Ballina

Scenes from Ballina. Sunset on the river Shannon.

Above left, bridge view from Ballina. Above right, view of Ballina from Killaloe.

The background to the image above is a sunset scene from the Shannon river bank at Ballina overlooking Killaloe's  St. Flannans Cathedral and Oratory.

Killaloe derives its name from Cill Da Lua meaning the Church of Do-Lua. The Patron of Killaloe is St. Flannan (an 8th C) Prince of Dal gCais. The rise to power of Dal gCais and his descendants and the proximity of the monastery combined to make Killaloe one of the leading ecclesiastical centres in Munster. 

The main feature of the town is St. Flannans Cathedral built by King Donal Mor O'Brien (as in the background image above). The Church is cruciform in design and is decorated in a simple fashion. Its most noteworthy feature is the highly decorated romanesque doorway, which is rich in carvings, many of human heads and animals. Near it are the remains of a 12th C High Cross removed from Kilfenora in 1821.

St. Flannans Oratory  (inset above) which has a high-pitched roof, a barrel vaulted ceiling of stone with a croft or chamber above it, and a decorated doorway . The 11th C doorway has remarkable carvings now badly worn.

An Ogham stone (inset above) bearing inscriptions in Ogham and Runic, requesting a blessing for Thorgrim who carved it, was unearthed in the church yard and has been put into the Church to protect it. Unusual in having both scripts.