The archaeological evidence for the architecture of churches in early medieval Ireland
By Liam Loftus
The development of early Irish Christian churches began with the arrival of Christianity in the fifth century and ended around the early stages of the Romanesque around 1100AD. For the first four centuries in the existence of early monastic settlements, almost all of the buildings were made of wood. From the very beginning these structures displayed a formal simplicity. Early wooden churches were rectangular in shape, unicameral in form, with average dimensions of 4.5m by 3m. According to
) a single roof would
have covered the entire church with ‘co t uous s ll-beam co st uct o ’ p ov ding structural integrity.1 Early Irish churches had steeply pitched roofs in order to reduce the outward thrust of the roof. The capstone of the Monasterboice high-cross [Fig. 1] is a good
Fig. 1 – The Capstone of Monasterboice High-Cross
representation of an early wooden church. Unfortunately very little physical evidence survives of early wooden churches. In many st ces “chu ches we e ebu lt
sto e w th
hu d ed ye s of the foundation, but some sites
have produced evidence of a successive of timber churches”
p.16). Some
excavations of these sites have uncovered post-hole arrangements and beam-slots which, when taken alongside documentary sources, provide a good impression of what these early structures may have looked like. Edwards (2006) believes that there is enough
ch eolo c l ev de ce “to co f m
the impression given by the documentary sources that wooden churches of different sizes, and built using a variety of construction techniques, we e commo ” p. 3). Literary evidence indicates the existence of large timber churches by the seventh century. We get some idea of how they might have looked from o tosus’ wo k The Life of St. Brigit of Kildare, in which he describes the richly decorated interior of a large wooden church, adorned with frescoes, panels and sh s lve [ s well s] l e h
s o cu t
s” H ml
es “of old
& H e 986 p.135).
Since no standing buildings survive, archaeologists must rely on documentary evidence of what materials were used in their construction. For 1
T.
(2010) documentary sources
(2010) Churches in Early Medieval Ireland: Architecture, Ritual, and Memory, p. 22.
d
d c te “ st o
t d t o of chu ches bu lt of h h-quality carpentry at important Irish est bl shme ts” p19). These wooden buildings were built of oak and thatched with reeds or yew shingles and had stout corner posts jutting out beyond the gable-wall. In the annals dairthech, wh ch me s ‘oak house’ s the most commo wo d used to efe to church buildings at this time. One of the most fundamental changes that took place in Irish
Fig. 2 – A Wooden Church at Ballintubber Abbey (with Shingles and Finial)
church architecture was the introduction of stone as the primary
building material. Although churches continued to be built of timber well into the late medieval period, many began to be replaced in stone and mortar as early as the seventh century. According to Harbison (1993), although excavations do not give us any clear idea of what wooden churches e st ll
actually looked like, many of these early stone churches preserve some of the features of ea l e woode bu ld
ex ste ce
d “would appear to
s” p.66).
Early mortared stone churches were, without exception, u c me l
fo m “with short
proportions, steeply pitched roofs covered with thatch, lead or more usually shingles, a single door at the centre of the west wall, and usually one window” p.87). Many early stone churches were aligned east-west, had plain trabeate or flat-headed doorways, with inclining jambs and a single or double lintel that spanning the thickness of the wall. For example, the church at Kilmalkedar has a “st o
b tte th t
w d slop
of
walls, doorways, and windows commonly found in early Irish church buildings” which provided the building with extra st b l ty O’Re lly, 1997, p.48).
Fig. 3 – Kilmalkedar Church (Note the Antae and Finial Stone)
The veneration of early church buildings can be seen in the preservation of wooden features in stone. Craig (1997) suggests that the vertical sto e ‘mo ol th c j mbs’ may have had their equivalents in post-and-wattle doorways.2 Windows of early stone churches were generally small and undecorated, with triangular or round heads. Although the majority of stone churches were roofed with shingling or thatch, some churches had stone roofs. The stone oof of St. M cd hu ch “seems to m t te “whe e
oof of ect
ul
woode sl tes o sh
’s
le” and goes so far that
dividual roof-stones were too large to correspond in size to the original wooden shingles,
the bottom line of the overhanging slate was carved into the surface of the stone” H b so
993
p.78). This stone roof is a very distinctive native development in Irish architecture. O’Re lly
997) st tes th t until the eleventh century
most mortared stone churches had antae that protruded from each side of the gable wall “ n imitation of the elbow-cruck structure of earlier timber buildings” (p.48). These represented wooden corner posts which would have Fig. 4 – Sto e Roof of St. M cd
’s hu ch
suppo ted ‘m ss ve wooden barge-boards’ forming the end
of the roof.3 These tapered towards the roof ridge in the form of overlapping timbers. In skeuomorphic stone churches these take the form of finial stones. Kilmalkedar for example, has a steeply pitched west gable with prominent stone ‘butte fly’ finials. (2010) suggests that these finials may have represented the ‘ch ’ c oss of h st
d llowed the central symbol of Christianity to
continue to be represented during the shift from wood to stone. This was of “ce t l mpo t ce to the co o
phy of these bu ld
considering the almost complete absence of exterior ornament
2 3
M. Craig (1997) The Architecture of Ireland: from Earliest Times to 1660, p. 30. P. Harbison (1993) Irish Art and Architecture: from Prehistory to the Present, p. 77.
s
Fig. 5 – Ornamented Finial Stone
the
ch tectu e” p.43).
Pre-Romanesque churches were largely devoid of any ornamentation. Hamlin & Hare (1986) say that in early Irish churches, architectural sculpture was “co f ed to s mple c osses o o
ble f
ls
d to
bove the l tels of doo w ys” p. 33). The doorways were often embellished
with a plain-relief architrave which may have been an imitation of wooden doorframes. This feature is often found in early stone churches with antae. Some doorways, like the one at Teach Molaise, Inishmurray have a cross motif carved into the lintel. The windows of these churches have “ cl
j mbs sm ll exte o
pe tu es
d spl yed
d somet mes stepped emb su es” which
may have been used to accommodate an exterior shutter (
p.101). This stone
feature is a direct translation from wood. The first references to a mortar stone church are to Duleek, o. Me th “
Tí ech ’s Life of St. Patrick written in the second half
of the seventh century and in the Annals of Ulste
7 4” Edw ds
2006, p.124). According to Hamlin & Hare (1986) Duleek actually takes its name from the Irish word damliac wh ch me s ‘stone church’.4 This word appears more frequently throughout this period Fig. 6 – Carved Inclined Doorway at Tuamgraney Church
St. olumb’s House
Kells
and displaces the less common dairthech. Berger (1995) suggests that o. Me th m y also be one of the oldest buildings in Ireland.5 On the
b s s of docume t y sou ces “sto e chu ches we e fou d o
few mpo t t s tes
the 8th and 9th
centuries, with increasing evidence in the 10th century; it is only in the 11th and 12th centuries that efe e ces to sto e chu ches become commo ” H ml
& H e 986 p. 3 ).
Stone churches remained rare until the tenth century when “the replacement of the principal wooden church in stone” began at important sites (
p.87). Many of these early
buildings functioned as shrine-chapels and their stone construction served to indicate their importance. By the late eleventh century, stone churches bec me “the commo est type of ew church at relatively impo t t ce t es”
4 5
p.107). Elsewhere however wooden
A. Hamlin & M. Hare (1986) ‘The Study of E ly hu ch A ch tectu e I el d: A lo-S xo V ewpo t’ The Anglo- Saxon Church, p. 131. R. Be e 995) ‘R d oc bo D t of E ly Med ev l I sh Mo ume ts’ Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, p. 164.
churches “ em
ed the o m u t l the twelfth ce tu y” Ry
994 p.136). There is a mention for
example of a dairthech built at Moone Co. Kildare in 1040AD. For Edwards (2006), pre-twelfth century stone churches are extremely difficult to “date bec use of the
ch tectu l s mpl c ty” p. 4).
) su
ests th t th s m y
because pre-Romanesque churches adhere to an ancient architectural tradition that gave “p ecede ce over the sort of novelties that precisely because of their transience, we find easy to d te” p.141). Many archaeologists must rely on stylistic features when dating these buildings. For Edwards (2006) “simple rectangular churches with antae and stone roofs, such as the church on St. M cD
’s Isl d
o. G lw y
e l kely to be twelfth-century or later” p.124).
on the
other hand, sees a strong correlation between antae prominence and church size.6 He suggests that large churches at important sites are generally earlier than small ones at minor sites and that these structures required larger antae for structural stability. For the absence of antae or the presence of gable-headed or round-headed windows and doorways seem to indicate a relatively late date.7 Craig (1997) emphasizes the idea that Irish church architecture is derived from separate two building traditions: the “tradition imitating construction in timber”, and the “corbelled tradition of the Clochán or bee-h ve ‘hut’” (p.27). Both traditions appear to have Fig. 7 – St. M cd ’s hu ch Note the Pronounced Antae and Ornamented Finial)
developed separately and remain distinct from one another. One
distinctive group of stone boat-shaped structures are often found in proximity to stone beehive cells (clochán) it has long been assumed that they “developed f om c cul cloch u s”
co belled houses o
p.49). O’Re lly (1997) describes the corbel tech que s “a
succession of circular courses of flat stones set one above the other, each successive course projecting inwards [and] creating a dome-l ke shelte esembl
beeh ve” p.17). It is a very
ancient method of drystone construction and an exceptional example of a stone church built in this
6 7
T. Ibid, p.110
2010) Churches in Early Medieval Ireland: Architecture, Ritual, and Memory, p. 31.
,
manner is Gallarus Oratory on the Dingle Peninsula. It is the only intact example of a rectangular building built in the corbel style. It was once believed that this type of primitive building belonged to the earliest period of Irish monasticism which in turn, gave se to “mo e complex chu ches w th up oofs” Edw ds
6 p.
ht w lls
d sto e
4).
Harbison (1970) however, suggests that the bette qu l ty m so y “ d the round-headed east window at Gallarus showed a more advanced style of architecture than other o to es of the type” p.39). O’Re lly
997)
ees st t
Fig. 8 – Gallarus Oratory (Note the Double-lintelled Doorway)
th t
although the drystone composition of Gallarus argues for
e ly co st uct o
“ ts ve y perfection
pe su des the jud me t to put t l te ” p.39). Harbison concludes that since Gallarus cannot be proven to date from the eighth century
d m y eve be s l te s the twelfth ce tu y “there is no
longer any reason to believe that it represents the oldest type of stone church in Ireland and the first stage in the evolution of Irish church
ch tectu e
For this reason, Harbison (1993) bel eves th t “th s
sto e” p.58). oup does not
appear to have contributed to the development of the normal stone chu ches”
d
ste d me ely ep ese t peripheral development
(p.68). Increased contact with Britain and the Continent during the eleventh and twelfth centuries resulted in the introduction of the Romanesque style of architecture. However ‘pre-Rom esque’
Fig. 9 – The East-Window of Gallarus Oratory
churches continued to be built in Ireland “h lf ce tu y fte the co st uct o of the e l est ext t Rom esque chu ch p ob bly betwee
8
d
94”
p.8). Double-vaulted
churches were also built around this time. They consisted of a lower barrel-vault and a steeply pitched stone roof above it supported by a second vault. This produced a chamber between the two vaults which may have served as a living space for anchorites or a storage space for relics. A few churches with contemporary nave-and-chancel were constructed around this time and their deviation from the simple early medieval church form indicates the introduction of new architectural influences. According to me l ths
d
) early Irish church architecture had “ ts oots
the
the tech que of s mple t mbe co st uct o ” (p.4) and as a result, evolved almost
entirely independent of the mainstream Roman tradition of church building. An important phase of church architecture which lasted from the fifth century to the eighth century has completely disappeared. This period of timber construction can only be inferred from literary evidence and from the imitative character of some of the stone churches that survive. The spread of mortared stone construction is believed to have begun “after 900, with an increase in the rate of construction after 1050”
p.140). However, due to their simple form and lack of sculptural
embellishment, the churches of early medieval Ireland prove quite difficult to date.
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