slaves and valuables. This led to building their own towns, for exporting b***y rather than servicing communities. Ireland entered a new era of progress.
Roscrea survived Viking and other attacks and deserves its ‘Heritage’ status for what it has preserved. However the image of Cronan on the centre-top of the 12th century Romanesque doorway is fading and perhaps memories of what he stood for.

Photos: Cross and Tower, Romanesque Doorway, the Attractions.

The ’31st Wonder of the World’ is to be found on Monaincha, Tipperary. The 12th century Norman historian Gerald of Wale...
22/07/2026

The ’31st Wonder of the World’ is to be found on Monaincha, Tipperary. The 12th century Norman historian Gerald of Wales explained it was an island where no one died of natural causes.
Its original name was Inis na mBeo , the Island of the Living.
Until the end of the 18th century it had been a lake island, in Lough Cre, but today you can drive there along a narrow track. Drainage emptied the lake and much of the bog in the 18th century but when you get close Monaincha is still seems a tiny island, a mound with tall trees and stone ruins above the scrubby landscape.
Its remoteness and compact size attracted early pioneering monks like Candice of Aghaboe and Kilkenny and Cronan of Roscrea. Their active life called for regular ‘times out’ in isolated settings to restore their batteries.
Two centuries later this image of a remote hermitage appealed to Elair ‘anchorite and scribe’. He was a follower of the Ceile De (‘Tribe of God’, also known as ‘Culdees’ in Britain) who felt current church practices had fallen behind the ideals of the pioneers. The Ceile De were typically described as ‘anchorites’ (living alone if possible) and ‘scribes’ (recording and studying the example of the pioneers).
Soon news spread of the holy men of Monaincha who lived an austere life and the island became a place of pilgrimage with all the privileges granted to Santiago de Compostela. Visitors came from afar. It was probably then that it got the name ‘Inis na mBeo’, Island of the Living.
According to local lore, ‘It was called the Island of the Living because it was said that no one could die who went there. This is not to say that their bodies could not die – it meant that their souls could not die.’
Today Monaincha is deserted but still feels special. Its stone oval enclosure recalls its monastic origins. Imposing oak trees shade the well-preserved remains of a 12th century church.
What I found unique in the church was a dark low side chamber, more like a vault than a room. According to a 1790 map this was the ‘Abbot’s Apartment’. If the private residence and administrative centre for the abbot was like this it was very much in the Spartan spirit of the Ceile De.
The Irish had a strange habit of burying their treasures in a bog and the ‘31st Wonder of the World’ is not an exception.
Photos: Approaching, the ‘Abbot’s Apartment’, part of the 12h century church.

Lough Gur in Co Limerick is recognised as one of the great religious sites of ancient Ireland.Its megalithic tomb is not...
15/07/2026

Lough Gur in Co Limerick is recognised as one of the great religious sites of ancient Ireland.
Its megalithic tomb is not as impressive as Newgrange but its legendary lake, ancient circles, standing stones and ring forts more than make up for that. It is a home of Aine, ancient Celtic goddess of summer, light and love, and Crom Dubh, the ancient figure associated with darkness and harvest festivals
For 6,000 years the landscape was occupied by people who accepted they did not have complete ownership. More than 1,000 archaeological sites including a Neolithic settlement, a Bronze Age Stone Circle and wedge tombs from 2500BC reveal their efforts to fit into a wider world.
Each feature is worth a visit but the one that caught my imagination, perhaps because I had not seen anything like it in Ireland before, was Grange Stone Circle.
This 4,000-year-old circular enclosure is composed of 113 continuous standing stones, up to 2.8m high, with a diameter of 45m. They are backed by an outside earthen bank from which onlooker could participate in what was happening within. The only entrance was aligned with the sunset on the festival of Samhain in early November.
Standing there today connects you with the thousands who gathered over the centuries to celebrate the change of seasons, the weakening and revival of the sun.
The focus in such circles shifted. One flat stone, Rannach Chruim Duibh (the Sharing of Crom Dubh) stands out at Grange. It weighs 40 tonnes. It marked Dark Crom’s rule there.
Today the sense of wonder still lingers and people leave ‘offerings’ on trees.
Early Christians made no effort to colonise Lough Gur. There is a Holy Well a mile and a half away named for St Patrick but it is likely he was never in the area.
Lough Gur remains unique. It is in a remote valley with no royal association. Its quiet is not disturbed by housing or main roads.
There is too much to see and experience in one day. A Visitors Centre built like a Neolithic house provides useful maps of the different locations and the signage is helpful. However to really appreciate the area I recommend ‘In Search of the Awesome Mystery’ by the late Sean O Duinn.
I am amazed how few know about Lough Gur. Go and see for yourself.
Photos: The Circle, Map, Info Centre, Offerings at Circle.

The road sign for Old Kyle Cemetery made me stop, back up and head in that direction. It was on my list of places worth ...
08/07/2026

The road sign for Old Kyle Cemetery made me stop, back up and head in that direction. It was on my list of places worth visiting but I couldn’t remember why. Arriving there was no help. It was indeed ’old’ and so neglected I couldn’t see anything of interest. There was no information board.
I climbed the style and went in as far as I could looking for a central mound, the usual give-away clue to an ancient monastic site but shrubs and ivy dominated.
I took a few photos in case I was missing something and drove down the road to where a man was cutting his front lawn. I asked whether I had been to the right place. It seems I had. It was the burial place of a famous saint as its original name, Clonfertmulloe (‘The Meadow of Mo-lua’s Grave’), indicated. There had been some ancient crosses there but they that had been moved for safekeeping.
That was enough for me to go to the internet and be surprised. Photos taken in November 2015 showed neat graves, St Mo-lua’s burial place, the saint’s ‘trough’, bullaun stones, and ancient cross slab and architectural fragments
The cross had been moved before my visit but the rest are probably still there, buried somewhere. A plaque at the entrance said the cemetery had been restored 1990- 2001 but obviously little had been done since.
Mo-lua like many of his generations of pioneers was a much traveled man. I first came across his name in the Slieve Bloom Mountains on a Holy Well.
He had studied under Comghall in Bangor, founded a centre at Drumsnatt in Monaghan and then at Killaloe (Cell of Lua), no mean city. His first settlement there was on Friars Island but he moved down the Shannon to the present town.
However town life didn’t suit him. There is a story that he left because he was being pestered by the local women who wanted to see a saint. It gave him a reputation of being very strict with women but in Ireland the stricter a saint the more popular he became.
He moved on to a quieter place – now Old Kyle Cemetery—where he died in 609. If he was looking for solitude he finally got his wish, there are few places as lonely or neglected as Clonfertmulloe today.
I was lucky with the speculative photos I took there. They include what turned out to be the ivy-covered remains of the church and the bullaun stone with is its fabled five hole – where the saint left the marks of his knees, clasped hands and a pool of his tears. However I missed his grave and other mementos.
Mo-lua got the solitude he wanted. If the neglect of the past ten years continues they might as well take down that sign to Old Kyle Cemetery.
Photos: The Cemetery, the Bullaun Stone, the remains of the church.

At Kilmalkedar in Kerry I approached two Dutch tourists thinking they might be locals who could help me understand what ...
01/07/2026

At Kilmalkedar in Kerry I approached two Dutch tourists thinking they might be locals who could help me understand what I was looking at.
I had expected something very old but the church there was Romanesque, from 1134.
They asked me, was 1134 not old enough?
I told them about nearby Reask where you can actually see how a small community of 5th or 6th century Celtic monks lived out their lives. It is simple, self-sufficient and authentic, revealing a time strange to us because we were never told about it.
Kilmalkedar probably began like Reask but changed in the Middle Ages when it became a stopping point on the pilgrim ‘Saints Way’ from Ventry harbour to St Brendan’s Mount Brandon.
The Reask-like cells disappeared and a Romanesque church replaced them. It resembles Cormac's Chapel in Cashel, built about the same time. However, reminders of an earlier past are scattered around: an ‘alphabet stone’ from 550AD, ogham from 600AD, an ancient sundial and slab crosses.
The ‘alphabet stone’ is also called an ‘abcdarium’ because a teacher once used that piece of old tombstone to write Latin letters for young Irish scholars. The script is 7t century Roman and includes the symbols k, q, x, y and z. which are not part of the Irish alphabet. I took a photo but you need to go to the internet to appreciate it.
Despite the attractions on the site, the miniature figure of a walking monk caught my eye. It must indicate the direction of the ancient ‘Saints Way’. Did it also lead to an earlier church?
At first the monk’s signs were easy to follow. They were usually at gaps or stiles where decisions had to be made. But then they disappeared. I spent an hour searching the hillside, occasionally stopping to look back at the dazzling beaches of Smerwick Harbour and Di**le Bay.
What could be more fitting? I had come there looking for Ireland’s distant past and had lost the trail on a Kerry hillside. Yet what I was seeing made the effort worthwhile.

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