Clonmacnoise Ruins

The Clonmacnoise Ruins sits on a low ridge above the River Shannon. St Ciarán originally founded the monastery here in 544. Inside the walled enclosure there's a cathedral, several churches, two round towers, three high crosses and hundreds of Early Christian graveslabs. The grounds have endless compositions to experiment as you explore. The Cross of the Scriptures lines up in front of the cathedral perfectly. O'Rourke's Tower stands alone with its top gone, so you can shoot straight up through the inside of it. Down at the river edge, a smaller tower sits attached to Temple Finghin and still carries its conical cap. The River Shannon runs along the west side, so the sun sets over the water and the last light bit of light slowly spreads across the stonework. Early or late in the day not only has the best light but it the coaches full of tourists often come in the middle of the day. There's an admission charge for the enclosure. One thing to keep in mind as you are shooting, the crosses among the ruins are replicas, sitting in all the original positions but the real ones have been moved indoors to persevere them. When you're done shooting these ruins the Nuns' Church is a a short walk to the east along the road, and is usually empty with its carved Romanesque doorway. (Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Ireland)