In the Book of Armagh and Annals of Ulster the word Clones is referenced as "Clauin Auis" and "Cluain Auiss," respectively.

[3] Folklore suggests that the monastic town was originally called "Cluin Innish" on account of it being surrounded by water.

In 1207, Hugh de Lacy destroyed the abbey and town; but five years after they were rebuilt by the English, who also erected a castle here.

The ruins of a 12th-century abbey can be found on Abbey Street, along with a sarcophagus with worn animal-head carvings reputed to have been built to house the remains of St. Tigernach, and a 9th-century truncated 22m-high round tower, which was originally about 75 ft high and had a conical cap;[5] and a well-preserved 10th-century high cross on the Diamond, decorated with drama-charged biblical stories such as Daniel in the lion's den, Abrahams sacrifice of Isaac, Adam and the tree and the serpent.

The Protestant reformation lead to the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII in the 16th century, and the monastic settlement in Clones was destroyed.

[10] The Abbey on McCurtain's street is a stone building: a limestone interior and sandstone exterior.

Located on the exterior wall opposite the window, is a single cut stone bearing the mark of a cross.

Note: From 1398 to 1435, we have an instance of the clash that frequently occurred between the papal provisor and the bishop's nominee.