COUNTRY Heritage

NATIONAL MONUMENTS AN ROINN EALAÍON, OIDHREACHTA AGUS GAELTACHTA | DEPARTMENT OF ARTS, HERITAGE AND THE GAELTACHT Medieval grange farms

n the 12th century, there was a religious revolution This is the latest in a series of articles from the National Monuments Service throughout Europe, resulting of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to introduce Farmers in the foundation of many Inew orders. The were Journal readers to the archaeology of and to highlight the vital role among the o rst of the Continental orders to come to Ireland from of the farming community in preserving our heritage. France, settling by the Mattock Riv- er at Mellifont, Co Louth, in 1142. Their outstanding architec- tural appreciation is rep ected in Bective Cistercian , near Trim, Co Meath. the impressive abbeys which now BELOW LEFT: Boyle Cistercian Abbey, Co Roscommon. constitute some of our most pictur- BELOW RIGHT: The Bullock gatehouse in Dalkey, Co Dublin. esque ruins, such as at Bective, Co Meath and Boyle, Co Roscommon. The ordered layout of their build- ings contrasted sharply with the informality of the Irish monasteries. This systematic approach was also evident in how they managed their farms. The Cistercians were extensive landowners and played a pivotal role in the economic life of medieval Ireland, as elsewhere in Europe. At their height, they are be- lieved to have owned half-a-million acres in Ireland. Their estates were centres of excellence in agriculture, milling and o shing. They created markets for selling cattle, horses and wool, and were the medieval equivalent of Teagasc, Ireland’s leading agricultural development Pictures: © National Monuments Service Photographic Unit organisation.

FARM MANAGEMENT The Cistercians introduced a radical scheme of farm management which had previously been pioneered on the Continent and in Britain. Their rules demanded that each abbey be self-sufo cient. Because the order depended on its own labour, it cre- ated the institution of the lay broth- er to provide agricultural labour. They exploited their lands through a series of model farms known as granges – a generic term for buildings, especially store houses devoted to agricultural production. In Ireland, the word “grange” was used to describe a farm inclusive of land and buildings or, alternatively, to describe a farmyard where only within a large rectilinear enclosure ed. Some grange enclosures were ration has been corroborated in the plough teams were housed and bounded by multiple ditches and replaced by a walled bawn such as the o eld at Knowth, Co Meath, the grain stored. Sometimes a preo x banks. In large granges, there might those at Monkstown Castlefarm, Monkstown Castlefarm, Co Dublin, was added, such as saltgrange, iron- be an inner and outer enclosure. Co Dublin, Knowth, Co Meath, and and comparative Irish Augustinian grange or sheepgrange, to indicate a The enclosure was breeched by Milltown, Co Roscommon. granges. The Cistercians’ medieval specialist function. The Cistercians’ monastic an impressive gated entrance and In some parts of the country, farming system resulted in the con- The Cistercians’ monastic es- the approach to the gate took the the granges were further fortio ed solidation of vast estates across the tates were divided into granges that estates were divided into form of a causeway or bridge. A o ne with tower houses such as those at country. Many of these maintained were worked by directly employing granges that were worked example of such a gatehouse can , Grangeford and - their integrity as landed estates in lay brothers, or conversi, for agri- by directly employing lay be found in Dalkey, Co Dublin. This grange on the Abbey the post-dissolution period. cultural labour. They were therefore brothers, or conversi, for rectilinear form was introduced monastic estate in Co Wicklow. The Cistercians established a able to establish a self-sufo cient agricultural labour. They were from the Continent and is earlier Each grange had its own nucleus model of farm and farm layout for economy at each of their houses. therefore able to establish than the Anglo-Norman moated of farm buildings. The diversity of mixed farming and the legacy of These independent monastic a self-sufficient economy at sites of the 13th to 14th century, grange outbuildings described in their efo cient courtyard farm has farms supplied the mother-house each of their houses. which probably adapted the grange historical accounts indicates mixed continued into modern times. In- with agricultural products that were enclosure. farming practice that required a deed the full courtyard layout is by processed on the home grange, The frequent state of war and variety of buildings for closely inter- far the most common form of farm which would also have had addi- unrest in the countryside, coupled related farm activities. layout in modern Ireland. CL tional facilities like kilns and mills. with the valuable nature of many Within the grange, individual The farmstead of the Cistercian Cistercian granges, meant that de- farm outbuildings were arranged NEXT WEEK: ANGLO-NORMAN grange in Ireland was contained fensive measures had to be adopt- around a courtyard. This cono gu- CASTLES OF IRELAND

All recorded archaeological monuments are protected under the National Monuments Acts 1930-2004. Visitors to monuments on lands in private ownership should request permission from the landowner. If you would like to know more about the archaeological monuments on your land or in your locality, please visit www.archaeology.ie. Any questions or feedback can be forwarded to [email protected]

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