from inside a ruined chapel in the ancient monastery of Clonmacnoise on the banks of the river Shannon, in the centre of Ireland.
Information about this very historic place may be found here

These lines from the poem "Pilgrimage" by Austin Clarke pay homage to the place and the people who toiled there:
Grey holdings of rain
Had grown less with the fields,
As we came to that blessed place
Where hail and honey meet.
O Clonmacnoise was crossed
With light: those cloistered scholars,
Whose knowledge of the gospel
Is cast as metal in pure voices,
Were all rejoicing daily,
And cunning hands with cold and jewels
Brought chalices to flame.