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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