Dairthech

In Gaelic Ireland, between the 5th and 9th centuries AD, a dairthech[1] (literally "oak-house") was a type of oratory or church built of oak-wood.

[2] The dairthech was the earliest kind of church built in Ireland, from the earliest Christian times (5th century AD) onward.

[2] Some were wider up to 4.5 m (15 ft), and congregations of 150–260 people are recorded.

[5] Little is known about the internal structure of the dairthech, although descriptions of the murder of Echtigern in Kildare in AD 760 offer a few hints, mentioning a chancel-screen (Old Irish: cróchaingel) and altar (altóir).

Cogitosus describes painted partitions dividing clergy from laity and women from men.