Figure 27.5 St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny. Begun in 1210, the cathedral was completed in 1270, in the Early English Gothic style.
Clerestory windows in quatrefoil surrounds
West door
Wooden roof
Clerestory windows
Lancet windows
Figure
and plant carving
Arcade
Composite pillars
supporting the crossing tower
Figure 27.7 The west door of St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny.
Decoration
Quatrefoil (four-leaved) decorations appear in a number of areas. A quatrefoil stone moulding frames the outside of the clerestory windows, the west doorway has a quatrefoil centrepiece and the arches have a four-part decoration.
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Cashel
Figure 27.6 The interior of St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, looking east down the nave. The capitals in the nave are plain and there is little decorative carving on the interior fabric.
CHAPTER 27 THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD (c. 1200–1500s)
Cashel was in an area of Anglo-Norman influence, even though the archbishops were of Irish decent. It was the centre of an archdiocese, so an impressive building was needed. Cormac’s Chapel and the
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Quatrefoil decoration
UNIT 9 LATE MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE AND ART (c. 1100–1550s)
