Clones & Around

Introducing Clones & Around

There must be something in the water at Clones (Cluain Eois). It’s the hometown of both the ‘Clones Colossus’, heavyweight Kevin McBride, whose defeat of Mike Tyson in 2005 was so crushing that it prompted Tyson’s immediate retirement; and the ‘Clones Cyclone’, former featherweight boxer Barry McGuigan, who won the world championship in 1985. McGuigan went on to train Daniel Day-Lewis for six months for the 1997 film The Boxer.

The year 1997 also saw Clones make cine­matic headlines with the release of Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy, which was shot on location here and featured many of the townspeople as extras. The Butcher Boy was based on Patrick McCabe’s dark novel of the same name, which is set in the town. McCabe also hails from Clones.

Clones was once the site of an important 6th-century monastery that later became an Augustinian abbey, and its main sights are ecclesiastical. There’s a well-preserved 10th-century high cross on the Diamond, decorated with drama-charged biblical stories such as Daniel in the lion’s den.

Along with the remains of the abbey founded by St Tiernach on Abbey St, there’s a truncated 22m-high round tower in the cemetery south of town, from the early 9th century. Nearby is the supposed burial place of Tiernach himself, a chunky 9th-century sarcophagus with worn animal-head carvings.

The bus stop, post office and banks are in the central diamond. There’s no tourist office but you can pick up information at the Ulster Canal Stores (52125; Cara St; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri Sep-Jun, 9am-5pm daily Jul & Aug), which also displays locally made traditional crocheted lace. Over 120 different pieces are available to buy; prices range from €8 to €125.

Aside from boxing, Clones is fanatical about Gaelic football and consistently punches above its weight in the national sport.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009