Keep Calm and Frolic On: Monasterboice: St. Buithe and Beyond

On the same day that we visited Newgrange, February 11^th, we also visited Monasterboice, a Romanesque-style monastic center located in county Louth. It was founded by St. Buithe in the late fifth century, and was an important center of spirituality and learning for a number of centuries. According to a plaque that we saw at the site, the two churches that remain at Monasterboice today were probably built at the end of the fourteenth century or later.

The round tower at the site rests over the graves of some of those who lived there and the descendants of those who did, the top crumbled away in the aftermath of the fire that burned it in 1097. Apart from serving as the belfry, which was a main function of ancient monastic round towers in Ireland, this particular round tower was also presumably functioning as a treasury of manuscripts and wealth accumulated by the monastery during its heyday, because when the round tower was burned in the great fire, the books and treasures of the monastery were lost as well.

The great monuments of Monasterboice are its high crosses. Carved into the stone of the crosses are low-relief biblical narratives, which may have been used to tell the stories from the Bible to a congregation. Muiredach’s Cross, widely known as one of the most perfect high crosses in the country of Ireland, is named after an abbot who lived at the site, most likely Muiredach mac Domhnaill, who died in 923. This cross is 5.5 meters high, and is covered in sculpture that depicts both Old and New Testament stories. The west cross at Monasterboice is the tallest high cross in Ireland.

This monastic site is imbued with the same sort of historical significance that is present in Glendalough, the monastic site that we visited and reflected on nearly two weeks ago. It represents a robust integration of faith and scholarship, and a way of community life that is holistic in nature. In monastic communities such as these, people’s physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs were all met by the rhythm of daily life therein—there were times for both solitude and interpersonal interaction, and the early Christian could here find a place of peace and of purpose. Even today, people are still seeking out places where such primal needs can be met.

As we walked amongst the graves and snapped pictures of the round tower and the intricately sculpted high crosses, we certainly appreciated both the aesthetic beauty of the place—the invigorating greenness of the valleys below and the sparse yet striking outlines of the graves, monuments, and leafless trees, but our personal reactions struck deeper than that. We also appreciated what the remains of Monasterboice symbolize about the ability of Christians to come together and form a stronghold that promotes life and life to the fullest, a life lived in mutual support, a life, ultimately, in and with Christ.