Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum; Or, Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars

by John Healy

The nave of the great church or cathedral, and the round tower are, in Petrie’s opinion, coeval, and also belong to the early part of the seventh century. He bases his opinion mainly on the character of the masonry, which in the tower is perfectly similar to that of the round tower of Kilmacduagh. There is historical evidence that the great Church of Kilmacduagh was built by Guaire Aidhne, about the year A.D. 610. The masonry of this church is so similar to that of the tower at Kilmacduagh that they must be regarded as of contemporaneous construction. The magnificent tower of Glendalough is still 110 feet high; with its conical cap it would have been originally 132 feet high. The door-way is at present ten feet from the ground, and is perfectly similar in construction to the door-ways of the ancient churches in the valley—in this, that they are all constructed of chiselled blocks of granite, while the walls are built of the rubble masonry with the stones of the district. The door-way is five feet seven inches high, two feet wide at the sill, and one foot ten inches at the arch, which is cut out of the stone—a feature characteristic of our earliest churches. The nave of the great church which is of the same date (the chancel is in the later ornamented style), and of perfectly similar masonry, was 55 feet in length by 37 in breadth; the chancel seem to have been a later addition.

The building called St. Kevin’s Kitchen, with its belfry tower and high pitched stone roof, is perhaps the most interesting building at Glendalough, and was, there is no longer reason to doubt, like Columcille’s House at Kells, the oratory and dormitory of the saint. It is evident, upon close examination, that the chancel and sacristy annexed to it, as well as the belfry, were later additions. It was originally a simple oblong 30 feet long and a little more than 22 feet wide; the side walls are 11 feet in height, whilst its height to the ridge of the roof is 31 feet. The lower apartment was an oratory arched with stone, the high pitch of the stone roof leaving space for the croft, or upper chamber, which was at once the cell and sleeping apartment of the saint himself—the oratory beneath was what would now be called a private oratory. The belfry is a small round tower, with conical cap, at the western end of the building.

“Our Lady’s Church” is situated a little to the west of these buildings already described, which are in close proximity to each other. It is said to have been the first church built by the saint, eastward of the smaller lake; and its architecture confirms this tradition. The door-way is of singular beauty, and of the most primitive type. It is figured in Petrie’s great work, and exhibits all the characteristic features of the earliest doorways. The architrave, however, is ornamented with a plain double moulding; and a cross, saltier-wise, is carved on the soffit of the lintel. St. Kevin himself was buried within this ancient church, which he had dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.[325] His grave was shown in the last century, but it seems that it is now covered over with rubbish from the falling walls. This is also called the Ivy Church, for its walls are festooned with that charitable creeper which flings so much beauty around decay.

This group of buildings was all erected during the lifetime of the saint, or shortly after his death. There were, however, two other edifices further down the valley to the east, of a more ornamental character and of later date.

‘Trinity Church’ is about a furlong eastward of the ‘City’ proper, standing alone close to the road on the left from Larah to those buildings which we have just described. It has, or rather had, a chancel with a very beautiful semicircular chancel arch, and also a round tower, which Petrie thinks was built so late as the thirteenth century when the valley of the saints had become “a nest of robbers and murderers.” Still further to the east near Larah bridge, and about a mile from the ‘City,’ was the Priory of St. Saviour, or as it is sometimes called, the Monastery. It is now almost a heap of ruins; portions, however, of the pilasters supporting the chancel arch still remain. The nave of this church was 42 feet long by 26 in breadth; the monastic buildings seem to have been annexed to the north side of the church, but cannot now be traced. Its most interesting feature, however, was the elaborate carving in low-relief on the bases and capitals of the piers (at one side only) that supported the chancel arch. The character of the ornamentation would seem to point to the end of the eleventh, or the beginning of the twelfth century, as the probable date of this once beautiful building. The little oratory within the cathedral cemetery, called the “Priest’s House,” which has now completely disappeared, but of which drawings are preserved, also belonged to the Romanesque period. It was called the ‘Priests’ House,’ according to Petrie, because it was reserved for the burial place of the Roman Catholic clergy of the surrounding districts.

Within the cemetery, which surrounds the cathedral and is much overcrowded with graves, was the famous yew tree, said to have been planted by St. Kevin himself; but it has now entirely disappeared. It is said that some of its branches were lopped off to make furniture, and that the ancient tree then gradually withered and decayed.

In close proximity to St. Kevin’s Kitchen there were anciently several other buildings, all traces of which have now quite disappeared. Mention is made of Cro-Chiarain or St. Ciaran’s House, and also of the church of the “Two Sinchells”—Regles an da Sinchell—the patron saints of Killeigh in the King’s County. These saints were friends and contemporaries of St. Kevin, and probably resided for a while in the ‘Houses’ which they or their disciples had constructed in the holy valley. The remains of numerous ancient crosses and tombstones have been discovered during the recent restorations, and are now better cared for than they were heretofore.

III.—St. Moling.

Many celebrated scholars were trained in Glendalough from the time of St. Kevin to St. Laurence O’Toole. The See of Glendalough, too, occupied a highly honourable position amongst the bishoprics of Leinster, sometimes claiming the place of honour next to Kildare itself. Yet there is no evidence that St. Kevin himself was raised to the episcopal dignity; and we may fairly assume that if he were a bishop the fact would not have been passed over in silence by the writers of his Life. But the fame of the monastery and schools became so great during the life of the holy founder, that his successor and nephew, St. Molibba, was consecrated bishop, and probably during the lifetime of St. Kevin himself. The subsequent prelates are styled sometimes ‘bishops,’ and sometimes ‘abbots’ of Glendalough; and in one instance, at least, that of the abbot Cormac, who died in A.D. 925, the same person is styled bishop and abbot.

It was during the abbacy of Molibba that the school of Glendalough produced a distinguished pupil, whose name is well known in Leinster, that is, St. Moling, the patron and founder of St. Mullins.