Qualla: Clonmacnoise https://qualla.com/clonmacnoise en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:19 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/6/r/clonmacnoise-wk/hero-small.webp Qualla: Clonmacnoise https://qualla.com/clonmacnoise Clonmacnoise: Introduction https://qualla.com/clonmacnoise/ Photo credit XeresNelro, CC BY-SA 4.0. There is almost nothing here. That is the point. Clonmacnoise sits in the boggy midlands of County Offaly with no pub, no hotel, and barely a mobile signal. Tour buses arrive, disgorge their passengers, and whisk them away again. What they leave behind is silence, a scatter of stone churches with grass growing between the walls, and the deep conviction that this emptiness is what makes the place extraordinary. Fifteen hundred years ago, this was one of the most important crossroads in Ireland. Today it is a place where you can hear the wind and imagine the rest.

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Image: XeresNelro | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/6/r/clonmacnoise-wk/gc6r-clonmacnoise-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Clonmacnoise: Where the Roads Cross the River https://qualla.com/clonmacnoise/ Photo credit Ingo Mehling, CC BY-SA 3.0. Geography made Clonmacnoise. The River Shannon, Ireland's longest waterway, provided a north-south highway. Running east-west across the bogland was the Esker Riada, a chain of low sandy ridges left behind by retreating glaciers -- one of the few dry routes through the wet center...

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Image: Ingo Mehling | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/6/r/clonmacnoise-wk/gc6r-clonmacnoise-where-the-roads-cross-the-river.mp3 0:06 2 full Clonmacnoise: Walking the Circuit https://qualla.com/clonmacnoise/ Photo credit Joseph Mischyshyn, CC BY-SA 2.0. Start at the visitor center, where the original high crosses are preserved indoors. The replicas outside mark the positions where the originals stood for centuries. The Cross of the Scriptures, a 4-meter masterpiece from around 900 AD, depicts the arrest of Jesus, the Crucifixion...

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Image: Joseph Mischyshyn | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/6/r/clonmacnoise-wk/gc6r-clonmacnoise-walking-the-circuit.mp3 0:06 3 full Clonmacnoise: Nine Churches and Their Secrets https://qualla.com/clonmacnoise/ Photo credit Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0. The cathedral, built from 909 AD by King Flann and Abbot Colman, contains the graves of the last High Kings of Ireland: Turlough O'Connor, buried near the altar in 1156, and his son Rory in 1198. Its Gothic north doorway, known as the Whispering Arch, dates to the mid-15th centur...

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Image: Andreas F. Borchert | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/6/r/clonmacnoise-wk/gc6r-clonmacnoise-nine-churches-and-their-secrets.mp3 0:06 4 full Clonmacnoise: The Practical Pilgrim https://qualla.com/clonmacnoise/ Photo credit MissvainOriginal author: Ingo Mehling, CC BY-SA 3.0. Getting to Clonmacnoise without a car requires planning. The 850 Local Link bus runs from Athlone to Roscrea with six daily services. Shannonbridge, 7 km southeast, offers a few B&Bs and a marina for those arriving by boat on the navigable Shannon. The visitor center has a small ...

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Image: MissvainOriginal author: Ingo Mehling | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/6/r/clonmacnoise-wk/gc6r-clonmacnoise-the-practical-pilgrim.mp3 0:06 5 full