Timeline for Why were monasteries built in obscure places around Ireland?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 2022 at 8:29 | comment | added | RedSonja | Define remote: in the days before good roads, people travelled by boat. Places on islands and peninsulas were easier to reach than places inland. | |
| Oct 15, 2022 at 17:55 | vote | accept | Ethan Chan | ||
| Oct 14, 2022 at 13:33 | comment | added | T.E.D.♦ | Probably the grand champion of this kind of idea was the monastery that they built in Iceland before the Norse decided to settle there. I think most likely the monks were initially carried there in Norse ships. | |
| Oct 14, 2022 at 12:48 | comment | added | Damion Keeling | Asceticism played a part but many early religious sites were built next to pagan sites to control them. Monasteries were very important centres but when Henry VIII introduced protestantism that included the dissolution of the monasteries in Ireland. Without the scholars, wine makers, and other activities, these places were slowly abandoned so while they're in remote locations now, they were once political and cultural hubs with economic activity too. | |
| Oct 14, 2022 at 9:52 | comment | added | Jan | I also think this is not unique to Ireland. The Catherine Monastery in Egypt or the monasteries on Mt. Athos or on the Meteora rocks in Greece (just to name a few famous ones) are in rather remote places as well. | |
| Oct 14, 2022 at 7:41 | history | answered | John Strachan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |