IRISH ART. At a very early period the Irish showed themselves not only capable of inventing a style of architecture for themselves, but perfectly competent to carry it to a success ful issue when the proper occasion arose. Dur ing the troubled centuries preceding the Anglo Norman invasion the Irish built round towers and oratories of a beauty of form and with an elegance of detail that charm even at the present day. Their metal work showed a true appreciation of the nature of the material, and an artistic feeling equal in kind to anything in the best ages of Greece or Italy; and their manuscripts and paintings exhibit an amount of taste which was evidently capable of reaching great artistic heights, did not the invasion of the Normans banish that peace and sense of security which are indispensable fpr the cul tivation of the softer arts. The early churches were extremely small, and appear to have been used principally as oratories, where the priest could officiate, and to which a small square chancel was attached. The naves were covered with barrel vaults, over which was a hollow chamber called an overcroft, covered by a steep pitched roof, generally of stone, as at Cormac's Chapel, Cashel, probably the finest example in Ireland, Saint Kevin's Kitchen, Glendalough, and other places. Windows appear to have been unglazed. The monasteries form another class of building, and Professor Stokes refers to a group of seven small churches found at Inch leraun, similar to some in Asia Minor and else where. The monastic cells at the Skellings are peculiar, being of beehive form, with domed stone roofs in horizontal courses, as in the early work in Greece at Mycenm and elsewhere.
The Round towers, generally detached and placed near the church, have been a subject of much controversy; one view is that they were used as treasure houses, refuges, bell towers and for displaying lamps at night time. They all taper slightly toward the summit and are generally crowned with either a conical cap or battlemented covering. The entrance door way was several feet from the ground. As architectural objects these towers are singularly pleasing. Their outline is always graceful, and the simplicity of their form is such as to give the utmost value to their dimensions. Few can
believe that they are hardly larger than the pillars of many porticoes and that it is to their design alone that they owe that appear ance of size they all present. They are among the most interesting of the antiquities of Europe.
Within the English Pale the influence of Continental art was felt during the Middle Ages, but few monuments of importance were erected. The cathedrals of Dublin, Kildare and Cashel were the most important, but the absence of parish churches is remarkable. The mon asteries and friaries, principally Franciscan, are small, usually having a nave and choir, prob ably sometimes divided by a wooden screen, a transept and southern aisle, cloisters and a tower. The best known are those at Cashel, Kilconnell and Muckross.
Owing to the disturbances in Elizabethan times there is no domestic architecture of note, but the earlier castles built by the chieftains are interesting. The great crosses scattered through out Ireland are important as examples of sculp tural art of an advanced type. The crosses are of Christian origin and. bear on all their sides reliefs representing incidents of the New Testament story.
In the working of gold early Ireland pos sessed skilled craftsmen and the museums of Ireland and England contain many fine speci mens of brooches, tins and other jewelled orna ments. Swords, knives, etc., of the pro-Nor man period show special skill in design and workmanship. The existing body of manu scripts is very large and exhibits some wonder ful work in the art of illumination. The famous 'Book of Kells> is one of the world's choicest manuscripts. After the Norman invasion Irish art declined and it is only since the beginning of the present century that a healthy national life bids fair to create a new artistic era for Ireland. (See CROSSES; IRISH MUSIC; IRISH ARCHAOLOGICAL REMAINS; MANUSCRIPTS, ILLU MINATED). Consult Champney's 'Irish Ecclesi astical Stokes, M., 'Early Chris tian Architecture in Ireland) (1878); Dun raven (Eard of), 'Notes on Irish Architec ture) (1877).