The Early Christian Architecture of Ireland. 85 



Spain and Gaul ; and ultimately reached Ireland about the 

 sixth century. The Egyptian monks were anchorites and 

 coenobites, who isolated and secluded themselves from the 

 world as individuals and as communities. They had a strong 

 partiality for living in islands ; they first settled in the islands 

 around our western coasts, and afterwards in the islands of the 

 larger lakes. The following were occupied by these monks : — 

 The greater Skellig, the Arran Islands and others off the Gal- 

 way coast, Innishmurray, Tory, Rathlin, and the Copelands ; 

 Devenish in Lough Erne, Inniscaltra in Lough Derg, and some 

 of the islands in Lough Ree. One of these anchorites had his 

 dwelling on the top of Slieve Liag, in Donegal. St. Anthony 

 was the founder of these monastic orders in Egypt. He lived 

 to the age of ninety, and before his death had 5,000 followers. 



The lecturer gave further details of the origin of monasticism, 

 and proceeded to say: — These ancient monks lived in a different 

 manner from their successors in the Middle Ages. Their 

 dwellings were like those of the people of the district in which 

 they lived. If they knew the art of building with mortar, they 

 did not introduce it here at first, but were satisfied with such 

 dwellings as were then common in the country. We have 

 examples of these stone dwellings, and the remains of their 

 ancient churches on the Skellig Rocks, as well as on the coasts of 

 Kerry, Galway, and Clare. They have stood there since the 

 sixth century in the most exposed position in Europe, on an 

 isolated rock some 700 feet above the sea, exposed to all the 

 storms of the Atlantic. The late Earl of Dunraven was the first 

 to describe and get photographed these remains, dedicated to 

 St. Michael. The Admiralty placed at the disposal of the 

 Antiquarian Society a gunboat to bring the members from 

 Dingle to the Skelligs, a distance of forty miles. As the voyager 

 is exposed to the full fury of the Atlantic rollers, and as it is not 

 always practicable to land, all the members did not accept the 

 offer, but an alternative trip to Ardfert and Ratass, near Tralee, 

 was arranged for them. Mr. Milligan proceeded minutely to 

 describe the Christian remains on the Skellig Rocks, and 



