each particular category of landholder. Finally, the
extent also tells us about the buildings at the manorial
center, which include a castle, with a farm and a cattle
shed and other diverse farm buildings, a columbarium
for doves, three gardens for fruit and vegetables, and
two mills.
In the expansionary period of the thirteenth century,
production on the demesne farms, particularly in the
southeast, was so successful that large amounts of
hides, wool, and grain, in particular, were exported
from the region’s major ports, such as Waterford to
Britain and to Continental Europe. At an individual
manorial level, this period of economic expansion is
best illustrated in the few surviving manorial account
rolls that were compiled for the greatest landholders,
such as the Bigod, earls of Norfolk, for their extensive
landholdings in Wexford and Carlow. These record
annually, at the end of September, all items of manorial
income and expenditure, whether in cash or kind. But
the more severe times of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries put pressure on this surplus production, so
that by this latter period Ireland was again importing
grain for its own use. This classic system of medieval
manorialism declined in importance as the area con-
trolled by the Dublin government shrank throughout the
later Middle Ages. It probably came to an end in the
seventeenth century, as the many wars of that century
were followed by large-scale land redistribution that
finally broke up many of the old feudal estates.
TERRY BARRY
References and Further Reading
Empey, Adrian. “Medieval Knocktopher: A Study in Manorial
Settlement–Part 1.” Old Kilkenny Review2 (1982): 329–342.
Hennessy, Mark. “Manorial Economy in Early Thirteenth-
Century Tipperary.” Irish Geography29 (1996): 116–125.
Lydon, James. The Gill History of Ireland. Vol. 6,Ireland in
the Later Middle Ages. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1973.
See alsoAgriculture
MANUFACTURING
SeeCraftwork
MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION
The production of manuscripts formed a significant
activity in early Christian Ireland. The arts of callig-
raphy and decoration were widely practiced, with
scribes holding a high position in society. Illuminated
manuscripts from the period between the sixth and
ninth centuries represent high points in Ireland’s artis-
tic history and have helped to define the country in a
cultural-historical sense.
The travels of Irish missionaries abroad exerted
wide influence on calligraphy and decorative tech-
niques. Important Irish manuscripts survive from cen-
ters in Europe. Early seventh-century copies of works
by Jerome (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, S.45.sup)
and Orosius (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, D.23.sup)
were probably produced at Bobbio, founded in 612 by
St. Columbanus of Bangor, County Down. The latter
manuscript contains the earliest surviving “carpet
page” in insular art. (A carpet page is one composed
entirely of ornament. “Insular” is commonly used as
a broad and neutral term to describe the characteristics
of the style in art and script.) A fragmentary gospel
book, “Codex Usserianus Primus” (Dublin, Trinity
College, 55), contains a cross monogram, set within a
triple frame, between the gospels of Luke and Mark.
The Greek letters alphaandomegaare placed on either
side of the cross. Generally believed to have been made
early in the seventh century, “Usserianus Primus” has
recently been ascribed to the fifth century and to a
continental center (Dumville, 1999). Several important
manuscripts, including a strikingly decorated Gospel
book from the eighth century (St. Gallen, Stiftsbiblio-
thek, 51), survive from St. Gallen in Switzerland,
which was founded by one of Columbanus’s disciples.
St. Colum Cille, or Columba (c. 521–597) is a key
figure in any account of Irish illuminated manuscripts.
Born in Donegal around 521 into the ruling Uí Néill
dynasty, Colum Cille traveled to Scottish Dál Riata
with twelve companions around 561. The monastery
he founded on Iona, off Mull (Argyll), became the
head of a wealthy monastic confederation stretching
from Ireland through Scotland to the north of England,
where Lindisfarne was its most significant foundation.Folio 58v from the Book of Kells. The Board of Trinity College
Dublin.MANORIALISM