The archaeology of the medieval church

There are many problems associated with any investigation and analysis of the archaeology of the medieval church in Ireland. One major difficulty is the lack of archaeological excavation of any but a very small number of medieval ecclesiastical sites. One of the reasons for this lies in the continuing use of the graveyards around the church buildings which would make exploration a very difficult task. And, unlike in England, the churches or abbeys themselves are usually in ruins so that burials have also taken place inside them in post-medieval times. There have, therefore, been very few excavations of the many medieval parish church remains that are to be found all over Ireland. The situation regarding medieval religious houses is a little better, although many of the excavations here have concentrated upon the church and claustral areas so that our knowledge of the outbuildings and the lay brothers’ range is almost non-existent. Thus our understanding of the socio-economic impact of these religious foundations upon medieval life generally has not yet been substantially advanced by archaeology. Another problem has been that these excavations have often treated the site in isolation from the surrounding patterns of settlement.