Clonmacnoise ("Cluain Mhic Nóis" in Irish) is a monastery situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone, founded in 544 by St. Ciarán, a young man from Rathcroghan, County Roscommon. Until the 9th century it had close associations with the kings of Connacht. Saint Ciarán chose to found the monastery in the ancient territory of Ui Maine at a point where the major East-West land route(Slighe Mhor) meets the River Shannon after crossing the bogs of Central Ireland known as the Esker Riada. The strategic location of the monastery helped it become a major centre of religion, learning, craftsmanship, and trade by the 9th century and together with Clonard it was the most famous in Ireland, visited by scholars from all over Europe. From the ninth until the eleventh century it was allied with the kings of Meath. Many of the high kings of Tara (ardrí) and Connacht were buried here.