some of the most impressive archaeological remains in the park are from the early christian period. the most important of these features is inisfallen abbey, the ruins of a monastic settlement on inisfallen island in lough leane. it was founded in the 7th century ce by st. finian the leper and was occupied until the 14th century. the "annals of inisfallen", a record of the early history of ireland as it was known by the monks, was written in the monastery from the 11th to 13th centuries. it is thought that the monastery gave rise to the name lough leane, which means "lake of learning".