Clareen () is a village in the parish of Seir Kieran in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hon ...

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 ...

. It is located 8 km east of Birr on the R421

regional road The term regional road (or route) is used in a number of places to designate roads of more than purely ''local'' but less than ''national'' strategic importance in a country's highway network. It is used formally and officially in reference to: *R ...

. The village is situated at the foot of the

Slieve Bloom Mountains The Slieve Bloom Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Bladhma; la, Bladinae montes) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of 527 metres. While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The high ...

. It is the location of a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second l ...

church (built in 1840 in the grounds of the Monastic site), a Roman Catholic church (built in 1901 on the south-eastern slope of Bell Hill), the Seir Kieran National School (built in 1874), and the

Seir Kieran GAA Seir Kieran is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in a parish and Electoral Division of the same name (population c.460). Seir Kieran takes its name from Saint Ciarán of Saighir, who founded the parish as a ''civitas'' (a monastic cit ...

Club (founded in 1887). Clareen was the site of an early Christian monastery known as ''Seir Kieran'', in honour of its founder, Saint Ciaran of Saigir. The monastery is one of the oldest Christian settlements in Ireland dating from the 5th century. From the 5th to the 11th century the monastery was the cathedral city of the

Diocese of Ossory The Bishop of Ossory () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been ...

. The monastery declined in significance from the 11th century onwards and is now in ruins. All that remains of the early monastery are the stump of a

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

and the base of a

high cross A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...

. Still inside the boundary of the former monastery is a

ringwork A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the site. ...

. There is a holy well and "rag tree" located nearby.{{fact, date=December 2022

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Kinnitty Castle

Towns and villages in County Offaly

See also

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External links