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The Domnach Airgid (; also Domhnach Airgid, English: Silver Church or Shrine of Saint Patrick's Gospels)Shrine of Saint Patrick's Gospels: early 20th century (original dated 1080–1100)
. New York:
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
. Retrieved 2 July 2021 is an 8th-century Irish wooden
reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...
. It was considerably reworked between the 13th and 15th centuries and became a
cumdach A (, in Irish "cover"Joynt (1917), p. 186) or book shrine is an elaborate ornamented metal reliquary box or case used to hold Early Medieval Irish manuscripts or relics. They are typically later than the book they contain, often by several c ...
or "book shrine", when its basic timber structure was reinforced and decorated by elaborate silver-gilt metalwork. Its front-piece was enhanced by
gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
showing Jesus in "
Arma Christi Arma Christi ("weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with the Passion of Jesus Christ in Christian symbolism and art. They are seen as arms in the sense of heraldry, and also as the weapons Christ ...
" (with Instruments of the Passion), alongside depictions of saints, angels and clerics, in scenes imbued with complex
iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
. It is thus considered a mixture of the early Insular and later
International Gothic International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by th ...
styles. The Domnach Airgid is one of the few extant Irish shrines thought to have held non-Irish relics.Moss (2014), p. 295 When opened in the 19th century, the shrine was found to hold badly decayed leaves from a 6th-9th century
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
recounting the
Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
written in Vulgate Latin. Thirty-nine pages of the manuscript survive, each measuring about nine inches in height. Based on the inscriptions, it is thought to be one of the earliest surviving depictions of apostles portrayed with their
attributes Attribute may refer to: * Attribute (philosophy), an extrinsic property of an object * Attribute (research), a characteristic of an object * Grammatical modifier, in natural languages * Attribute (computing), a specification that defines a proper ...
and Instruments of the Passion.Moss (2014), p. 294 It has been in the
National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thre ...
(Kildare Street site) in Dublin since 1847. There is an early 20th century replica in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York. The earliest records title the shrine as "Domnach" (pronounced ''Donagh''), a word derived from the Latin " Dominicus" (''Belonging to God'' or ''of the Master''). The antiquarian George Petrie (1790–1866) was one of the first to describe the Domnach Airgid, and strongly believed the early medieval box was created as a host for relics, and only later became decorative shrine and container for Gospel manuscripts.Petrie (1839), p. 20


Description

The Domnach Airgid is oblong in shape, and is 23cm high, 16.7cm wide and 9.8cm long. It contains three covers, each build during separate phases. The inner-most is made of Yew-wood and dates to the early medieval period, when the object was built to hold relics and portions of a Gospel. The middle cover dates from the 14th century and is made of
tinned Tinning is the process of thinly coating sheets of wrought iron or steel with tin, and the resulting product is known as tinplate. The term is also widely used for the different process of coating a metal with solder before soldering. It is most ...
copper-alloy Copper alloys are metal alloys that have copper as their principal component. They have high resistance against corrosion. The best known traditional types are bronze, where tin is a significant addition, and brass, using zinc instead. Both of t ...
plates lined with sliver, while the 15th century outer cover is formed from silver plated with gold.Bourke (2006), p. 35


Early medieval casket

The original early medieval casket was built to hold
relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s, and is dated to either the late eighth or early ninth century.Moss (2014), p. 31 It consisted of a single yew-wood chamber with a sliding door, and was covered with tinned bronze plates decorated with interlace.O'Curry (Wentworth, 1861), p. 322 The original plates on the sides of the shire are still visible.Overbey (2006), p. 489 It is traditionally associated with Patrick and believed to have been in his possession and sanctified by himO'Curry (Dublin Review, 1861), p. 12 before he presented or gave it to St Macartan (454—506), the first
Bishop of Clogher The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the ot ...
in
County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...
. This story is first mentioned in a 7th-century vita of St. Patrick, in which the shrine is named as the Domnach Airgid.Overbey (2006), p. 488O'Floinn (2002), p. 176 The original casket may have been referred to in the 10th century "Tripartite Life of St Patrick", which mentions gifts made to him, including relics of the Apostles, portions of the
True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...
, and tufts of
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
's hair, or the
Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
. Historians believe that such relics would have been collected during trips by Irish clergy to Rome.Moss (2014), p. 33


14 and 15th century plates

The shrine was significantly remodeled around 1350 under the commission of John O’Carbri, abbot of Clones,
County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...
.Stalley (1977), p. 217 The work was completed by the Clones craftsman and goldsmith John (Eoin) Ó'Bárdáin, whose signature (''IOHANES: O BARRDAN: FABRICAVIT'') is engraved on the shrine.Armstrong; Lawlor (1917), p. 126 Ó'Bárdáin is known to have lived in
Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
,O'Floinn (1996), p. 40 and modernised its appearance in the contemporary
International Gothic International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by th ...
style, including the covering of the earlier wood shrine with tin-lined bronze panels decorated with interlace knots.O'Toole (2013), p. 98Hourihane (2012), p. 510 O’Carbri likely had political motivations for commissioning the redesign in the context of the
Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly sanc ...
. The Normans sought to undermine the established order, in part via an attack on Irish Christianity, in an effort to detach the island from its Celtic heritage. In response, some clerics fought back by refurbishing and restoring early medieval sacred objects in order to reinforce the island's cultural identity. During the first phase of reworking, the front plate (frontpiece) was replaced with four rectangular, silver gilt panels. A full-length, high-relief (''alto-relievo'') representation of the crucified Jesus positioned between these panels forms its center point. The
Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
, shown in the form of a dove enamelled in gold, hovers above his head. A small, square reliquary decorated with crystal is positioned above the dove, and is presumed to have once held what its owners believed was a fragment of the
true cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...
.O'Curry (Wentworth, 1861), p. 323 The four panels around Jesus contain eleven smaller, ornately and delicately figures carved in low-relief (''basso-rilievo''),O'Floinn (2002), pp. 261–262, 270 They depict saints and clerics dressed in clothes that draw from both early medieval Irish and European
gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
styles. File:Domhnach Airgid Scribe.jpg, alt=Lower left hand panel with scribe handing a book shrine to a cleric, The Domnach Airgid presented by St Patrick to St Macartan in a
mise en abyme In Western art history, ''mise en abyme'' (; also ''mise en abîme'') is a formal technique of placing a copy of an image within itself, often in a way that suggests an infinitely recurring sequence. In film theory and literary theory, it refers t ...
type later known as the
Droste effect The Droste effect (), known in art as an example of ''mise en abyme'', is the effect of a picture recursively appearing within itself, in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. This produces a loop which in ...
File:Domhnach Airgid Crop1.jpg, Upper left hand panel of the frontpiece, showing the
Archangel Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
and
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
File:Domhnach Airgid Crop.jpg, Lower right hand panel, with an
abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...
and two clerics or saints, possibly the three Irish
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
s,
Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...
,
St Brigid Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogra ...
and
St Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...
. File:Domhnach Airgid (Peter and Paul),.jpg, Upper right hand panel; unidentified figure (possibly St James),
St Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...
, Paenl showing St Paul and two others The upper left hand panel shows the Archangel_Michael_and_the_Virgin_and_Child_depicted_in_the_Nursing_Madonna_(''Virgo_Lactans'')_style._In_the_panel_to_their_right_a_unidentified_figure_wears_a_broad_brimmed_hat_and_holds_what_may_be_
Archangel_Michael_and_the_Virgin_and_Child_depicted_in_the_Nursing_Madonna_(''Virgo_Lactans'')_style._In_the_panel_to_their_right_a_unidentified_figure_wears_a_broad_brimmed_hat_and_holds_what_may_be_Palm_branch">palms._He_stands_alongside_saints_
Archangel_Michael_and_the_Virgin_and_Child_depicted_in_the_Nursing_Madonna_(''Virgo_Lactans'')_style._In_the_panel_to_their_right_a_unidentified_figure_wears_a_broad_brimmed_hat_and_holds_what_may_be_Palm_branch">palms._He_stands_alongside_saints_Paul_the_Apostle">Paul_ Paul_may_refer_to: *Paul_(given_name),_a_given_name_(includes_a_list_of_people_with_that_name) *Paul_(surname),_a_list_of_people _People _Christianity *Paul_the_Apostle_(AD_c.5–c.64/65),_also_known_as_Saul_of_Tarsus_or_Saint_Paul,_early_Chris_...
_and_
Archangel_Michael_and_the_Virgin_and_Child_depicted_in_the_Nursing_Madonna_(''Virgo_Lactans'')_style._In_the_panel_to_their_right_a_unidentified_figure_wears_a_broad_brimmed_hat_and_holds_what_may_be_Palm_branch">palms._He_stands_alongside_saints_Paul_the_Apostle">Paul_ Paul_may_refer_to: *Paul_(given_name),_a_given_name_(includes_a_list_of_people_with_that_name) *Paul_(surname),_a_list_of_people _People _Christianity *Paul_the_Apostle_(AD_c.5–c.64/65),_also_known_as_Saul_of_Tarsus_or_Saint_Paul,_early_Chris_...
_and_Saint_Peter">Peter_ Peter_may_refer_to: _People *_List_of_people_named_Peter,_a_list_of_people_and_fictional_characters_with_the_given_name *_Peter_(given_name) **_Saint_Peter_(died_60s),_apostle_of_Jesus,_leader_of_the_early_Christian_Church *_Peter_(surname),_a_sur_...
._The_scribe_in_the_lower_right_panel,_who_may_represent_St_Patrick_ Saint_Patrick_(_la,_Patricius;__ga,_Pádraig_;__cy,_Padrig)_was_a_fifth-century_Romano-British_Christian_missionary_and_bishop_in_Ireland._Known_as_the_"Apostle_of_Ireland",_he_is_the_primary_patron_saint_of_Ireland,_the_other_patron_saints_be_...
,_presents_a_cumdach,_seemingly_the_Domnach_Airgid_itself,_to_St_Macartan.Moss_(2014),_p._477_Above_Jesus's_head_is_a_squared_shaped_hollow_space_intended_as_a_holding_space,_which_historians_such_as_Rachel_Moss_view_as_possibly_intended_to_hold_a_"passion_relic"_of_the_True_Cross.Moss_(2014),_p._68_Above_that_again_is_an_enameled_Escutcheon_(heraldry).html" "title="Saint_Peter.html" "title="Paul_the_Apostle.html" "title="Palm_branch.html" ;"title="Nursing_Madonna.html" ;"title="Archangel Michael and the Virgin and Child depicted in the Nursing Madonna">Archangel Michael and the Virgin and Child depicted in the Nursing Madonna (''Virgo Lactans'') style. In the panel to their right a unidentified figure wears a broad brimmed hat and holds what may be Palm branch">palms. He stands alongside saints Paul the Apostle">Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
 and Saint Peter">Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...
. The scribe in the lower right panel, who may represent
St Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...
, presents a cumdach, seemingly the Domnach Airgid itself, to St Macartan.Moss (2014), p. 477 Above Jesus's head is a squared shaped hollow space intended as a holding space, which historians such as Rachel Moss view as possibly intended to hold a "passion relic" of the True Cross.Moss (2014), p. 68 Above that again is an enameled Escutcheon (heraldry)">heraldic shield In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the s ...
, decorated with a rock crystal, a precious stone that was rarity in Ireland at the time.Moss (2014), p. 113 The lower short-side contain a three plates also adorned with figures of saints. A cross added in 15th century to the rear panel depicts the three
Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...
. Other additions by craftsmen during this refurbishment include three circular mounds on the top plate, each of which were set with
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
crystals, though one is now lost. A number of other figures, including running animals and
zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...
grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...
s, some with unusually large jaws and bulbus eyes, were placed on small mounts at the borders and corners of the frontpiece.Moss (2014), p. 60 The dove hovering above Christ's head was also added during this rework.


Manuscript

The folios of an eight or ninth century
illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...
manuscript were found within the shrine when it was opened in 1832 by the antiquarian
William Betham William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
. The manuscript reproduced a
Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
written in
Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
Latin,Domnach Airgid
.
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...
. Retrieved 26 February 2021"The Study of Celtic Literature". ''
The Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill in London.Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, ''Dictionary ...
''. Guildford: Cornhill 1993. p. 296 and inscribed with Irish majuscule script.Diringer (1986), p. 464 The book is severely damaged, with just 39 extant leaves intact, of which some have become detached from their casing. It is today catalogued as MS. 24. Q. 23.Domnach Airgid. Sections of the Gospels in Latin enclosed in a "silver shrine" called the Domnach Airgid. 8th - 9th c.
.
National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...
. Retrieved 30 May 2021


Provenance

The Domnach Airgid was kept over the centuries various religious houses and by local families in the Clogher and Clones region.Duffy; Jackson (2009), p. 117 It is thought to have been owned by "The Lord of
Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...
", who was likely a member of the Maguire family executed following the
Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...
.Bernard (1896), p. 303 It is first mentioned in modern literature by John Groves in 1819, when it was then kept as private heir-loom in
Brookeborough Brookeborough (; Irish: ''Achadh Lon'', meaning 'Field of the Blackbirds') is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, at the westerly foot of Slieve Beagh. It lies about eleven miles east of Enniskillen, just off the A4 trunk road, and ...
,
County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...
.Bourke (2006), 31Lucas (1986), p. 22 In 1832 it was purchased by the Dublin bookseller George Smith, before it was acquired by the
Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
peer, Henry Westenra. Petrie described the shrine detail c. 1835-39, and in 1896 John Bernard published a detailed paper on the manuscript.Armstrong; Lawlor (1917), p. 96 In 1918 Edmund Armstrong and H. J. Lawlor provided in-depth descriptions and accounts of its symbolism provenance for the Clogher Diocesan Register, and their work is still considered largely definitive.Bourke (2006), p. 32 It was acquired by the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...
from Petrie in 1847, shortly after his death. It was acquired during a period of refocus and acquisition by the Academy (as they put it "judicious purchasing"), in part influenced by the antiquities dealer Redmond Anthony's (1768-1848) collection of Irish medieval jewelry and decorative art works.Cahill (1994), p. 54 The museum's new directive sought to bring from private to public collections works of national historical significance such the
Cross of Cong The ''Cross of Cong'' ( ga, Cros Chonga, "the yellow baculum") is an early 12th-century Irish Christian ornamented cusped processional cross, which was, as an inscription says, made for Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (d. 1156), King of Connacht an ...
(a donation from 1839) and the
Ardagh Hoard The Ardagh Hoard, best known for the Ardagh Chalice, is a hoard of metalwork from the 8th and 9th centuries. Found in 1868 by two young local boys, Jim Quin and Paddy Flanagan, it is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. ...
(acquired 1874), that had languished merely as curiosity pieces. The shrine was transferred to the
National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thre ...
,
Kildare Street Kildare Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. Location Kildare Street is close to the principal shopping area of Grafton Street and Dawson Street, to which it is joined by Molesworth Street. Trinity College lies at the north end of the ...
, Dublin, on its founding in 1890.


Condition

Due to its age, the Domnach Airgid is in poor condition. Areas of the gilding contain accumulations of dirt, and any colourisation has long since faded, leading to its current dark appearance of mostly brown and black hues. The metal works between the front piece plates are disjointed, while the back end is mostly lost, with just the bronze sheet, which may be early, remaining exant. Petrie said that the order of some of the figures was changed during a then recent repair of the front cover. However he had an earlier drawing of the shrine, from which he based some of his descriptions.Petrie (1839), p. 15


References


Citations


Sources

* Armstrong, Edmund; Lawlor, H. J. “The Domnach Airgid." ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature'', volume 34, 1917. pp. 96–126. * Arnold, Matthew.
The Study of Celtic Literature
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External links


Photographs of leaves from manuscript MS. 24. Q. 23
Royal Irish Academy {{Insular art 6th-century illuminated manuscripts 9th-century illuminated manuscripts Bookbinding Collection of the National Museum of Ireland Cumdachs Gospel Books Irish manuscripts Christian reliquaries