Skeuomorphic design elements from early Irish stone churches
Chelsea Tabert

A skeuomorphic design is a design cue which was necessary in the original design. This can relate to the outwards, triangular thrust of the early Irish stone churches, as well, the antae and various other elements. One element, the antae, has been believed to be a translation into stone of the corner posts of timber prototypes; however this idea is very controversial.

For example, the Romanesque church at Kilmalkedar Co, Kerry provides us with some insight into the skeuomorphic package designs which includes “stone copies of end rafters, finials, and shingles in the form of small, carefully squared blocks of stone.” (O Carragain) This particular church holds high significance and has more skeuomorphic design elements than any other church found. The complex arrangement has also been found in Norwegian stave churches.

Kilmalkedar shows detail of both antae and a stone roof in the northern most corner, and unusual finding. It appears as if there are skeuomorphs of bipartite wall plates, and eaves in between the corner post and end rafters. The eave course may indicate that that this was based off of a wooden roof of Romanesque type, where the triangular roof frames extend beyond the lateral walls of the building.
Moving on, according to chapter one of Ó Carragáin’s report, and the Book of Kells, there has been recordings of a distinctive outwards thrust in some early medieval churches found throughout Denmark and various other countries in continental Europe. The tresses found in these particular churches are not necessarily common in Ireland, but there is a similarity that is worth mentioning.

When contrasting the antae as antae we notice that it is a very common feature across many varieties of architecture. For example, Arthur Champneys believed that the Irish antae derived from places such as Greek temples, and expressed that he believes they are an imitation of roman architecture. Again, this is only one ideology.

As stated by Ó Carragáin, another possibility for where these skeuomorphic designs originated from is Anglo-Saxon England. Recently it has been shown that versions of these Italian churches were erected in the seventeenth century and hold numerous similarities, particularly when examining their principal doorways , which are a reminisce of Irish churches.

A final key note that sparks some interest is that it was suggested that the writings of Bede had influenced the decision to build the church of St Martin’s, Armagh of stone. This would have been the first church that St Augustine used upon his arrival. Also, if the antae were adopted in Ireland during a time of Romanitas, one could assume the inspiration could have come directly from Rome.