Kells Augustinian Priory

The original nave was an aisleless rectangle with three doorways, including two opposing doorways in the north and south wall to the west, but no west doorway as was usually the case in monastic churches. At the east end was a doorway providing access to the canons. When the north aisle was added (mid thirteenth century) a four-bay arcades replaced the north wall. In the late medieval period, a wall was inserted between the nave and the crossing, which might have been part of stone rood-screen. The arcade to the north aisle was blocked with low walls, and the aisle was turned into a chapel or abandoned altogether.

The nave was extended to the west by the middle of the thirteenth century, and a tower and aisle were built on its north side, possibly, in part, to accommodate the growing populations in and around Kells town. Sections of the original west wall can be seen on either side of the walls.
In the late medieval period, the nave was divided into two sections by a masonry wall, the east end fitted with stalls for members of the community, while the western half was either closed off or continued to be used by the laity.

The crossing tower in Kells priory is a late medieval addition, which is unusual in an Augustinian context. Pointed arches connect the crossing with the chancel (seen here to the left) and the north transept, but the nave and south transept were closed off in the late medieval period (as seen here to the right).

A view of the top floors of the crossing tower looking east. We know from nineteenth-century illustrations of the priory that the tower had battlements, similar to that of the tower houses of the enclosure. The tower might also have had a defensive or protective purpose, though it would not have been its primary function.

A view of the north window of the north transept arm, which is undergoing conservation work at the moment. Fourteenth-century sections of window tracery recovered during excavation and partly reassembled probably belong to this window. Window glass and floor tiles were also recovered.

A view of the north transept arm. As a result of its extension in the late thirteenth century, the church plan became lopsided, as the presence of the cloister and domestic buildings to the south meant that the south transept could not be similarly extended. The three arches in the west wall of the transept are post-medieval in date.

The north transept was extended in the late thirteenth century or early fourteenth century, around the same time as the Lady Chapel was built, the construction of which had truncated the existing north transept arm. In addition to the main axis of the new transept, an eastern aisle was built, shortened by the position of the Lady Chapel.
It was entered though an arcade of two arches, was a lean-to structure, and would likely have housed two chapels.

The Lady Chapel, seen here from the exterior of the church, abutting the chancel to the north, might have been built at the same time or shortly before the chancel was extended. The side chapel in the original north transept was incorporated in the new chapel. Features surviving in situ and revealed during excavations (doorways, piscina, windows, mouldings…) show unity in the architectural design of the chapel.

The chancel was enlarged in the second half of the thirteenth century, suggesting the size of the community had increased, prompting the need for a larger chancel. The walls would have been smoothly plastered and painted with a false ashlar masonry pattern, traces of which remain. Loose fragments were also recovered, with drapery and part of a human face represented, and suggesting that the false ashlar design was interspersed with figures.

The eastern extension of the chancel was lit by a large east window taking up most of the gable, comprised of five simple graded lancets which would have been fitted with stained glass, fragments of which were recovered inside and outside the east gable. The glass was decorated with vine-leaf motifs.

A view of the chancel from the exterior of the church.

A view of two of the four tomb niches in the chancel, in the north wall. Fragments of painted plaster suggest they were painted orange. Although the slabs that would have covered them are gone, it is likely that they were the tombs of important patrons or members of the religious community such as priors.

The Prior’s Tower, a tower house located directly to the south of the chancel, was built in the fifteenth century. Despite its name, there is no evidence that this is where the prior lived. It is different from of the tower houses built at the time because it was a monastic residence, not a secular one. The living quarters in the first and second floors were rather comfortable, the main chamber fitted with mortared floor and a fireplace and its walls painted in bright colours. The bedroom was probably in the second floor, where a mural garderobe adjoins the room.

Another view of the Prior’s Tower. Its position directly to the south of the chancel suggests that its ground floor might have been used as the sacristy, instead of storage space like in many tower houses. The presence of a fireplace suggests at the very least a domestic purpose for that floor.

A view of the chapter house, looking west towards the cloister. On either side of the doorway are two unglazed openings, a rather common arrangement in chapter houses. Excavations uncovered stone benches along the north and south walls of the room. It is a rather small example of chapter room, being fully incorporated in the range and not projecting eastward like was sometime the case elsewhere. However, the two openings in the west wall would have allowed member of the community to follow the proceedings taking place inside while standing in the cloister walk.

A view of the east range from inside the chapter room. The original east range was comprised of five rooms, with the main dormitory in the upper floor. The first room, directly south of the transept, does not seem to have been the sacristy as was commonly the case, as there was no doorway connecting it to the transept. The next room was the chapter room, and beyond it (seen here to he left) were an unidentified small room, a calefactory, and a further ‘unclassified’ small room at the south end of the range. Excavations revealed that a fire damaged the east range, probably sometimes in the second half of the thirteenth century, perhaps when the town of Kells was burnt by William de Bermingham in 1252.

The west range was built in the first half of the thirteenth century. Excavations have revealed it had a timber roof covered with slates and tiled along the ridge, two of which were recovered. Even though remains of partition walls exist, during the monastic occupation the ground floor was not divided up, and was probably used as a storeroom, with a passage (slype) at the east end connecting the cloister with the lower ranges beyond the building, and a wooden stair at the west end giving access to the refectory on the upper floor.

The refectory was located in the first floor of the south range, which occurred at other Augustinian priories such as Athassel (Co. Tipperary). At the east end of the room in the south wall was the reader’s pulpit, in a barrel-vaulted alcove. The refectory was well lit on its south side, as shown by the double-light that survives, and a nineteenth-century painting shows that there were another three similar windows in that wall. The windows were glazed, and sherds of thirteenth or fourteenth-century stained glass were found inside and just outside the range.

Like the two other ranges, the west range was a two-storey building, though very little of the walls remain. It was the cellarer’s range, and in the ground floor was a large storeroom under his responsibility, where food and drinks were kept. At the north end a passage connected the cloister with the western precinct. A doorway in the south wall gave access to the outer court of the priory, through which provisions were brought in from outside the precinct. The upper floor might have housed the prior’s apartment, at least until the fifteenth century, when the Prior’s Tower was built to the south of the chancel.

Although the arcade that would have surrounded the garth and supported the ambulatory lean-to roof does not stand anymore, enough fragments have been recovered to reconstruct what it would have looked like, with double slim columns with bases and capitals carved with botanical and dogtooth ornaments, and pointed, cusped trefoil arches.

Another view of the cloister garth, showing the remains of the east and south ranges.

The cloister walk, or ambulatory, was covered by lean-to roofs resting on the arcade surrounding the garth, allowing for a protected access to the church and all rooms of the domestic ranges. Along the north side of the walk (seen here at the end of the walk on the picture) and of the west side were stone benches. These were the warmer sides and there the canons could sit while studying and meditating.

Another view of the cloister walk looking south through the passage or ‘slype’ at the east end of the south range, which would have given the canons access from the cloister to the courtyard beyond. In the cloister walk, on its south side (the opposite side to the one pictured here) was the lavabo, where the canons washed their hands before entering the refectory in the south range.

The east lower range, located beyond the east range to the south, was built in the mid to late thirteenth century, and was a single-storey, large single room, though only very low remains of its walls survive. It made up the east side of the courtyard delimitated by the cloister south range to the north, and a south and west lower range. It has been suggested that the east lower range was used as a guesthouse.

This range, located to the south of the courtyard, was probably where the monastic infirmary was housed, although the excavation did not bring conclusive evidence confirming this. It was built in the second half of the thirteenth century, contemporaneously to the east lower range, and was also a single-storey building. It was made up of two room, a hall and a chapel to the east. There was a small annex abutting the main building to the south, with two small rooms, perhaps where possibly reserved for the infirmarer.