Date of Award

7-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Art History and Visual Culture

Department

Art

First Advisor

Nadia McDonald

Second Advisor

Marie Pareja

Abstract

This thesis examines how Irish high crosses functioned as structured visual forms through which religious authority and cultural memory were communicated within early medieval Ireland. Previous scholarship has emphasized the theological coherence of these monuments, often assuming a single idealized viewer. This study reconsiders Irish high crosses through the concept of multiple viewership by examining how different audiences may have encountered and understood these monuments. Using comparative visual and contextual analysis, this study examines four case studies: the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, Muiredach’s Cross at Monasterboice, the High Cross of Durrow, and the Market Cross at Kells. This study argues that Irish high crosses did more than illustrate biblical narratives. Their visual organization, orientation, and placement within the landscape shaped how sacred history was encountered and understood. By proposing multiple viewership as a framework for understanding these monuments, this thesis expands traditional iconographic approaches and demonstrates that Irish high crosses played an active role in communicating religious authority and preserving cultural memory within early medieval Ireland.

Research Highlights

  • The Problem: Previous scholarship on early medieval Irish high crosses emphasized theological coherence and assumed a single idealized viewer rather than examining how different audiences encountered and understood the monuments.

  • The Method: The research utilizes comparative visual and contextual analysis to examine the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, Muiredach's Cross at Monasterboice, the High Cross of Durrow, and the Market Cross at Kells.

  • Quantitative Finding: The majority of early medieval Irish high crosses were produced between 750 and 950 CE; many monuments range between three and five meters in height; the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise rises to approximately 3.9 meters; Muiredach's Cross at Monasterboice rises over 5 meters; the High Cross of Durrow is 3.74 meters tall; the block used for Muiredach's Cross weighed approximately ten tons and traveled more than twenty kilometers from Carrickleck Quarry.

  • Qualitative Finding: The visual organization, landscape orientation, and relief depth of Irish high crosses actively shaped the public encounter with sacred history; the monuments functioned as structured visual systems that supported multiple forms of simultaneous viewership for monks, pilgrims, and local travelers.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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