Bishop Matthew of Sourozh made a pilgrimage to Clonmacnoise Monastery, Ireland »
07-11-2025 
On November 7, 2025, as part of a visit to the diocesan district of the Republic of Ireland, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh made a pilgrimage to the site of one of Ireland's most famous and oldest monasteries, Clonmacnoise, founded around 544 by St. Kieran, Abbot of Clonmacnoise.
The monastery of St. Kieran (Ciaran, Kieran, Kyran, Ceran, Queran), one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, a disciple and protégé of the famous sixth-century Irish Christian ascetics - St. Finian of Clonard, the spiritual father of the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland," St. Enda, and St. Senan, located on the banks of the River Shannon in present-day County Offaly, south of Athlone, remains to this day as majestic ruins and remains a revered shrine and pilgrimage site for both Orthodox and Catholic Christians.
Archpriest Mikhail Nasonov, Dean of the Diocesan District, led a tour and introduced Bishop Matthew and his entourage to the key historical facts of the heyday of this largest Irish monastery - at that time a center of theology, scholarship, culture, and literature - from its founding in the mid-sixth century to its decline in the twelfth century, owing to constant Viking raids, Norman attacks, and, ultimately, its destruction in 1552 by radical Protestants.
The pilgrims performed a short prayer service at the supposed burial place of St. Kiran and visited the monastery’s archaeological museum.