DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.47496#0086
66 EARLY CHRISTIAN ART IN IRELAND.
of Ireland. This fine example of goldsmith’s work must have
been executed between the years 1091 and 1105, when Donell
MacAulay, whose name is given in the inscription, filled the
See of Armagh. The shrine is made of brass, on which the
ornamented parts are sastened down with rivets. The front is
adorned with silver-gilt plates and knot-work in golden filigree.
The silver work is partly covered with scrolls, some in alto-
relievo, and some in bas-relief. It is also decorated with gems
and crystal, and on the sides are animal forms elongated and
twisted into interlaced scrolls. (See Fig. 18.)
CH covers or shrines for bells seem to be
unknown in any other branch of the Christian
Church. Six examples of these beautiful reli-
quaries are still in existence. Besides that
■X from the county of Antrim, already men- '
Yll tioned, we have the shrine of St. Patrick’s
Il Bell in Armagh; the Barnaan Cualawn, or
III Q\ shrine of the Bell of St. Culanus, in Tip-
perary (Figs. 19, 20); that of St. Mura’s
Anz Bell at Fahan in Donegal, that of the
SyKl Bell of Conell Cael in Glencolumbkill,
'JI County Donegal, that of the St. Mogue
A\ or Moedoc from Templeport in the county
I of Cavan, the Clogh Oir or Golden Bell of
III Senanus in Scattery Island at the mouth
z of the Shannon. We know of no other
reliquaries of this exact nature outside of
Ireland except the two in Scotland, described by Dr. Anderson
in his work entitled “ Scotland in Early Christian Times the
bell-shrine found near Kilmichael Glassary which he believes may
date about the twelfth century, and may have belonged to
St. Molua of Lismore in Ireland; and the bell-shrine of Guthrie
in Forfarshire.
of Ireland. This fine example of goldsmith’s work must have
been executed between the years 1091 and 1105, when Donell
MacAulay, whose name is given in the inscription, filled the
See of Armagh. The shrine is made of brass, on which the
ornamented parts are sastened down with rivets. The front is
adorned with silver-gilt plates and knot-work in golden filigree.
The silver work is partly covered with scrolls, some in alto-
relievo, and some in bas-relief. It is also decorated with gems
and crystal, and on the sides are animal forms elongated and
twisted into interlaced scrolls. (See Fig. 18.)
CH covers or shrines for bells seem to be
unknown in any other branch of the Christian
Church. Six examples of these beautiful reli-
quaries are still in existence. Besides that
■X from the county of Antrim, already men- '
Yll tioned, we have the shrine of St. Patrick’s
Il Bell in Armagh; the Barnaan Cualawn, or
III Q\ shrine of the Bell of St. Culanus, in Tip-
perary (Figs. 19, 20); that of St. Mura’s
Anz Bell at Fahan in Donegal, that of the
SyKl Bell of Conell Cael in Glencolumbkill,
'JI County Donegal, that of the St. Mogue
A\ or Moedoc from Templeport in the county
I of Cavan, the Clogh Oir or Golden Bell of
III Senanus in Scattery Island at the mouth
z of the Shannon. We know of no other
reliquaries of this exact nature outside of
Ireland except the two in Scotland, described by Dr. Anderson
in his work entitled “ Scotland in Early Christian Times the
bell-shrine found near Kilmichael Glassary which he believes may
date about the twelfth century, and may have belonged to
St. Molua of Lismore in Ireland; and the bell-shrine of Guthrie
in Forfarshire.