Offaly

The ruins of the monastery at Clonmacnoise lie in the valley of the Shannon, south of Athlone in central Ireland. Founded in the 6th century by St Ciarán, it was a centre of learning as well as theology, and the burial site of several local high kings.

County of the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, between Galway and Roscommon in the west and Kildare in the east; county town Tullamore; area 2,000 sq km/772 sq mi; population (2002) 63,700. It is low-lying, with part of the Bog of Allen to the north. It shares its highest point, Arderin (527 m/729 ft), with Co. Laois.

Features include the rivers Shannon (along the western boundary), Brosna, Clodagh, and Broughill, and the Slieve Bloom Mountains in the southeast. The chief towns are Tullamore, Birr, Banagher, and Edenderry. Peat is used to fuel power stations. Agricultural products include oats, barley, and wheat; cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry are bred. The area is noted for ecclesiastical remains, the most extensive and important of which is Clonmacnois, founded by St Ciarán in AD 548, and once the most significant theological centre and centre of learning in Ireland; many of the high kings of Connaught and Tara are buried here, and it is a site of pilgrimage.

The county on the whole is flat, the northern part being occupied by the Bog of Allen. There are rich pasture lands on the borders with Westmeath in the north, and Tipperary in the west, and also in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, which lie along the border with Laois.