[Irish Cluain Ioraird/Eraird, Iorard's meadow]
One of the great monasteries of early Ireland, founded by St Finnian (d. 549). Clonard became proverbial for the number of saints it fostered. The buildings were sacked many times, and most of the ruins disappeared in the early 19th century. Although Clonard is associated with the history of Leinster, its site is today in Co. Meath, 4 miles E of Kinnegad. The Iorard for whom the meadow is named may have been a pagan chief who built the still-visible moat here. Unrelated to other sites named Clonard [Cluain Art, high meadow], e.g. Co. Dublin, Co. Wexford.
