Castlekeeran is a former

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

and a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Location

Castlekeeran survives as a walled graveyard, south of

Carnaross Carnaross or Carnaros () is a village in County Meath, Ireland, approximately 4 km northwest of Kells on the R147 road between Kells and Virginia, County Cavan. Etymology Carnaross is an anglicisation of the Irish language ''Carn na Ros ...

and on the south bank of the Leinster Blackwater.

History

Castlekeeran was founded by Ciarán the Pious of Bealach-duin (died 14 June

770 __NOTOC__ Year 770 ( DCCLXX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 770 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

). The monastery was raided by

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

949 Year 949 ( CMXLIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab-Byzantine War: Hamdanid forces under Sayf al-Dawla raid into the theme of Ly ...

and by Diarmait Mac Murchada in

1170 Year 1170 ( MCLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Levant * Winter – Egyptian forces led by Saladin invade Palestine and besiege Darum on th ...

, before passing through the hands of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

and in after the Dissolution of the Monasteries to the Plunket family.

Description

High crosses

Three

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

high crosses are on the site. A fourth cross is in the river. According to legend,

Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...

was stealing the cross, was caught by Ciarán and quickly dumped the cross in the river. They are called termon crosses (from the Irish ''tearmann'', "border") which marked the ''sānctissimus'', the holiest part of the monastery around the church. File:The South Cross.jpg , South Cross File:The West Cross.jpg, West Cross File:Ogham stone, Castlekeeran Church - geograph.org.uk - 232266.jpg, Ogham stone

Ogham stone

An Ogham stone present reads COVAGNI MAQI MUCOLI LUGINI, meaning "Cuana son of the people of Luigni." The Luigni were noted in Meath from the 8th century onward, and give their name to the barony of Lune.

References

{{reflist Archaeological sites in County Meath National monuments in County Meath High crosses in the Republic of Ireland