88 The Early Christian Architecture of Ireland. 



to the period of square-headed doorways with inclined sides, 

 and the latest to the Romanesque or circular-headed doorways. 

 The style of the doorways and windows of the round towers, 

 as well as the masonry, compared with precisely the same 

 class of work and design in the churches, the dates of which 

 are known, is, to my' mind, one of the most convincing proofs 

 of the Christian origin of the round towers. In Glendalough 

 and Clonmacnois a round tower is in each place built into 

 the church, forming part and parcel of it ; — this also is a very 

 strong testimony on the side of those who believe in the 

 Christian origin of the towers. Miss Stokes refers to an impor- 

 tant discovery made in the year 1847 at the base of the round 

 tower of Kilkenny, where it was satisfactorily shown that the 

 tower was built on a portion of ground that had been used for 

 centuries previously as a Christian burial-ground, and from the 

 position of the bodies under the base of the tower and of por- 

 tions of the coffins, it was satisfactorily established that Christian 

 burial had taken place there long previous to the building of 

 the tower. Pointed, or Gothic architecture, which superseded 

 the Romanesque, was introduced in the North of France towards 

 the close of the twelfth century, and rapidly spread to England; 

 the choir of Canterbury Cathedral was built in this style from 

 1 174 to 1 185. The Christian architects of the twelfth century 

 constructed clustered columns, groined vaults, pointed arches, 

 and flying buttresses, which enabled them to dispense with 

 the massive walls of the Norman builders. The introduction 

 of high pointed arches, in which the weight of the superincum- 

 bent wall rested upon a point, the crown of the arch, and thus 

 diminished the powerful outward thrust of the round, heavily- 

 loaded arch to the utmost possible extent, gave quite a new 

 character to the architecture of the time. The walls were now 

 Hght and lofty, and the supporting piers were made correspond- 

 ingly light. The result was the Gothic cathedral, with its 

 spacious nave and choir, its airy spire, and infinite variety of 

 graceful and fanciful decorations. Examples of the transition 

 from the Romanesque to early English pointed architecture were 



I 



