}Early Christian Ireland
}The arrival of Christianity
}Christianity came to Ireland in the 5th
Century. St Patrick & other missionaries converted the Celtic people to
Christianity.
}Life in a Monastery in Early Christian
Ireland
1.Some monasteries (Clonmacnoise, Glendalough)
were large. Skellig
Michael off Kerry coast was small & remote.
2.Main buildings in the Monastery
}Church
}Abbot’s
House
}Refectory
(for eating)
}Scriptorium
(for copying manuscripts)
}Cells
for each monk
}What did monks do?
1.Monks followed strict rules. They wore
long tunics with woollen cloaks, leather shoes or sandals.
-Main activity was prayer
-Worked in the fields to produce food for
the monastery.
Copying Manuscripts
2. Some
monks (scribes) worked in the scriptorium copying manuscripts to create
hand-written books e.g. the Cathach
& Book of Kells.
3. Monks
used quills (feathers) to write on vellum (calfskin) or parchment (sheepskin).
}Metalworking
4. Other monks produced chalices,
crosiers & brooches. They added gold writing called filigree to these. E.g.
Ardagh
Chalice; Derrynaflan
Chalice.
Stone Crosses
5. Some
monks carved high stone crosses which had scenes from the Bible and lives of
Saints e.g. St Muireadach’s High
Cross, Co Louth.
Irish Monks aboard
6. Some
Monks went abroad & founded monasteries in Britain & on the Continent.
E.g. St Columcille went
to the remote island of Iona in Scotland; St Columbanus
founded monasteries in France and Italy.
}
The Life of a Monk in Early Christian Ireland Christian missionaries began to arrive in Ireland to convert pagan Celts to Christianity between 400 and 500 AD.
The first to arrive was Paladius but he died soon after his arrival.
Patrick came next; first as a slave and later, he returned as a bishop.
Soon, some devout Christians decided to live away from the other people and they built monasteries where they could pray.
The first monastery was built by St. Enda on the Aran Islands in 490 BC.
Monasteries resembled forts in many ways and they had a sacred and a non-sacred section.
The sacred section housed the main church, graveyard, round tower, stone cross and Abbot’s cell.
The abbot was the head of the monastery.
The non-sacred section was where animals were kept, where farming was done and where the other monks slept.
Every monk lived in his own special room called a beehive hut. Beehive huts were built using the corbel method – a method of building without the use of supports. It involved layering stone slabs on top of each other with the top one always jutting out slightly from the one beneath it.
Monks’ clothes were made from coarse, un-dyed wool. Most of them wore a simple white tunic and over it a cape and a hood.
On their feet, they wore leather sandals.
As well as praying prayers such as lauds – dawn prayers – , matins – morning prayers – , and vespers – evening prayers – , the monks also worked around the monastery, farming, cooking, teaching and making crafts.
They carved beautiful stone crosses and used the images on them to teach the ideas of Christianity.
They also taught basic reading and writing.
Monks were skilled metalworkers and they made chalices and other church vessels. These were made from gold and/or bronze. They were decorated with coloured glass, enamel and delicate filigree work.
The metalworkers also made church bells.
The scriptorium was a very important building in the monastery.
In it, a monk, known as a scribe, created manuscripts which were decorated with Celtic designs.
They wrote on parchment or vellum with a quill made from goose feathers.
They added color to their manuscripts by creating ink from the juice of crushed berries, crushed acorns and crushed beetles.
The most famous manuscript today is the “Book of Kells” which is kept in Trinity College in Dublin, and the oldest is the “Cathach.”
Monks also spent a lot of their day in their beehive huts, praying to God and studying the Bible and the Gospels.
Sometimes, a monk would work in the fields around the monastery where crops were grown and animals were kept. They only ate what they needed. A bell on top of a round tower rang at dinner time and at prayer time.
However, the bell would also be rung when the monastery was about to be attacked – usually by the Vikings.
When this happened, the monks would run the round tower, taking their manuscripts and gold and silver objects with them.
The doors of round towers were situated about three metres from the ground and were reached by ladders which were removed once every monk was inside.
The first to arrive was Paladius but he died soon after his arrival.
Patrick came next; first as a slave and later, he returned as a bishop.
Soon, some devout Christians decided to live away from the other people and they built monasteries where they could pray.
The first monastery was built by St. Enda on the Aran Islands in 490 BC.
Monasteries resembled forts in many ways and they had a sacred and a non-sacred section.
The sacred section housed the main church, graveyard, round tower, stone cross and Abbot’s cell.
The abbot was the head of the monastery.
The non-sacred section was where animals were kept, where farming was done and where the other monks slept.
Every monk lived in his own special room called a beehive hut. Beehive huts were built using the corbel method – a method of building without the use of supports. It involved layering stone slabs on top of each other with the top one always jutting out slightly from the one beneath it.
Monks’ clothes were made from coarse, un-dyed wool. Most of them wore a simple white tunic and over it a cape and a hood.
On their feet, they wore leather sandals.
As well as praying prayers such as lauds – dawn prayers – , matins – morning prayers – , and vespers – evening prayers – , the monks also worked around the monastery, farming, cooking, teaching and making crafts.
They carved beautiful stone crosses and used the images on them to teach the ideas of Christianity.
They also taught basic reading and writing.
Monks were skilled metalworkers and they made chalices and other church vessels. These were made from gold and/or bronze. They were decorated with coloured glass, enamel and delicate filigree work.
The metalworkers also made church bells.
The scriptorium was a very important building in the monastery.
In it, a monk, known as a scribe, created manuscripts which were decorated with Celtic designs.
They wrote on parchment or vellum with a quill made from goose feathers.
They added color to their manuscripts by creating ink from the juice of crushed berries, crushed acorns and crushed beetles.
The most famous manuscript today is the “Book of Kells” which is kept in Trinity College in Dublin, and the oldest is the “Cathach.”
Monks also spent a lot of their day in their beehive huts, praying to God and studying the Bible and the Gospels.
Sometimes, a monk would work in the fields around the monastery where crops were grown and animals were kept. They only ate what they needed. A bell on top of a round tower rang at dinner time and at prayer time.
However, the bell would also be rung when the monastery was about to be attacked – usually by the Vikings.
When this happened, the monks would run the round tower, taking their manuscripts and gold and silver objects with them.
The doors of round towers were situated about three metres from the ground and were reached by ladders which were removed once every monk was inside.
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