What are keeills?

St Patrick and the first Christians
According to tradition, the first Christian missionary to the Isle of Man was St Patrick. He is said to have landed on St Patrick's Isle, a small islet that is now the site of Peel Castle, at some point during the 5th century AD.

One of Patrick's first acts was to see off the ancient magician, Manannan, who had dominated the island until then and whose ability to turn himself into a three-legged creature ('Whichever way you throw me, I stand') is said to be the basis of the triskelion symbol that appears on the Manx flag.

Whatever the truth behind the legends, and whether or not it was Patrick himself who first brought Christianity to the Isle of Man, it was certainly monks from the monasteries that he founded who were foremost in spreading the Christian faith across the Irish sea.

Early keeills
These early missionaries, the first of whom arrived on the Isle of Man around 500 AD, brought with them knowledge of agriculture and other skills as well as their faith, which helped them to win the trust of the people who lived there. They built tiny, simple chapels, or keeills, from which they would preach and minister to the local community.

The earliest of these were made of turf and vegetation, and have all been lost. The remains that have survived date from a later period; most keeills are thought to have been in use from the 8th century onwards, falling out of use by around the 12th century. They were mainly built with unhewn or roughly worked stones, slabs and rubble, supplemented with earth and turf supporting structures. Some later keeills utilised shell mortar and cement in their construction but most were fairly crudely put together.

The majority of these structures were surrounded by burial grounds, which contained the earliest Christian memorial stones (carved with crosses) found on the island. They were usually built on a natural or artificial mound, often the site of earlier burials or monuments, and in many cases there would be a spring or holy well (a chibbyr) nearby.

Viking influences
During the 10th century, Viking raiders settled the island, introducing pagan beliefs and laws. Within a hundred years, however, the settlers adopted Christianity, combining their own mythology and iconography with those of the Christian population, and the keeills reverted to their original use. As a result keeill sites are often very complex – as well as both Christian and pagan burials, including Bronze-Age barrow mounds, they can include an enclosure around the structure itself, various phases of construction from different periods and even Viking ship burials.

At least 174 keeills have been recorded, and it is thought that more than 200 were once scattered across the Isle of Man. Most of these have been lost, often as a result of subsequent rebuilding – many medieval churches, such as Kirk Maughold and Kirk Christ Malew, were built on what were originally the sites of keeills.

Reckless excavation
Only 35 keeills can be readily identified today, and virtually all of these were rather recklessly excavated (by modern standards at any rate) by Victorian and Edwardian antiquarians. Little of archaeological value has survived, although we do know that while the layout of different keeills was broadly similar, their size varied considerably.

Carl J S Markstander, a Norwegian professor who carried out what remains the most extensive survey of keeills on the Isle of Man in the 1930s, described this variation: 'The Ballachrink keeill in Marown measures only 10 feet × 6 feet inside. Otherwise they may attain 23 feet × 13 feet (Keeill Vian, Lonan), even 57 feet × 18 feet (St Patrick's Chapel, Patrick's Isle), and 75 feet × 24 feet (St. Trinian's, Marown). The walls vary in thickness from 2 feet 4 inches to 4 feet 8 inches and are, on the outside, protected by an embankment of earth and stones, in height 2-5 feet, in depth 4-10 feet.'

Professor Markstander continued: 'The shape is rectangular with no division between nave and chancel. The door, which is narrow and tapering towards the top, is usually situated in the western gable. The window – as a rule only one – is built at a height of 2-3 feet above the floor. The altar is invariably placed against the eastern wall, attaining a height of about 2 feet.'

The keeill excavated by Time Team fitted into this general pattern. It, too, was found to have the kind of walls described by Professor Markstander; the same rectangular shape and no identifiable internal divisions; a single narrow entrance; and evidence of an altar against the eastern wall.

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