The 31st Wonder of the World

The ’31st Wonder of the World’ is to be found on Monaincha, Tipperary.  The 12th century Norman historian Gerald of Wales explained it was an island where no one died of natural causes.

Its original name was Inis na mBeo , the Island of the Living.

Until the end of the 18^th century it had been a lake island, in Lough Cre, but today you can drive there along a narrow track. Drainage emptied the lake and much of the bog in the 18^th century but when you get close  Monaincha is still seems a tiny island, a mound with tall trees and stone ruins above the scrubby landscape.  

Its remoteness and compact size attracted early pioneering monks like Candice of Aghaboe and Kilkenny and Cronan of Roscrea. Their active life called for regular ‘times out’ in isolated settings to restore their batteries.    

Two centuries later this image of a remote hermitage appealed to Elair ‘anchorite and scribe’.  He was a follower of the Ceile De (‘Tribe of God’, also known as ‘Culdees’ in Britain) who felt current church practices had fallen behind the ideals of the pioneers. The Ceile De were typically described as ‘anchorites’ (living alone if possible) and ‘scribes’ (recording and studying the example of the pioneers).      

Soon news spread of the holy men of Monaincha who lived an austere life and the island became a place of pilgrimage with all the privileges granted to Santiago de Compostela. Visitors came from afar. It was probably then that it got the name ‘Inis na mBeo’, Island of the Living.

According to local lore, ‘It was called the Island of the Living because it was said that no one could die who went there. This is not to say that their bodies could not die – it meant that their souls could not die.’

Today Monaincha is deserted but still feels special.  Its stone oval enclosure recalls its monastic origins. Imposing oak trees shade the well-preserved remains of a 12^th century church.

What I found unique in the church was a dark low side chamber, more like a vault than a room. According to a 1790 map this was the ‘Abbot’s Apartment’. If the private residence and administrative centre for the abbot was like this it was very much in the Spartan spirit of the Ceile De.

The Irish had a strange habit of burying their treasures in a bog and the ‘31^st Wonder of the World’ is not an exception.

Photos: Approaching, the ‘Abbot’s Apartment’, part of the 12h century church.