Monasteries

The Origin and Purpose

of Monasteries
• Several monasteries were built from the 6th
century onwards for holy men who
wanted to pray and honour (admire)
God. Such men included St Kevin of
Glendalough but there were some women
such as St Brigid of Kildare who founded
convents (for nuns).
• Monasteries were also centres of
education and culture: Decorative
manuscripts were copied and stored.
Stone-carving and metal-work produced
impressive works of art to honour God.
• Lay people (ordinary people who were
not monks) were welcome in the
monasteries.
 Monk Life
• They mostly prayed, doing so six to eight
times a day.
• They had their own supply of food,
harvesting crops and tending to animals.
• However, their meals were not all that
nice: ‘shall be coarse (rough), consisting
of cabbage, vegetables, flour mixed with
water, and a biscuit, and taken toward
evening’.
• Regarding appearance, they wore long
tunics with a cloak and hood. They wore
sandals on their feet and had their hair
cut in a circular fashion (tonsure).
 Large
Monasteries
• Some monasteries were large and
built beside important routes
such as rivers.
• Towns grew out of these
monasteries and lay people would
live nearby.
• These types of monasteries
became important economic
(business) centres.
• Such an example was
Clonmacnoise in Co. Offaly that
was built beside the River
Shannon.
 Remote
Monasteries
• Along with large
monasteries, there were
also smaller and more
remote ones that were
built on islands off the
Irish coast.
• The example on the right
is Skellig Michael (off the
coast of Co. Kerry) where
monks lived in small
beehive huts made of
stone.
 Monastery Buildings
• Larger monasteries were surrounded
by a wall or embankment.
• The main building was the church
(also called an oratory).
• The abbot (head monk) had his own
house.
• Monks ate in a building called a
refectory.
• Monks copied manuscripts in a
scriptorium.
• There were guesthouses for visitors.
• The monks slept in small rooms called
cells.
• The monastery also had a cemetery
(graveyard).
 Round Towers
• Round towers were only built in some monasteries.
• They ranged in height from 25-40 metres.
• They were wider at the base and tapered (became
narrower) towards the top.
• The entrance was above the ground and was
reached by a ladder.
• There were four windows at the top, looking north,
south, east and west.
• Towers were used as belfries (bell towers) to call
monks to service and were also used for storage.
When monasteries were attacked such as by
Vikings, round towers provided safety.