Clonenagh medieval church site and graveyard lies directly on and divided by the N7 between Mountrath and Portlaoise. Two paintings of Clonenagh, on left, pastels, right watercolours.

Monastic Laois As a local historical writer I have studied the monastic traditions throughout the midland counties of North Tipperary and Laois with some enthusiasm. Recording these sites by way of documentation, photographing and mapping, some are just a few stones upon stone, while others still captivate the eye with recognizable remains. There is a richness in the old Celtic monasticism that drew its inspiration from notable Irish saints and scholars who left their mark on society and the history of the area, and left their roots deeply engraved in the many isolated places of central Ireland. A unique sacred atmosphere lingers at many of these places. The renowned monastic site of Cloneneagh, although far from isolation is located on both sides of the busy N7 between Mountrath and Portlaoise. Here close to the Slighe Dala, an ancient highway that ran to Munster, St. Fintan mac Echdach founded his monastery on the site of his spiritual master, St Colum mac Cremthannain, founder of Terryglass monastery on the shores of Lough Derg, Co. Tipperary. Following the publication of the ‘The Monastic Heritage & Folklore of Co. Laois’ in 2003, which documents most of the monastic sites in Co Laois, which is now out of print, but a CD of that survey is available in acrobat reader format. This book is available on CD at a cost of 10 Euro including ordinary postage to anywhere in the world.

Parish Churches of North Tipperary The 'Monastic Heritage of Laois' was followed up by a joint authorship of ‘The Parish Churches of North Tipperary’, which commemorated a two hundred year Heritage. In this book published during 2007, we tell of the evolution of modern day churches and all its recorded history throughout the North Tipperary jurisdiction. The study covers all religious denominations throughout, administration, barony-by-barony, modern church parishes and corresponding medieval parishes. This book is now also available on CD format at a cost of 15 Euro including ordinary postage. Illustrations of most church sites from Co. Tipperary and monastic sites from Co. Laois are available as prints, commission service for those and new sites are available on request.

Other books included 'Ré Orga na Mainistreacha', This was a children's book written in Irish & Published by Foras na Gaeilge in 2004