Kilteel, the romanesque church and graveyard in the field.

Back in July, we visited the romanesque church and graveyard at Kilteel, Co. Kildare, yet another example of an Irish graveyard the like of which could be found in no other country. After cycling for about an hour, we arrived at Kilteel and at first we were not sure we were going the right way, as all we could see was a field with cows, and a castle in it. That's right. A castle. In a field.

With cows grazing and a barn right next to it. To this day (almost two months after our visit) Cédric has still not gotten his head around this. And I found out in the meantime the castle is now a national monument. I don't hink any national monument in France would be so simply part of the landscape. There would be signs, a plaque, a protective area, and in many cases an entrance fee.

But here, ancient national treasures are simply there, no need for special treatment. And so we finally found the graveyard, a few metres down the same field, originally hidden from our view by a tree and remains of an ancient wall. Wild tough it looks from this angle, there was actually a

gate to the field a bit further down, so access was rather easy, despite the big black cow who would not stop staring and loudly mooing at us. It is a good thing the bull did not seem to pay any mind to her (we only noticed him later, he was on the other side of the graveyard, I'm not sure I would've dared cross that field if I'd known he was around).

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Once safe in the enclosure, I was in for a fabulous surprise. I had been told the graveyard was worth visiting, but I had no idea the adjoining romanesque church would be such a rich, original piece of architecture. All we could see of it from the road was the fragment of a wall, and even from within the graveyard its incredibly fine sculptured chancel arch is hidden among the trees

until you physically reach it. It is said to be the only scuptured romanesque chancel arch in the country, and it is a three order arch (meaning the pillar is made up of three "columns"). Before even having a look at some of the motifs, one thing that struck me is the curious way it was restored (at least for a French visitor, it might be very usual here). A quick look at this picture (right) should be enough to realise little of the original arch is actually still standing. The missing parts of its pillars have simply been filled in with bricks, giving it a strange hybrid character which actually works rather well, especially now that the brick parts are so weathered and the ivy is creeping over them (and at least it is clear which are the ancient parts). From the little information I've gathered, it seems there was a monastic site at Kilteel since as early as the 6th century, and it  became home to a preceptory of the military order of Knights Hospitallers, founded by Maurice Fitzgerald in the early 13th century. Except for parts of the outer walls and of the chancel arch, not much of the church remains.

Probably due to little intimate knowledge of biblical references, parts of the art of the pillars remains mysterious to me, and some of the interpretations I have found contradict each other.

David carrying the head of Goliath (left) is the only scene I identified for sure. If you are not paying attention, you might mistake David for a pilgrim, until you notice the head on his staff (and by the way Goliath has an impressive beard and curly hair). I saw mentions of an Adam & Eve scene, but could not identify it. Maybe the site has gotten more weathered, or my pictures are low quality. I don't think my biblical knowledge would be so bad as not to recognise Adam & Eve. I've also seen mention of a Samson & Dalida scene which I can't find, and one page about Kilteel mentions the possibility that two entwined figures might be "beard pullers". I wouldn't know about that, but this has led me into a whole new dimension of religious art I had no idea about. This page gives many examples, some pretty explicit.

Three other figures are relatively easy to read, although I have no idea how they should be interpreted. The first one is most probably a bishop, maybe the founder? The second is most mysterious to me; an acrobat whose meaning I can't decipher. Maybe a biblical reference I'm lacking? There is clearly something just over the acrobat's figure, but I can't make out what it is. The last picture shows two men embracing, probably soldiers given their headdresses, which means they might actually be wrestling?

Finally, of course I could not discuss Kilteel old church without mentioning the impressive heads on top of the capitals, and the intricate designs their hair and beards form, typical of romanesque art, and clearly inspired by Irish metal and manuscript art. In the last of these pictures, the hair is so dynamic it looks alive, and one feels like foliage or fantastic animals might just appear suddenly. The faces themselves also impress by their fixed, intense, almost judgemental look.

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The surrounding graveyard was so overgrown it made for no easy exploration, so I have less to

say about graves than I usually would. It does seem to still be in use, though, as I identify two graves (both of chidren) dated from the 1990s, and even one from January 2020. There was no headstone on this one yet, just the name and date of death on a small plaque. I even wondered if it could simply be a commemorative plaque for someone buried in another place, but the soil did seem like it had been moved rather recently.

The Brown family headstone is a fine example of how memories of past communities are maintained in Irish graveyards. The type of the original stone would have been usual in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is so weathered it has become unreadable, and the spiraling decorations are hardly discernable. But when James Brown Jnr. died in the 1980s, a plaque was made to record the weathered out names, up to his grand-father Richard, died 1879.

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Kilteel certainly holds many more treasures, unspotted, hidden among the high grass, elderflower, and yew, and under the vigilant watch of the field's occupants.