A monk in an early Irish monastery

My name is Brother Brendan and I live in a monastery called Glendalough. The monastery is in the mountains near a river and it is a really quiet place, far away from everyone. I joined the monastery when I was 16 years old and I was called a novice. The man in charge of the monastery is called the abbot. After five years I took vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. I was given a brown habit to wear. The largest building in our monastery is the church. All the monks live in small beehive cells made of stone. We have also built a very tall round tower in our monastery. We are afraid of being attacked by the Vikings. If an attack takes place, we all go into the tower for protection and bring all our precious goods with us. I rise before dawn every day of the year and spend the first part of the day praying. My main job in the monastery is that of a scribe. I spend many hours decorating manuscripts, which contain stories from the bible. I make all my own coloured inks and paints and the material I write on is called vellum. All the monks in the monastery have many different jobs. Some work on the land while others do the cooking. One monk carves special high crosses and another uses silver and gold to make beautiful chalices. Some of the monks have left the monastery to go overseas to Europe to spread the Christian religion. These monks are called missionaries but I expect to stay in this monastery until I die and I don't think I'll ever see any of my family again.