Monastery On The Defensive

In a quiet valley nine miles south of Kilkenny can be found one of the most intriguing and deceptive monuments in Ireland. At first sight it appears to be a huge medieval castel defended by an impressive array of curtain walls, battlements and flanking towers. But this was no ordinary castle, as a search of the ruins quickly reveals. After passing through a small fortified gateway in the east wall, a vast outer court or bawn is reached, dominated by five robust towers. From this outer court a further gateway leads north, into a second rather smaller enclosure, and here at the heat of the fortifications lie the ruins of an Augustinian priory. After such a powerful series of walls, the discovery of a monastery is naturally something of a surprise. Why, one wonders, were such elaborate defences required and when were they built?

The history of the priory goes back to the earliest years of the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland. In many respects Kells was typical of the pattern of settlement imposed on the country, with the establishment of a motte castle as the centre of a barony, the growth of a town beside it and the foundation of a monastery on lands nearby. The man responsible was Geoffrey FitzRobert, for a long time seneschal of William Marshall, Lord of Leinster. Remains of Geoffrey's castle can still be seen in the village, in the form of a mound about 30ft high. Although the adjoining priory is said to have been founded in 1183, its real history begins in 1193 when Geoffrey brought four canons from Bodmin in cornwall to form the nucleus of the community. It was thus given a totally English character, ensuring its fidelity to the new political regime.

The religious buildings of the priory are not particularly distinguished. A relatively modest church of about 1200 was completely transformed in the later Middle Ages, and a great deal of detective work is required to work out the various phases of construction. Fortunately the whole complex is being excavated by Mr Thomas Fanning on behalf of the National Monuments Branch of the Board of Works, and when the excavation is complete the general picture will be clearer. The original church appears to have had a long, rather narrow choir, without any aisles, a type of design also found at Athassel (Co. Tipperary), the largest of the Augustinian abbeys in Ireland. The transepts were relatively short, but in the later Middle Ages the whole crossing area was remodelled. A central tower was erected, the south transept blocked off from the rest of the church, and the north transept was considerably enlarged. This north transept is the most substantial part of the church to survive. It once had a western aisle, and the three plain arches opening into it remain intact. The starkness of these arches, almost devoid of mouldings, emphasises that the architecture of the church was always somewhat rudimentary.

The nave was equally simple. There are signs that it was once completely separated from the choir and crossing by a blocking wall, an arrangement again paralleled at Athassel. It seems that the nave served the laity, who were kept firmly apart from the Augustinian canons as they worshipped in the choir. The nave had only one aisle, on the north side, and remembering the enlarged north transept, the layout of the church was peculiarly lop-sided. This mode of planning is common in Ireland in the churches of the friars, and one wonders whether the canons of Kells were influenced by their example. Normally such unbalanced plans resulted from a desire to enlarge the church without disturbing the cloister, which prevented expansion to the south. It would of course be interesting to know the form of the church at Bodmin, from where the canons came to Kells, but unfortunately very little of the Cornish abbey remains. Whatever the reasons for the modifications, there is no doubt that the appearance of the church in about 1500 was totally different from that in about 1200. Most noticeable of all must have been the three late-medieval towers, one over the crossing, another at the north-west corner of the nave, and a third adjoining the south wall of the choir. The north-west tower also guarded the perimeter wall of the abbey and may thus have served a dual function both as a bell tower and a fortification.

During the excavation many interesting discoveries have been made by Thomas Fanning, not least, parts of the original cloister arcade. Before excavation started the cloister garth was devoid of almost any recognisable stonework, but now sufficient has been found to allow a future reconstruction of some of the arches. The most remarkable thing about this arcade is its delicacy and sophistication, especially when compared to the church. The underside of each trefoil arch was elaborately carved and the moulded and rested on twin shafts coupled together. Stylistically these can be dated to the middle of the 13th century, a period for which almost no other cloister arcades survive in Ireland, so this is a valuable find. The delicate beauty of the cloister suggests that at this time the priory had more funds to spare on architectural subtleties than at any other time in its history.

By the second hald of the 13th century, the first phase of the priory's buildings must have been substantially complete. At this time its external appearance was probably little different from other Irish monasteries of the day, for it is of course the later fortifications that now make it so distinctive. Most authorities have vaguely assigned these defensive walls to the 15th century on the basis of comparisons between the flanking towers and the "tower houses" so numerous in Ireland at that period. A glance at the masonry suggests that the inner wall around the priory itself was built first, and the huge outer court was added a little later. But why did the priory need this heavily defended outer court?

The answer must be sought in the troubled history of Ireland in the later Middle Ages, an era of frequent raids and counter-raids between local family groups. At least one other Irish monastery defended itself at this unsettled time by building walls and towers. This was the Benedictine abbey at Fore (Co. Westmeath) where we are told the lands of the priory were raided in 1423 and 1428 by "the Irish enemies". In the first raid two granges wre burnt and in the second the raiders stole the cattle of the priory's tenants. As a result the Prior of Fore began to build castles on the monastic lands as a means of protection. No doubt the Prior of Kells was confronted with the same problem, although there is no documentary evidence to prove it. However, it is known that the priory had already been raided and burnt twice before the 15th century, once in 1252 and again in 1327, although in these cases Anglo-Norman families were responsible. Nevertheless, by about 1400 the need for protection cannot have been in doubt.

The great outer court was probably intended to defend not only the priory itself, but also the livestock of the monastery and its tenants. Whenever danger threatened, or perhaps as a matter of routine every evening, the cattle would be herded into the enclosure. This was certainly the practice at the Cistercian abbey of Baltinglass, not far away from Kells, where in 1540 it was reported: "there is a curtilage with stone walls, in which the beasts belonging to the people of the neighbourhood are kept at night". The great court at Kells thus served as the headquarters of the monastic estates and was probably partially filled with wooden farm buildings, some perhaps constructed as lean-to's against the outer stone walls. Although no trace of such buildings survive above ground, it is not inconceivable that further excavation will bring some of them to light.

A distinctive feature of the courtyard was the stream or ditch which ran along one side. It was diverted from the nearby King's River and flowed in and out of the courtyard under low arches of the outer wall. These arches were a serious defensive weakness since attackers could wade along the stream, under the arches, and into the court. Consequently projecting machicolations were built at these points, but they seem woefully inadequate to overcome such vulnerable spots in the defences of the priory.

The stream - probably quite deep - ran beside the wall dividing the inner and outer courts. Half way along it flowed underneath a massive projecting tower, guarding the bridge and gateway into the inner enclosure. The two courts were thus quite firmly divided from each other. The inner court around the priory was probably reserved for the canons and their immediate requirements, and kept clearly apart from the outer court with all its agrarian activities.

Some parts of the outer court seem to have been divided off and permanently leased to tenants. This is suggested by the "Extents" drawn up in 1540 when the priory was dissolved. The rents of various plots or "messages" are listed "within the walls on the south side of the monastery" and two of the towers were also rented out. The general impression is that the outer court functioned like a series of linked tower-houses and bawns. Instead of each monastic tenant possessing his own castle in the surrounding lands, here was a joint scheme designed to protect both the priory and its tenants.

The religious history of the site officially came to an end with the dissolution of 1540, when the lands passed to the Earl of Ormond. The cloister garth was cobbled over, probably to serve as a farmyard, and the cloister arcades were demolished, perhaps to allow the old buildings to be used as stables. Otherwise the character of the site may not have changed drastically for 100 years or more, since the walls and towers still provided valuable protection to the local inhabitants. Indeed some parts of the towers may even date from after the dissolution itself. Without documentary evidence these are points which only excavation and further research can confirm, and it is to be hoped that the Board of Works will press ahead with the investigations already begun. Certainly their work at Kells is tremendously worthwhile. With its eight surviving towers, the priory is not only a magnificent architectural monument, but also a striking reminder of the turmoils of Ireland in the later Middle Ages.

[Country Life, 22 May 1975, by Roger Stalley]