illaloe/Ballina is a situated on the banks of the River Shannon, about one kilometre below Lough Derg in a valley hemmed in by the Slieve Bernagh mountains of Clare and the Arra hills of Tipperary. It is the centre of a beautiful and historic district - a land of legend and story, endowed by nature with a beauty unsurpassed along the Shannon basin. Man first settled in the area over 6,000 years ago and the megalithic tombs are a link with that prehistoric era. The many ring forts date from Celtic times; while the oratories, churches and cathedral are monuments of the early Christian and medieval periods.

Two saints, Lua (or Molua) and Flannan, are honoured locally. The former, after whom the town of Killaloe is called - Cill Dalua - 'The Church of Lua', had his monastic establishment on an island in the Shannon. St Flannan, whose death is recorded at 778, was the son of the local chieftain. For centuries his shrine was venerated in Killaloe. The 7th and 8th centuries, the centuries of Lua and Flannan, saw the flowering of Irish christianity. It was the Age of Saints and Scholars - the Golden Age of early Christian Ireland which ended with the coming of the Vikings.

But Killaloe is best remembered as the home of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland 1002-1014, and the progenitor of one of Ireland's great families, the O'Briens. Here he was born and reared, and here stood his palace of Kincora. Following the lead given by his immediate ancestors, Brian continued to harass the Vikings of Limerick. After a series of spectacular victories in Munster and Leinster he deposed his rival, Malachy, and assumed the High Kingship. From Killaloe the course of Irish history was now changed, and Brian's victory at Clontarf in 1014 ended the Viking supremacy. Brian himself died in his hour of triumph. His burial in the Primatial city of Armagh, instead of his native Killaloe, was the church's tribute to Ireland's greatest High King.

Killaloe is unique in having two little oratories, built about three centuries apart. The gradual development of the art of arched roofing can be traced through a study of these. In the 12th century Killaloe emerged as the ecclesiastical centre of the newly formed diocese of the same name. During this period the oratory of St Flannan and the cathedral were built.

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