mceRnAcionAL
SHRINE OP SAINT MUNCHAN
Rel iqaavies o f&AEUG SAINTS
rhat era which wit- Centuries old shrines dlS- dred years. The little bell
nessed the rise and p[ay greaj- beauties in silver within the case beIongs to
t^ffl Qf^-T, and stone of Irish crafts- oldest class of Christian
was heralded by the skilled L ' antiquities 01 Ireland and is
craftsmanship of pagan Ire- iiiitiLo iLtjj believed to have been the
land, its dawn marked by EILEElNf -BUCKLEY verY one carried by the
the coming of Patrick, the great apostle himself, who
adoption of whose doctrines resulted in a zeal for was the first to introduce these objects into his
Christian learning unprecedented among other chosen land.
nations. As far as European civilization is con- Dating from the end of the eleventh century,
cerned during that period, the influence of the the reliquary was the gift of the monarch Domnell
Irish element is perhaps second only to that of the O'Lochlainn, to Armagh, the oldest see in Ireland.
Byzantine Empire. The twelfth century found Inscriptions on the back margins record Cudulig
the art of the Occident bright with the promise Ua Inmainen and his sons as the artists, Cathalan
of the golden harvest it was yet to yield, but in Ua Maelchallann as hereditary keeper. In 1441
Ireland growth was abruptly halted when Norman the bell seems to have been transferred to the
barons, having exhausted the parceling of British O'MuIhoIIands, in whose possession it remained
soil, turned to the fresh fields lying westward. until shortly before relinquishment to the Dublin
The Shrine of St. Patrick's Will or Bell of Museum sometime within the past century. The
Armagh might well serve to symbolize the united change of custodian may have merely meant
achievement of Celtic craftsman and missionary another branch of the same family, as O'MuIhoI-
during that age when the star of destiny shone on land would seem to be the Anglicized form of the
the name of Ireland. The splendid relic alone Gaelic Ua Maelchallann.
boasts an authentic history of more than eight Comparatively well preserved, the shrine is
hundred years, and, if we include the rude, iron fourteen inches high, the lower portion constructed
hand bell which it was made to enshrine, the con- of bronze plates overlaid with decoration, the
tinuity stretches backward for over fourteen hun- upper division, or handle, being of silver. Gold
NOVEMBER I925
one thirty-seven
SHRINE OP SAINT MUNCHAN
Rel iqaavies o f&AEUG SAINTS
rhat era which wit- Centuries old shrines dlS- dred years. The little bell
nessed the rise and p[ay greaj- beauties in silver within the case beIongs to
t^ffl Qf^-T, and stone of Irish crafts- oldest class of Christian
was heralded by the skilled L ' antiquities 01 Ireland and is
craftsmanship of pagan Ire- iiiitiLo iLtjj believed to have been the
land, its dawn marked by EILEElNf -BUCKLEY verY one carried by the
the coming of Patrick, the great apostle himself, who
adoption of whose doctrines resulted in a zeal for was the first to introduce these objects into his
Christian learning unprecedented among other chosen land.
nations. As far as European civilization is con- Dating from the end of the eleventh century,
cerned during that period, the influence of the the reliquary was the gift of the monarch Domnell
Irish element is perhaps second only to that of the O'Lochlainn, to Armagh, the oldest see in Ireland.
Byzantine Empire. The twelfth century found Inscriptions on the back margins record Cudulig
the art of the Occident bright with the promise Ua Inmainen and his sons as the artists, Cathalan
of the golden harvest it was yet to yield, but in Ua Maelchallann as hereditary keeper. In 1441
Ireland growth was abruptly halted when Norman the bell seems to have been transferred to the
barons, having exhausted the parceling of British O'MuIhoIIands, in whose possession it remained
soil, turned to the fresh fields lying westward. until shortly before relinquishment to the Dublin
The Shrine of St. Patrick's Will or Bell of Museum sometime within the past century. The
Armagh might well serve to symbolize the united change of custodian may have merely meant
achievement of Celtic craftsman and missionary another branch of the same family, as O'MuIhoI-
during that age when the star of destiny shone on land would seem to be the Anglicized form of the
the name of Ireland. The splendid relic alone Gaelic Ua Maelchallann.
boasts an authentic history of more than eight Comparatively well preserved, the shrine is
hundred years, and, if we include the rude, iron fourteen inches high, the lower portion constructed
hand bell which it was made to enshrine, the con- of bronze plates overlaid with decoration, the
tinuity stretches backward for over fourteen hun- upper division, or handle, being of silver. Gold
NOVEMBER I925
one thirty-seven