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Four miles north of Tullamore on the N52, beyond some handsome wrought-iron gates to the left of the road, lies the site of Durrow Abbey (daily 9am-1pm; free), one of the monasteries founded by the energetic St Columcille (better known as St Columba), and the place where the Book of Durrow - an illuminated late seventh-century copy of the Gospels, now exhibited in Trinity College Library, Dublin - was made. A long avenue leads you to a typically Irish juxtaposition: a grand Georgian mansion next to a medieval church, which stand on the site of the monastery. A notice at the main gates gives directions to the high cross and tombstones, and ahead of you are the well-tended grounds of the house. Within the disused churchyard is a rather eerie atmosphere: the masonry is strangled with ivy and gravestones lean crazily on uneven ground as if the earth has opened and disgorged their contents
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