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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
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 es “of old d
s lve [ s well s] l e h s o cu t s” H ml & 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 (2010) documentary sources
1 T. (2010) Churches in Early Medieval Ireland: Architecture, Ritual, and Memory, p. 22.
Fig. 1 – The Capstone of Monasterboice High-Cross
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
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
actually looked like, many of these early stone churches e st ll ex ste ce d “would appear to
preserve some of the features of ea l e woode bu ld 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. 2 – A Wooden Church at Ballintubber
Abbey (with Shingles and Finial)
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 ’s
hu ch “seems to m t te oof of ect ul woode sl tes o sh le” and goes so far that
“whe e 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
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 s
considering the almost complete absence of exterior ornament the ch tectu e” p.43).
2 M. Craig (1997) The Architecture of Ireland: from Earliest Times to 1660, p. 30. 3 P. Harbison (1993) Irish Art and Architecture: from Prehistory to the Present, p. 77.
Fig. 4 – Sto e Roof of St. M cd ’s hu ch
Fig. 5 – Ornamented Finial Stone
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 ble f ls d to
s mple c osses o o 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
and displaces the less common dairthech. Berger (1995) suggests that
St. olumb’s House Kells 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” p.107). Elsewhere however wooden
4 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. 5 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.
Fig. 6 – Carved Inclined Doorway at
Tuamgraney Church
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
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 co belled houses o
cloch u s” 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 T. 2010) Churches in Early Medieval Ireland: Architecture, Ritual, and Memory, p. 31. 7 Ibid, p.110
Fig. 7 – St. M cd ’s hu ch Note the
Pronounced Antae and Ornamented
Finial)
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 ht w lls d sto e
oofs” Edw ds 6 p. 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 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 sto e” p.58).
For this reason, Harbison (1993) bel eves th t “th s 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’
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
Fig. 8 – Gallarus Oratory (Note the Double-lintelled Doorway)
Fig. 9 – The East-Window of Gallarus
Oratory
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 ) early Irish church architecture had “ ts oots the
me l ths d 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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