«3 



gers to sedentary pursuits. Cattle-tending and hunting were 

 their constant occupations. Forays and skirmishes with neigh- 

 bouring clans were the scenes in which the men delighted to 

 display their strength and skill. 



In referring to the architecture of early Christian times, Mr. 

 Workman said that the monastery characterised the Irish Chris- 

 tianity of the sixth century. The primitive Irish monasteries 

 were very practical institutions. Having no missionary societies 

 to aid them, the brethren supported themselves cultivating the 

 soil, rearing cattle and fowl, and fishing the loughs and seas. 

 Their spiritual work was the instruction of Christian converts 

 and the training of young evangelists. Division of labour de- 

 veloped the gifts of individuals : the ready writer copied manu- 

 scripts, the artist illuminated them, and the man skilled in 

 metals wrought the croziers and relic shrines which display 

 such care and taste. 



There is ground for considering that these monastic institu- 

 tions were peculiarly adapted to the state of the country. Ire- 

 land was peopled by a number of independent tribes continually 

 at war. Plunder and slaughter were the serious business of the 

 chieftains and the work they demanded of their followers. 

 How were Christian converts to live in societies where they 

 must follow these practices ? And how, on the other hand, 

 could they exist outside the protection which the clan afforded 

 to its members ? Both missionaries and converts required the 

 protection and encouragement which the monastic community 

 afforded. The monks adapted themselves to the customs of 

 the people, and adopted the rath as a defensive enclosure of the 

 space on which they erected their chapel and cells ; and the sole 

 distinction of the monastic rath is the presence of a chapel of 

 rectangular form, in a few instances cemented with mortar. 

 The monks dwelt in globular cells, armed similarly to those 

 already described. Thus the ecclesiastical establishment was a 

 half military camp down to the twelfth century, for the Irish 

 Church was truly a Church militant, and her chapels and houses 

 had need of all the protection the rath could afford. As 

 to materials, Mr. Workman showed that Irish ecclesiastical 



