Irish Life & Lore

Three kilometres east of the heritage town of Roscrea lies the ruined monastery and medieval pilgrimage centre of Monaincha. The now dry bog island, originally known as Inis Locha Cré was first recorded as the retreat of local saints: Cronán, Molua and Canice. About 800 A.D., it became a Culdee or Célí Dé centre when Hilary, anchorite and scribe, led a dissenting group of monks from the monastery of Ros Cré to the island.
In the late 12th century Geraldus, the Anglo-Norman chronicler, recorded the site as Insula Viventium, the island on which no one could die. This story travelled around continental Europe, eventually being recorded in the Book of Ballymote as Inis na mBeo, the 31st Wonder of the World, Munster's most famous place of pilgrimage.
In the late 1790s, Loch Cré was drained and the church site on the main island walled. However, even after 200 years as a dry mound, it remains locally known as the Holy Island.
George Cunningham brings the visitor from his home in Roscrea, via Birchgrove and the now defunct Roscrea Distillery, down the bog road to Monaincha. All the surviving monuments, including an exquisite 12th-century Hiberno-Romanesque church with later additions and a clothed figure of Christ on a high cross, are described in loving detail along with its wondrous tales of saints and pilgrims. In recent years the pilgrimage to the island has been revived.
In conversation with George Cunningham.

Recorded by Maurice O'Keeffe
Written and researched by George Cunningham
Length: 51:22 minutes