Saints' Island

Saints' Island lies on the south-eastern shore of Lough Ree, close to Newtowncashel, and a narrow causeway ties it to the mainland. Its main sight is the ruined Augustinian priory of All Saints in the north-west corner, where the chapel, with Gothic tracery in its windows, is the largest surviving part. Saint Ciarán may have founded a church here before 542, and the annals credit the priory to Sir Henry Dillon, who was granted lands in south Longford, the island included, in 1185. In the 15th century a canon here compiled the Annals of All Saints, of which a fragment covering 1397 to 1407 survives. The priory was dissolved after 1541 and was already a ruin by 1682. The church and burial ground are open to visitors on foot over the causeway, but do not climb the walls. We have no source for a landing place by boat.