Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Side 43

THE LEIRVÍK “B0NHÚSTOFTIN” AND THE EARLY CHRISTIANITY OF THE FaROE ISLANDS, AND BEYOND
to generation by a non-celibate clergy (Ó
Corráin 1981, 388).
Normally, early ecclesiastical
sites in Ireland are defined by circular
or sub-circular enclosures. The enclosing
element is usually an earthen bank with
an external fosse, but in the west of the
country it often takes the form of a stone
wall or bank. Most of these enclosures
measure 30 m or more in diameter, while
some of the large monasteries are con-
tained within enclosures measuring over
200 m across. Their circuits define the
monastic termon or area of sanctuary, the
legal area belonging to the monastery.
In the case of smaller hermitage sites
the enclosing elements may have been
regarded as boundaries between sacred
and secular land. Almost invariably, a
church and burial area are found within
the enclosed space and huts or houses
are also usually present, but the follow-
ing features may also be found depend-
ing on the complexity of the site: cross-
inscribed slabs or pillars, leachta and
other forms of shrines, ogham stones and
bullauns. Many of the larger sites also
feature impressive monuments such as
high crosses and round towers (Manning
1995; Hughes and Hamlin 1997, 54-56).
The focal point of such enclosed
ecclesiastical sites was the church. Many
stone examples of Early Medieval date
survive and literary and historical sources
indicate that wooden churches were also
very common. The churches often stood
in the eastern part of the enclosure, where
the burial grounds also tended to be
located. Many simple examples of stone,
built without mortar, are on record from
enclosed sites in county Kerry, in the
southwest of the country (Cuppage 1986,
257-346; O’Sullivan and Sheehan 1996
246-322). These are rectangular struc-
tures, almost invariably aligned east-west,
and are usually of corbelled construction.
A small window in the east gable lights
them and the doorway occurs opposite.
The Kerry churches are typically small:
one of the largest examples, Church
Island, measures 5.7 m x 3.8 m internally,
while the internal dimensions of the two
smallest examples, Loher and Kildreelig,
are approximately 3.2 m x 2.3 m. Church-
es of this type are mainly confined in
their distribution to the southwest of Ire-
land. A number of outliers, however, are
on record from counties Clare and Mayo,
further north along the west coast. It is
of particular interest in the context of the
present discussion to note that a small
number of corbelled churches of the same
general type also occur in the Hebrides,
off Scotland’s northwest coast, though
Swift appears reluctant to connect these
with the Irish sites (1987, 349). These
include St. Flannan’s on Eiliean Mor,
North Rona and Teampaill Beanachadh.
There are obvious differences
between Ireland’s Early Medieval eccle-
siastical sites and the North Atlantic sites
of the type dealt with in this paper. How-
ever, there are also important similarities
and these are sufficient to suggest that
the latter sites should be considered in
the context of the Irish evidence (as well
as the Scottish sites which develop as a
result of Irish influence). The relevant
churches from the Faroe Islands, Iceland
and Greenland are similar in scale and
general ground plan to many churches
from ecclesiastical sites in Early Medi-
eval Ireland, particularly those from the
west and southwest. On the other hand,
the enclosures of the North Atlantic sites
are quite small compared to typical enclo-
sures found on Irish ecclesiastical sites.
However, the important point in this con-
41