Reconstructing Ruins: Part II Re-imagining the Romanesque
fig.1 Nun’s church at Clonmacnoise. photograph by Rob Hurson
The ruins of Ireland have experienced much. Their stones hold witness to the most significant episodes of Irish history. While these stones lay in rubble, a phantom of their true physical form hovers above, a completed form just beyond reach of the imagination. I wish to take this air of true form and, with the help of a pencil, Follow the lines and broken curves to recreate the ancient edifices bringing them back to their full glory.
The multitude of sites to choose from has led me to select a few of the most artistically unique ruins from two eras. Disclaimer: Drawing of buildings before their ruinous state is extraordinarily rare. These ‘reconstructions’ are an interpretations of their finished design from looking at what remains and adding in features no longer present that were common to buildings constructed during that time. Every ruin is an incomplete puzzle, and only by looking at other similar puzzles can one begin to fill in the pieces.
The Romanesque Era
fig.2
The Hiberno-Romanesque of the 12th century, that is the Irish version of Romanesque style, began with the building of Cormac's chapel (see figure 2) in 1134 which spurred a wave of new constructions all over Ireland. The Romanesque Era in Irish architecture was as much a stylistic change as it was a technological advancement.
Stylistically this era saw the explosion of stone carving artistry. Celtic knots and faces were carved into limestone and sandstone preserving their sculpture across the ages.
Structurally, the width of windows and doors were no longer relegated to the size of single horizontal lintel stones, but instead multiple stones forming an arch could bridge their gap. This style combined the beauty and strength of the rounded arch with Celtic features from early Christian Irish architecture such as stone roofs and finials.
The doorways of the Romanesque were magnificent things. (see Figure 1) Sets of of rounded arches, each one encompassing the next, building outwards making the doorway appear much larger than it is.
fig.3 Window from the chapel near Ardfert Cathedral. Photograph by Ian McKay
The windows of the Hiberno-Romanesque were small in comparison to the doors but were often heavily decorated (see Figure 3).
The great Irish stone roofs (See Figure 2) which appear to shrug off the passing of time as if it were a trifle, pointing upward at such steep incline as to invoke a sense of the gothic before it had even stepped onto the island.
The Romanesque era was without a doubt a time of incredible artistic achievement.
These building were designed as whole artistic expressions, to be viewed, appreciated, and experienced in their complete form. while the ruins certainly have their own and feeling of past grandeur, they hold only a candle to their prime, their golden age.
Toureen Peakaun
fig.4 Zoom in of the East Window detail
This first ruin I’ve chosen to reconstruct is small seemingly unimportant building, but on it’s site lays the oldest ever recorded High Cross in Britain or Ireland, dating to 700 AD. The building itself contains many unique artistic features such as carving around the windows and the Celtic crosses carved on either side of the east window. Little is known about the destruction of this church. like so many small churches it was forgotten about after the Reformation. What we do know is that the church is Romanesque and dates to the 12th century. The east window is peculiar in its combination of Romanesque window, pointed archaic surround that mirrors the roof-line and chevron “zig-zag“ decoration. The Reconstruction adds a wooden roof complete with wooden finials (the two hurley-looking pieces at the very top) which would be standard in a building of this era.
Clonmacnoise
fig.5 Illustration of the Clonmacnoise Crosier by James Ward
The monastic site of Clonmacnoise dates back to 544 A.D. and produced some of the finest artifacts of Ireland, including The intricate High Cross of the Scriptures, as well as the golden Clonmacnoise Crosier (See Figure 5). while the monastery produced great works of Celtic Christian art, its days would be numbered. In 1551 the site was looted by an English garrison of Athlone followed by it’s dissolution under Elizabeth I in 1568.
The building we will be taking a look at is Temple Finghin. A 12th century church built between 1160-1170 with an incorporated round tower, one of only 3 in all of Ireland. Only a few remnants remain from the spectacular doorway it once had, the bottom of which can still be seen today. A few voiusurs and capitals were recovered from an archaeological dig around the site which indicate the capitals (what sit ontop of the columns) had finely carved animal heads and that the voiusuers (individual stones that make up the arch) contained carved Celtic heads. It is believed that the round tower was the first to be built, and only after did it have a church built into it. The prowess of early Irish round tower construction is seen here, with its almost untouched appearance, while the 12th century church around it has fallen away.
St. Lua’s Oratory
Next is a church that has quite a migratory history as of late, which is odd for an old church ruin. The church was built on an island in the river Shannon. The main part of the church was built in the 11th century and a stone roofed chancel was added in the century following. Like Toureen Peakaun, there is no recording of the ruination of this church.
During planning of the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme in 1925 it was calculated that the island would become completely flooded. After considering a proposal to build a small dyke system around the island, Officials decided it would be best to just move the ruin. It was deconstructed, put on a barge, and floated down the river to its destination on a church's property in Killaloe.
Monaincha Abbey
fig.6 Monaincha Abbey, Photograph by Martin Carroll
A 12th century church near Roscrea, County Tipperary. The hill it currently sits upon was once an island named Inis na mBeo, meaning island of the living, before the lake around it was drained. The Augustinians built the present church in 1140 but the site had been in use since the 6th century. The Augustinians left the site in 1485, and again nothing is known of its demise after that point.
The front door of the church contains a beautiful Romanesque archway, and when walking inside an even larger chancel arch (arch that separates the nave from the chancel) is present. The chancel(the bit sticking out the right side from the above image) has 4 columns on its corners and a rounded little window out of its side. The supports that once held up the large medieval window inserts on the side have fallen out and the living quarters and sacristy wing of the building (See Figure 6) are but a gable and some rubble.
Reconstruction
The forms of the Romanesque are a key part to the architectural and artistic past of Ireland. the structure was a robust easel for which the Irish architects and stone masons could paint onto. Adding a robust chapter of artisanship to the book of Irish art and Architecture. it was the perfect technology to take the Irish from carpenters to stone carvers, allowing their work to survive to this day.
But that artistic legacy is at risk. Erosion eats away the most delicate details of Romanesque carving. The greatest cause of erosion is by rain. By restoring the structures their lives can be prolonged. In cases of loss of, new stones can be carved by budding stonemasons. on each project they can complete the old pattern to give wholeness to the piece of art, and to the piece of architecture as a whole.
Rock of Cashel. Photograph by Warren LeMay