Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/243

Rh Ek. VI. Ch. V. ORATORIES. 227 purpose. His real crime was that, like the leopard, he could not change his spots. He belonged to a different race, and the Irish have always chosen to cherish the idea of vengeance and suffer the derangement consequent on it, rather than enjoy peace and prosperity under those they hated. Art is a plant too tender to flourish in the garden of hatred, and it has consequently been long banished from Irish soil, though, under gentler influences, it is probable that it might be more easily revived and more successfully cultivated there than in any other part of the British Isles. Whatever may be the fate of art in Ireland for the future, the history of the past is sufiieiently discouraging. The cathedral of Dublin must always have been a second-class edifice for a metropolitan church, and those of Cashel and Kildare, Avhich are as celebrated and as important as any in Ireland, are neither so large nor so riclily ornamented as many English parish churches. The cathedral of Lismore has entirely disappeared ; and, generally, it may be asserted that, throughout the country, there is not one cathe- dral church remarkable for architectural beauty or magnificence, though many are interesting from their associations, and picturesque from the state of ivy-clad ruin in which they appear. The same is true with regard to the monasteries — they are nume- rous ; and many, though small, are rich in detail. One of the most elaborate is that of the Holy Cross near Cashel, erected in the 15th century. This, like every other building of the Gothic period in Ireland, shows a strong aflinity to the styles of the Continent, and a clearly marked difference from those of this country. Some of the monasteries still retain their cloisters, which, in all instances, have so foreign an aspect as to be quite startling. That at Muckross (Killarney) retains the round arch on two sides with the details of the 15th century. That at Kilconnel (Woodcut No. 662)* looks more like a cloister in Sicily or Spain than anything in the British Islands. None of them seem large. The last named is only 48 ft. square, though, if more extensive, it would be out of place com- pared with the rest of the establishment. There is scarcely a single parish church of any importance which was built in Ireland beyond the limits of the Pale during the Middle Ages, nor, indeed, could it be expected that there should be. The parochial system is singularly unsuited to the Celtic mind at all times, and, during the Gothic period, the state of Ireland was espe- cially unfavorable to its development, even if any desire for it had existed. What the Celt desiderates is a hierarchy who will take the trouble of his spiritual cares off his hands, and a retreat to which he can ' The woodcuts in this cliapter are, with one or two exceptions, borrowed from Wilkinson's "Ancient Architec- ture and Geology of Ireland."