Inis Cealtra

Around 520 AD, St. Colum (d. 548) founded a monastery on Inis Cealtra. It formerly belonged to the Cenél Donnghaile in the territory of the Ó Grádaigh. The second monastery, a famous school of learning, was founded by St. Caimin (d. 653), who was Bishop-Abbot of Inis Cealtra and possibly the first Bishop of Killaloe.{{Cite web|url=http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/saint_caimin.htm|title=Clare People: Saint Caimin|website=www.clarelibrary.ie}} Vikings visited the island in 836; led by Turgesius, they killed many of the monks. A further Viking attack led by Tomrair took place in 922.{{cite book |last=Meehan |first=Cary |date=2004 |title=Sacred Ireland |url= |location=Somerset |publisher=Gothic Image Publications |page=460|isbn=0 906362 43 1 |access-date=}} Marcán, brother of Brian Boru, was Bishop-Abbot of Tuamgraney and later Inis Cealtra until his death in 1003.{{Cite web |url=http://www.clarevillehouse.net/Brian%20Boru.php |title=East Clare, Scariff, Bed and Breakfast Clareville House Bed and Breakfast - Local Festival & Events in East Clare |access-date=11 October 2016 |archive-date=12 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812100105/http://www.clarevillehouse.net/Brian%20Boru.php |url-status=dead }} The religious buildings of Inis Cealtra were not occupied after the reformation.{{Cite web |url=http://www.visitclare.net/loughderg.php |title=Visit Clare Ireland: The Islands of Lough Derg |access-date=24 February 2013 |archive-date=23 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323071322/http://www.visitclare.net/loughderg.php |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://eastclareheritage.com/holy-island/ |title=Holy Island | East Clare Heritage |access-date=24 February 2013 |archive-date=27 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327030652/http://eastclareheritage.com/holy-island/ |url-status=dead }}

Until 1849, the island was part of County Clare, even though the adjoining shore of the mainland was in County Galway. In 1849, the island was transferred to Galway as part of Griffith's Valuation, which was mandated to eliminate detached portions of counties. However, in 1899, the district electoral division containing both the island and adjoining mainland was transferred from Galway to Clare under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.{{cite book |title=The Statutory Rules and Orders Revised, being the Statutory Rules and Orders (Other Than Those of a Local, Personal Or Temporary Character) in force on December 31, 1903 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMUuAAAAIAAJ | access-date=30 April 2014 | volume=2 | year=1904 | publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |chapter=County (Ireland |pages=18, 21–22)}}

There are several ruins on the island.{{Cite web|url=http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/places/holy_island1.htm|title=Clare Places - Holy Island (Inis Cealtra)|website=www.clarelibrary.ie}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.megalithicireland.com/St%20Caimin's%20Inishcealtra.html|title=St Caimin's Inishcaltra}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.irelandmidwest.com/clare/towns/Iniscealtra.htm|title=Ireland Mid-West Online - County Clare - Inis Cealtra - 'Holy Island'|website=www.irelandmidwest.com|access-date=24 February 2013|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185427/http://www.irelandmidwest.com/clare/towns/Iniscealtra.htm|url-status=dead}}

The pilgrim's path is a low curved earthwork between St. Caimin's Church and St. Michael's church.

The small Romanesque Baptism Church is enclosed by a stone wall. The doorway is an arch of three orders. The church was blown down in severe winds during 1839 and was later rebuilt as a house and as an ironworks.

St. Caimin's Church is the only roofed building, part of it dating back to the 10th century. In the 12th century, a Romanesque doorway was created in the western wall. In 1879 it was reconstructed as an arch of three orders. In 1978 that doorway was taken down. In 1981 it was rebuilt in an arch of four rather than three orders. Inside the church, there are crosses, monuments, gravestones and a sundial.

St. Mary's Church ruins are from the 13th century. Inside there are graves and an O'Brien tomb.

St. Michael's Church is the name given to the remains of a small building which appears to have been a church. Old Ordnance Survey maps mark it as "Garaidh Mhichaeil" (Michael's garden) it was most likely a cillín, a burial ground for unbaptised children.

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The Round Tower was surveyed by Dr. Liam de Paor and restoration was carried out between 1970 and 1980. The round tower's cone-cap was not found implying that the tower was never finished. This fits in with the legend that a beautiful witch distracted the stonemason.

The entrance to the Saints' Graveyard is through the 19th-century graveyard. The 11th-century markers are inscribed in Irish. The confessional, pre 11th century, whose original use is unknown is situated outside the walls of the graveyard. It was used as a confessional during the 18th and 19th centuries and was rebuilt in the renovations of 1979.

There are five known Bullaun stones on the island.

• Saint Donatus of Fiesole, teacher, poet, and Bishop of Fiesole was educated at Inis Cealtra.
• St. Caimin's Church and the round tower are attributed to Brian Boru
• The wife of Toirdelbach Ua Briain was buried here in 1076.
• The poet and Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), who lived for a while not far away in the restored Norman Castle of Thoor Ballylee, wrote about Inis Cealtra and Lough Derg in his ballad The Pilgrim
• Edna O'Brien (1930–2024), novelist, memoirist, playwright and poet, was buried here in August 2024.{{cite news |last1=O'Brien |first1=Fergal |title=Edna O'Brien a 'speaker of truth', funeral told |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0810/1464318-edna-obrien/ |access-date=10 August 2024 |publisher=RTÉ News |date=10 August 2024}}

See Annals of Inisfallen

AI922.2 Tomrair son of Elgi, a Jarl of the foreigners, on Luimnech (the Lower Shannon), and he proceeded and plundered Inis Celtra and Muicinis, and burned Cluain Moccu Nóis; and he went on Loch Rí and plundered all its islands, and he ravaged Mide.

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• [https://archive.org/stream/annalsofkingdomo00odon#page/186/mode/2up Annals of the kingdom of Ireland]
• [http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/saint_caimin.htm Clare People: Saint Caimin]
• [http://www.libraryireland.com/biography/SaintCaimin.php Saint Caimin - Irish Biography]

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{{Commons category-inline|Holy Island, County Clare}}

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Category:Church ruins in Ireland

Category:Uninhabited islands of Ireland

Category:Ruins in the Republic of Ireland

Category:Islands of County Clare

Category:Lake islands of Ireland

Category:Former churches in County Clare