UCC Library and UCC researchers have made this item openly available. Please let us know how this has helped you. Thanks!

Title New light on early Insular monasteries Author(s) Ó Carragáin, Tomás Publication date 2009-09 Original citation Tomás Ó Carragáin (2009) 'New light on early Insular Monasteries'. Antiquity, 83 (322):1182-1186.

Type of publication Article (peer-reviewed)

Link to publisher's http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/083/ant0831182.htm version http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00099488 Access to the full text of the published version may require a subscription.

Rights © 2009 Antiquity Publications

Item downloaded http://hdl.handle.net/10468/427 from Downloaded on 2021-09-27T00:47:03Z Review

CHERNYKH, E.N. 1992. Ancient metallurgy in the USSR: LINDUFF, K.M. & K.S. RUBINSON. 2008. Are all the early metal age. Cambridge: Cambridge warriors male? Gender roles on the ancient Eurasian University Press. Steppe. Lanham (MD): AltaMira. HANKS,B.&K.LINDUFF (ed.). In press. Social PETERSON, D.L., L.M. POPOVA & A.T. SMITH (ed.). complexity in prehistoric Eurasia. Cambridge: 2006. Beyond the steppe and the sown: proceedings of Cambridge University Press. the 2002 University of Chicago conference on KOHL, P.L. 2007. The making of Bronze Age Eurasia. Eurasian archaeology. Leiden: Brill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. POPOVA, L.M., C.W. HARTLEY & A.T. SMITH. 2007. KORYAKOVA, L.N. & A.V. EPIMAKHOV. 2007. The Urals Social orders and social landscapes. Newcastle: and western Siberia in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Cambridge Scholars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

New light on early Insular monasteries Tomas´ O´ Carragain´ ∗

HEATHER F. J AMES &PETER YEOMAN with numerous between monastic and non-monastic churches’(Church contributors. Excavations at St Ethernan’s monastery, Organisation in , AD 650 to 1000, 1999: Isle of May, (Tayside & Fife Archaeological 457). This accords well with the Irish archaeological Committee Monograph 6). xii+220 pages, 103 evidence: there is a illustrations, 8 colour plates, 66 tables. 2008. Perth: wide spectrum of ec- Tayside & Fife Archaeological Committee; 1360- clesiastical sites, which 5550 paperback £15. are broadly similar in overall layout (usu- CHRISTOPHER LOWE. Inchmarnock: an Early Historic island monastery and its archaeological landscape. ally delimited by two concentric enclosures), xxii+314 pages, 156 b&w & colour illustrations, 34 tables. 2008. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of but only a minority of them were monas- Scotland; 978-0-903903-37-0 hardback £30 (Fellows teries in the primary £25). sense of the term. THOMAS MCERLEAN &NORMAN CROTHERS. Though abundant ev- Harnessing the tides: the Early Medieval tide mills idence for learning, at Nendrum monastery, Strangford Loch. xx+468 sculpture with monas- pages, 344 b&w & colour illustrations, tables. 2007. tic themes and in some cases a deliberately remote Norwich: Environment & Heritage Service/The location are suggestive, the surest archaeological Stationery Office; 978-0-08877-3 hardback £25. indicator of monasticism is probably segregated MARTIN CARVER. Portmahomack: monastery of the burial. It is only in the last few years that ecclesiastical , . xvi+240 pages 94 illustrations, 16 colour plates. cemeteries in Ireland and Scotland have been analysed 2008. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press; 978- to a high enough standard to allow monastic ones 0-7486-2441-6 hardback £75; 978-0-7486-2442-3 to be identified with certainty (e.g. Illaunloughan, paperback £24.99. Co. Kerry). We have barely begun to look beyond The institution of monasticism was instrumental in the skin-deep uniformity suggested by the concentric the Christianisation of the Insular peoples and in enclosures to explore the diverse expressions of forging their identities, yet its study poses major monasticism that must surely have existed. The four challenges for archaeologists and historians alike. excellent books under consideration here bring us As historian Colman´ Etchingham has concluded, ‘it significantly closer to realising this goal. They all cannot be stressed too strongly that the Irish evidence, both provide fresh insights into several aspects of the Latin and vernacular, reveals no systematic distinction monastic life, and each of them illuminates one aspect

∗ Archaeology Department, University College Cork, Ireland (Email: [email protected])

ANTIQUITY 83 (2009): 1182–1186 1182 ihpooto fltrmdea uil lohad also burials medieval a later and of disease, proportion serious high for there evidence number cluster osteological disproportionate tenth-century to was a seventh- a of in case burials women of the to in men In of buried 4:1. ratio also was overall the were but women Cashel. cemetery century the of eighth kings the the By of monastery Co. chief Emly, Tipperary, example for including from absent monasteries, argument is many sculpture the for monastery, 174). undermine a (p. was course, this island that of the not, on does sculpture This monks. nor other cross-slabs, been any with there have marked is well not a were may was graves who These century) males seventh of to Among cluster (fifth 173). burials (p. earliest burial and for the it space consolidate further provide to to walling drystone with and augmented reveted been had which beach, cobble raised a on located were 176-7). cemetery (pp. associated and churches churches have The wooden may more turn or in one These replaced one. Benedictine the under date, eleventh-century stone or the tenth- two of probably of churches, of remains the uncovered picture excavations The clearer in a sites ecclesiastical report, area. us other the this to model May give in the a of would that developed relationship pity not this a is is as lines It these 3). along (p. associated also Ethernan is St which with mainland Kilrenny nearby a as at such months site winter the community has conclusion. spent the this presumably site seasonal, of was the confident occupation of be Assuming enough to excavated if been though, wonders, One sadwssalsaeadpoal seasonal probably and ‘ small-scale century was conclude island tenth to the them before leading that limited, medieval was but early occupation for metalworking evidence area and excavated the farming within medieval evidence early some uncovered for medieval They later cloister. the and by church occupied area the on primarily focused were who, Yeoman’s excavations & James Ethernan and in 1145 there established St was priory Benedictine of A 669. in AD Picts’ place the ‘among died annalist, burial an to according the as known The May of Isle The May). of (Isle production healing or primary (Portmahomack) manuscript (Nendrum), (Inchmarnock), processing monasteries cereal of education of role the places it as be clarity, particular with seo May of Isle nteFrho ot,i traditionally is Forth, of Firth the on , n eteeto the on settlement any p 174). (p. ’ 1183 Review hrhssoni h eosrcindaig.In drawings. the reconstruction resembled the have in to shown unlikely churches This are were they like. foundations but looked only found, that sites given about these understandable volume at is May churches of Isle the found little the what is in were There or 255). church here (p. discussion stone one Romanesque May single-cell the under of a Isle of Traces the 176). & 169 including and pp. Yeoman sites & Kerry (James several Co. at burials Illaunloughan, a medieval represents early found been this in has quartz for that incorrect, burials, is suggestion pattern medieval general author’s Quartz later the in 257). only but tradition (p. found vague cemetery were a women’s pebbles is separate could there a women but of to determined, men early be of the not proportion of most the in so survive burials not did Bone north. to the area iron-working an from cemetery and church was the separating enclosure there inner an and for evidence trenches, limited also test and survey geophysical 2) h ags rnhwsa h anmonastic ( enclosure main outer The the church. Romanesque (p. at ruined a hermitage was around a settlement trench as largest a served The have of 226). to excavation of seems number which partial a cave the of including results the excavations, contains and landscape pre-improvement the of includes reconstruction report painstaking The a included. photographs were more cross-slabs if the nice of been handsomely have superb, would are it and The illustrations though The Clyde. colour. designed full river in beautifully island produced the minor of is a estuary volume the at in investigations monastery Lowe’s Chris of oigwestwards, Moving Inchmarnock fabo hc ae nipratcnrbto to contribution subject. important the an makes which book criticism a minor of a however is This 3-4). (pp. St Ethernan with associated sites Scottish of the discussion illustrate excellent to map a example for welcome: been would have illustrations additional text one the At in points plans. two colour or clear and illustrations with good volume very produced well a is as This therapy. well spiritual as physical of centres as a example) (including for by monasteries Whithorn of strengthened convincing role the been a of have discussion make wider would They it healing. though of case, search the in to come & site had James individuals these 176-7). that (pp. argue Yeoman diseases chronic for evidence c . 0 cos a dnie through identified was across) 50m Inchmarnock ulnsteresults the outlines

Review Review

Figure 9.7 of the Inchmarnock volume the ninth- Co. Down. A relatively large number of early century predecessor of the first stone church is watermills have been found in Ireland, but very few of imagined as having a round-headed doorway, a west them are tidal mills. The earlier of the two Nendrum window and two north windows: features never found mills dates to AD 619-21 making it the earliest known in Irish pre-Romanesque architecture and therefore Irish watermill. These unique monuments receive unlikely to have existed at a site with such strong the attention they deserve in this hefty volume. The Irish links. Irish influence was not as strong on the book is superbly designed, meticulously researched Isle of May, but in Figure 9.1 of that report the first and very well written. It is also lavishly illustrated stone church is depicted as a stone-roofed building, with numerous colour photographs and exceptional apparently of Gallarus-type. In fact such churches drawings. The use of colour in the plans to convey are largely confined to peninsular Kerry and are of complex information is particularly effective. drystone construction rather than clay-bonded like Remarkably the dams of both mills survive the Isle of May church. in reasonably good condition on the foreshore At Inchmarnock the distribution of incised slates led immediately adjacent to the monastery. The first Lowe to postulate that there was a schoolhouse in an dam is 110m long and creates a large triangular unexcavated area west of the church (p. 255). Only millpond. Excavation showed that it incorporated a further excavation could confirm this, but the slates series of timber and wattle revetments and a palisade themselves show beyond doubt that this was a centre breakwater (p. 47). By contrast the second dam (125m of primary education. Over 100 pieces were found, long) encloses a smaller, more linear millpond which including eight with early medieval inscriptions. The was better-protected and easier to manage (pp. 128- island does not appear in early documentary sources 9). The first mill was damaged when the second was but its name means Island of Mo Ernoc.´ How built, but there was some evidence to suggest it had wonderful, therefore, to discover a slate incised no two wooden penstocks and therefore two waterwheels less than three times with the name Ernan!´ As the (pp. 37-9). The second mill was far better preserved author states (p. 249), this cannot be taken as absolute and features an unusual and skilfully constructed proof that an Irishman called Ernan´ founded the stone penstock. The waterwheel hub from the first monastery around AD 600, but in combination with mill was recovered, along with three wooden paddles the place-name evidence it points very strongly in that and a number of millstones from the second mill. direction. The early inscriptions include a Latin and All of these features are described and discussed with an ogham alphabet as well as copying exercises by admirable clarity and there is also an interesting novices, most likely children. The full implications analysis of the energy which could potentially be of this important assemblage are expertly explored. extracted from the second mill (pp. 208-20). In In particular there is a fascinating discussion of the addition, the volume includes an exhaustive treatment organisation of education within monastic networks: of Nendrum’s history, which documents that the in addition to this new archaeological evidence, monastery was in decline by the tenth century. hagiography is cited to show that relatively minor Significantly, the second mill seems to have fallen sites like Inchmarnock served as feeder schools for out of use around then and was not replaced major centres of learning and manuscript production, (p. 113). Finally there is a major reassessment of in this case probably Kingarth on nearby Bute the rich archaeology of the site as a whole, including (pp. 258-63). Lowe also points out that the depictions its enclosures, church, round tower and impressive of ships, people, animals and buildings on some of collection of artefacts, many of which were found the other slates, along with the 35 gaming boards, during Lawlor’s extensive excavations in the 1920s. remind us that monks and novices were allowed some respite from physical, intellectual and spiritual toil (p. 264). Portmahomack Nendrum Unlike the other volumes considered here, Portmahomack is not a definitive publication but a Continuing westwards across the Irish Sea, Harnessing preliminary statement aimed at the general reader as the tides outlines the discovery and excavation of two well as the professional archaeologist. This project tidal mills at the important monastery of Nendrum, is particularly important for two reasons. The first

1184 oetsae(.7) lhuhtePro enclosure relatively 1 Period a the although on 76), (p. established scale was modest monastery the 650) fteeiec ugssta uigPro ( 1 Period during that suggests evidence spiritual the of of community itinerant an eccentrics to grant to happy ‘ seems been site the have established to was monastery the Before Ireland. or Scotland comparable know in other site any now of that we than organisation Portmahomack and of excavations layout Carver’s the about of more considerably result a Nevertheless, as archaeologist. the for pose monasteries fifth a to about (according ofthesite’sareaillustratesthegreatchallengemajor constitute Southern these 25m that calculations) the fact by rough way: my The long Sectors. this more Northern in and or on investigated 100m later were areas layout excavation wide Two site’s full 29). the for (p. of targets picture providing general and a evaluation the giving during stage, areas possible large proved ‘strip-and-map’ it to Portmahomack At standard. high Lottery Heritage in Funding)sothatlargeareascanbeexcavatedtoa million £2 almost with financed to was project essential Portmahomack (the is funding it major secure Instead a resource. deplete finite they and rather, precious these: like overall sites the of about organisation little very us tell usually excavations Iona showed on interventions O’Sullivan (in archaeological Jerry of review As his 150m. in more by probably 250m enclosure area than outer an early delimited D-shaped Portmahomack in at area The settlements complex Europe. the most medieval of and largest size the were important monasteries unprecedented major towns, particularly from Apart the excavated. is of project because this 196). Secondly, (p. out 560s the carried in Picts who the Iona among work of missionary Columba that by case founded the was strengthened has it he by century sixth issue, the established the in probably was on monastery the judgement that Scottish definitive showing short a early stops making wisely to of he contribution though major Furthermore, history. By a learning. made of Carver has Martin centre so, was this important that doubt beyond an showing was this that suggested its inscriptions, and with iconography Portmahomack, sophisticated around and but in sculpture Pictland, the pre-Viking of in establishment literacy and the the Christianity for on meagre evidence is historical There Portmahomack Pictland. enough of of heart the position in Firth Moray the to relates hrhArchaeology Church p 5.Wti h xaae ra,most areas, excavated the Within 75). (p. ’ ido at htakn ih be might king a that waste of kind a 19) -8,small-scale 5-18), (1998): 2 c . 550- 1185 Review savvdrmne ht hl i rln tleast) at Ireland (in while This that, sword. reminder the vivid to a put is community the least of at one member least burned, at and was destroyed cross-slab raid Sector monumental catastrophic one Northern a the was which there sometime in 830 that and at 780 found sort sound between He of this basis of evidence. the drama on archaeological time up this conjure but to Portmahomack, able been has taken] has drama he so doing sh omnshmef ‘ himself, comments though, he interpretation, as this dismisses convincingly to belonging ratios using out laid in ‘ excavated was Hall’ area ‘Smith’s this bow-shaped that large, argues ingeniously the Carver perhaps plate. metalworking, altar fine including for ( was 2 Sector Period Southern during evidence its occupation extensive than more for smaller much was marginally There only successor. area an delimited nte12sLwo on vdnefrafieat fire a to In for attributed marauders. he Viking evidence grounds, shaky found on which, Lawlor Nendrum in 1920s crypts the for In evidence century. no twelfth Ireland is the before in there Ireland rare and very 900 were before churches stone century mortared eighth the of Britain North stating influence, the ‘ Irish it open that represents leaves it these also that He in 88). possibility churches (p. crypts pre-Viking have some regions out, as points for, he influence Frankish or probably building Anglo-Saxon the represents correct, eighth-century is he the If site. during the at built boom was Carver this that church. argues semi-subterranean pre-1100 fabric a incorporates from crypt thirteenth-century found, the were but churches wooden graves of early traces No the male skeletons. contained of church parish also most multi-period that the is under fact Portmahomack the by of confirmed character monastic The is date. This to monastery 124). (p. vellum definite only of the production was the area for this more, used or years have hundred a Spall for Cecily that, shown and Carver through work, features: detective the these careful of of west discovery was significant excavation most whole The 118). marshy (p. mill, excavated a area the a for within been found turned was have mill-house well which no may though road dam This pond. a a a was into it, area there to Sector parallel Northern and, the In 130). (p. h ioac eista ed oteGle Section Golden the to tends that series Fibonacci the u ftest’ itr p 3) Carver 332). (p. history site’s the of out ’ ol o aebe u fpaei h rln or Ireland the in place of out been have not would parchmenterie ansigteTides the Harnessing oeo h oac and romance the of some tsesasaethat shame a seems it dnie ta Insular an at identified p 0.However, 90). (p. ’ c 5-8) The 650-780). . McErlean [in ’

Review Review most monasteries continued to prosper throughout read and should be considered a model for presenting the Viking Age, the initial impact of the Vikings must the results of a major research project in an accessible have been devastating. Equally interesting, though, is yet scholarly manner. It begins with an engaging, the fact that agriculture and metalworking resumed personal account of how the project came about and at Portmahomack immediately. According to Carver finishes with a useful (albeit preliminary) digest of from the ninth to the eleventh century the site evidence. In one or two of the plans different phases was ‘an industrially active farmstead’ (p. 142). There could have been distinguished a little more clearly were fewer burials in the excavated area and vellum (Figures 3.11 & 4.3), but most of the illustrations production ceased. Carver suggests that the church are excellent. There are very occasional slips and was ruinous throughout this period (pp. 142 & 147), other errors in all four books under discussion, but but the evidence for this seems equivocal and we in general the standard of copy-editing is high. In should consider the possibility that the site continued any case I do not consider it the purpose of a review to function as an ecclesiastical centre, even if it was article to enumerate minor blemishes: these do not no longer a monastery. detract from the terrific scholarship in evidence here. Along with a few other recent and forthcoming One hopes that this exemplary project will publications, these books will set the agenda for the inspire further large-scale investigations of major archaeological study of Insular monasticism for some monasteries. This preliminary publication is a joy to time.

Under the same sky: two British settlements in early colonial Australia Alistair Paterson∗

JIM ALLEN. Port Essington: the historical archaeology of Port Essington a north Australian nineteenth-century military outpost In 1969 Jim Allen completed the first PhD (Studies in Australasian Historical Archaeology 1). dissertation in historical archaeology in Australia xvi+142 pages, 111 illustrations, 95 tables. 2008. with his study of this British military outpost. Port Sydney: Sydney University Press/Australian Society Essington is the thesis published largely as submitted, for Historical Archaeology; 978-1-920898-87-8 with new useful pref- paperback AUS$ 49.95 + p&p. aces by Tim Murray GRAHAM CONNAH. The same under a different sky? A and the author. In country estate in nineteenth-century New South Allen’s ‘Retrospective (British Archaeological Reports International Series Introduction’ we learn 1625). x+270 pages, 174 illustrations. 2007. Oxford: that when a Pleistocene John & Erica Hedges; 978-14073-0059-7 paperback topic fell through, Port £45. Essington was pro- The publication of two archaeological monographs posed by John Mul- on key Australian colonial sites of the first half of the vaney as a suitable nineteenth century is a significant event in Australian project – which it was. archaeology. The books will also be of interest to those The British settlement interested in British settlement and colonial societies of Victoria located on Port Essington in far northern more generally. Australia was established in 1838 and abandoned

∗ Archaeology, School of Social and Cultural Studies, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6008 , Australia (Email: [email protected])

ANTIQUITY 83 (2009): 1186–1188 1186