Reefert Church, on the south bank of the upper lake, was the first founded by St. Kevin before he moved to the lower part of the valley. It consists of a nave and chancel, the combined length being 43 feet by 26 feet. The dividing arch is the full width of the chancel. The doorway is of chiselled blocks of granite; it is 5 feet 9 inches high and square-headed, with inclined jambs. The enclosure in which it stands has been strangely interfered with by the Board of Works, and laid out in a most artificial manner. It was the burial-place of the O’Tooles; and an ancient inscribed tombstone, popularly said to belong to the famous king of the tribe, has disappeared, having been broken up and sold, it is said, by guides in the middle of the last century.
There are other remains of churches—the Priest’s House, St. Kieran’s, and Temple na Skellig. There are numerous crosses; and the round tower is one of the largest and most perfectly preserved now remaining. Much attention is usually paid to the singular chamber called ‘St. Kevin’s Bed.’ That it is altogether a work of art cannot be satisfactorily demonstrated. Though, to a certain degree, its artificial character is distinctly marked, it is quite possible that a natural cavity, the sides of which have been roughly hewn and squared, may have existed previously. The Bed, which is situated in an almost overhanging rock, at some height above the lake, is said to have been the residence of St. Kevin at some period when pursuing that course of study and contemplation for which his name, even to this day, is revered; and the celebrated St. Laurence O’Toole is said to have spent much of his time in prayer and heavenly contemplation in this cavern.
The early monastic establishments had in their buildings none of the features found in the monasteries of the great Orders of a later period. No remains are found at Glendalough, or elsewhere in Ireland, of great houses, like those of the twelfth and following centuries, for the accommodation of large numbers. The abbot and other members of the community had each his own cell, with such buildings as were needed for guest-house, kitchen, and the like. These were, no doubt, of a primitive type and perishable material, as all traces of such structures have long since disappeared. A marked peculiarity of the churches in these places is their small size. It seems that as accommodation was required, additional small churches were built, and hence the many spots in Ireland noted for their collection of such buildings.
A few structures known as ‘Houses,’ of which St. Kevin’s, already described, is the best-known example, are stone-roofed and vaulted, and seem to have combined the purpose of an ordinary dwelling-house with that of an oratory, and are thought to have been the residence of the abbot. The church on Friar’s Island, Killaloe, is another and early example, showing the transitional stage from the false to the true arch. The chancel measures 10½ feet by 6½ internally, and the walls are 3 feet thick; a very low chamber exists beneath the stone roof. The principle introduced in the barrel vaulting of these buildings was to lighten the weight of the heavy stone roof. A space was thus formed between it and the upper floor of the vaulting, which was turned to domestic use the more readily when divided by walls. The stone roofs possess no principle of the arch; they are built of rectangular slabs of dressed stones, well fitted for weather purposes, the top being finished with angular coping-stones.
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St. Columba’s House, at Kells, Co. Meath.
St. Columba’s House.—Another example of this class, less rude than that of Friar’s Island, occurs in the structure called St. Columba’s ‘House,’ at Kells, Co. Meath. It has a barrel-vaulted roof, which is completely devoid of ornament, and springs from the side-walls separating the body of the building from a small croft, to which access was originally gained by a quadrangular opening, about 19 inches in breadth, adjoining the west gable. Two walls, crossing and resting upon this arch, and pierced each with a small semicircular-headed doorway, together with the gables, support a roof of stone; the total height is 38 feet. The lower apartment was lighted by two windows, one in the centre of the east end, the other in the south side-wall. Both windows are small, and splay inwardly; that to the east is formed with a semicircular arch, while the other presents a triangular head. The ancient doorway, which was 8 feet from the ground, in the west end, has been almost obliterated; the doorway in the south wall is a later addition. The Annals of Clonmacnoise mention, under date 804, that ‘a new church was founded in Kells in honour of St. Columb Kill.’ This probably points to the early part of the ninth century for the erection of these structures. Kells has a remarkably perfect round tower, several crosses, and has given its name to ‘the most elaborately executed monument of early Christian art in existence’—the Book of Kells.
Window in St. Columba’s House.