56 The Boyne Valley. 



Kieran,of Clonmacuoi-^, and St. Brendan, of Clonfert. Colu-nba, 

 after founding innumerable churches and monasteries, becamj 

 the apostle of the Northern Picts ; St. Brendan, it is beUeved, 

 preached the Gospel as far as Iceland, and St. Kieran founded 

 the famous school of Clnnmacnois in the centre of the island, 

 near Athlone. From this period and svtveral centuries latei 

 Ireland was known as the Island of Saint-. So famous was 

 the great school of Clonard, and so celebrated for its learning, 

 that pupils flocked to it from Britain, Alba, Gaul, and Germany, 

 until their numbers, it is said, reached 3,000. 'Plie village of 

 Clonard, the site of this ancient seat of learning, is the first 

 hi-toric place of importance coming down the river from its 

 source. A Round Tower formerly stood here, but it is recorded 

 in the Annals that in the year io;q the steeple of Clonard fell. 

 A great loss, not alone to Clonard, but to the entire country, 

 was the destruction by fire in i 143 of the Ubrary of the 

 monastery, in which a great number of manuscripts were con- 

 sumed. Clonard passed through many vicissitudes of fortune. 

 Dermot MacMorrough and his English allies plundered it in 

 the year 1170. When the Anglo-Normans took possession 

 they superseded the Irish monks by countrymen of their own. 

 Simon de Rochford assumed the title of Bishop o* Meath, and 

 removed the Episcopal chair from Clonard to Newton, near 

 Tiim, where he founded the great Augustinian abbey dedicated 

 to St. Peter and St. Paul, the ruins ot which form a notable 

 picture there to the present day. The great monasteries of 

 this period were so constructed that they could be used for 

 purposes of defence, and were loopholed for bowmen. The 

 Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Newton, is remarkable 

 in this respect. Ath Truim (Ford of the Alder Trees), now 

 called Trim, is the next great historical place down the river 

 from Clonard. It is one of the most interesting towns 

 in Ireland for the antiquarian, containing ruins of several 

 monasteries and castles. The view approaching by the Dublin 

 road, seen under favourable circumstances, will never be for- 

 gotten. This view includes all the ruins of Newtown and 



