Patrick Kavanagh Trail

1. Patrick Kavanagh Rural & Literary Resource Centre  Formerly St. Mary's, the building was the R.C. Parish Church until the mid '70's. Built around 1820, the roof span was considered wide in its time - many using their "fear" that the roof would fall on them as an excuse to remain outside the entrance porch at Mass. The Church and its Parish Priest were to become immortalised in Kavanagh's classic novel, "TARRY FLYNN".

 2. Norman Motte & Augustinian Monastery:
(12th Century Ruins)The Normans could not hold Inniskeen, due to the strength of the Ulster clans in the area, and were forced to turn south from Roche Castle at Forkhill extending their Pale southward through Ardee. Hence, Inniskeen lay "beyond the Pale". The Augustinians were the last religious order to establish itself in Inniskeen: the first monastery here was established in the 6th Century by local patron saint, St. Daig, at "Inis Caoin" - "The Pleasant Island".

3. Folk Museum & Round Tower:
The Round Tower dates from the 9th Century, and the site itself probably dates back to St. Daig's monastery. The disappearance of the "island" is attributed to the diverting of the river by a mill upstream in medieval times. In later years, the Church of Ireland, used the Round Tower as a belfry - until the weight of the bell caused the top portion of the tower to collapse.