Ardagh Chalice
Encyclopedia
The Ardagh Hoard, best known for the Ardagh Chalice, is a hoard of metalwork from the 8th and 9th centuries, found in 1868 and now in the National Museum of Ireland
in Dublin. It consists of the chalice, a much plainer stemmed cup in copper-alloy, and four brooches, three elaborate pseudo-penannular ones, and one a true pennanular brooch of the thistle type; this is the latest object in the hoard, and suggests it may have been deposited around 900. The chalice ranks with the Book of Kells
as one of the finest known works of Insular art
, indeed of Celtic art
in general, and is thought to have been made in the 8th century AD. Elaborate brooches, essentially the same as those worn by important lay-people, appear to have been worn by monastic clergy to fasten vestment
s at the period.
) called Reerasta, beside the village of Ardagh
, County Limerick
, Ireland. The chalice held the other items, covered merely by a slab of stone; the pieces must have been interred in a hurry, probably temporarily, as though the owner probably intended to return for them at a later time. The brooches found with the chalice show that it was not buried until the Viking
period.
. Techniques used include hammering, engraving, lost-wax casting, filigree
applique
, cloisonné
and enamel
. Even the underside of the chalice is decorated (photo below).
According to the art historian Lawrence Stone
(writing before the discovery of the Derrynaflan Hoard
): "Here the Irish artist has shown a capacity for classical restraint by a deliberate decision to prevent the ornamentation from spreading so copiously as to blur the proportions... contrasting markedly with the lavish ornamental spread of the almost contemporary Tara Brooch
and the still more elaborate systems of the later period. The bulk of the decoration consists of exquisitely drawn spiral or interlace patterns, given depth by the soldering of two layers of gold thread one on top of the other. At intervals are set cloisonné enamel bosses of blue and red, the complicated manufacture of which shows direct continuity with the Anglo-Saxon jewellers' craft of the preceding century. But apart from the extraordinary perfection of execution of this elaborate decoration, what gives to the Ardagh Chalice its outstanding position in Irish metalwork is the strictness of the relationship between the simple swelling lines of the cup and its base and the arrangement of the glittering studs, bands, and roundels that adorn its surface." The standard monograph is L.S. Gógan, The Ardagh Chalice.
The chalice is similar to the only other major early Irish example to survive, the Derrynaflan Chalice
, found close by in the neighboring County Tipperary
. That was found with a paten
and liturgical strainer. At that time the ruling dynasty in Tipperary and most of Munster
were the Eóganachta
, while their allies and possible cousins the Uí Fidgenti
ruled in the Limerick area (see Byrne 2001; Begley 1906). Although the early suggestion that the chalice was fabricated at Clonmacnoise
and stolen from there by a Limerick Dane is widely circulated, this is unprovable. A Munster origin is just as likely if not more so given the 1980 discovery of the sister Derrynaflan Hoard. A Clonmacnoise origin is not mentioned at the National Museum of Ireland
website http://www.museum.ie/en/list/artefacts.aspx?article=bfcd87b3-c3b1-489c-84f3-5c8bc08cc471.
The chalice was featured on a £1 value definitive postage stamp
issued by An Post
between 1990 and 1995 as part of the series Irish Heritage and Treasures designed by Michael Craig.
Two Gaelic Athletic Association
trophies are modeled on the Chalice: the O'Duffy Cup
and the Sam Maguire Cup
.
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...
in Dublin. It consists of the chalice, a much plainer stemmed cup in copper-alloy, and four brooches, three elaborate pseudo-penannular ones, and one a true pennanular brooch of the thistle type; this is the latest object in the hoard, and suggests it may have been deposited around 900. The chalice ranks with the Book of Kells
Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
as one of the finest known works of Insular art
Insular art
Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, is the style of art produced in the post-Roman history of Ireland and Great Britain. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe...
, indeed of Celtic art
Celtic art
Celtic art is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic...
in general, and is thought to have been made in the 8th century AD. Elaborate brooches, essentially the same as those worn by important lay-people, appear to have been worn by monastic clergy to fasten vestment
Vestment
Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially among Latin Rite and other Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans...
s at the period.
History
The hoard was found in 1868 by two boys, Jim Quinn and Paddy Flanagan, digging in a potato field on the south-western side of a rath (ring fortRingfort
Ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Iron Age , although some were built as late as the Early Middle Ages . They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland...
) called Reerasta, beside the village of Ardagh
Ardagh
Ardagh may refer to several villages in Ireland:* Ardagh, County Donegal* Ardagh, County Longford* Ardagh, County Limerick, where the Ardagh Hoard was found in 1868* Ardagh, County Mayo, south of Ballina...
, County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, Ireland. The chalice held the other items, covered merely by a slab of stone; the pieces must have been interred in a hurry, probably temporarily, as though the owner probably intended to return for them at a later time. The brooches found with the chalice show that it was not buried until the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
period.
The chalice
The chalice is a large, two-handled silver cup, decorated with gold, gilt bronze, brass, lead pewter and enamel, which has been assembled from 354 separate pieces; this complex construction is typical of early medieval Irish metalwork. The main body of the chalice is formed from two hemispheres of sheet silver are joined with a rivet hidden by a gilt-bronze band. The names of the apostles are incised in a frieze around the bowl, below a girdle bearing inset gold wirework panels of animals, birds, and geometric interlaceInterlace (visual arts)
In the visual arts, interlace is a decorative element found in medieval art. In interlace, bands or portions of other motifs are looped, braided, and knotted in complex geometric patterns, often to fill a space. Islamic interlace patterns and Celtic knotwork share similar patterns, suggesting a...
. Techniques used include hammering, engraving, lost-wax casting, filigree
Filigree
Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century...
applique
Applique
In its broadest sense, an appliqué is a smaller ornament or device applied to another surface. In the context of ceramics, for example, an appliqué is a separate piece of clay added to the primary work, generally for the purpose of decoration...
, cloisonné
Cloisonné
Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects, in recent centuries using vitreous enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other materials. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné...
and enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
. Even the underside of the chalice is decorated (photo below).
According to the art historian Lawrence Stone
Lawrence Stone
Lawrence Stone was an English historian of early modern Britain. He is noted for his work on the English Civil War and marriage.-Biography:...
(writing before the discovery of the Derrynaflan Hoard
Derrynaflan Chalice
The Derrynaflan Chalice is an 8th- or 9th-century chalice, that was found as part of the Derrynaflan Hoard of five liturgical vessels. The discovery was made on 17 February 1980 near Killenaule, South Tipperary in Ireland...
): "Here the Irish artist has shown a capacity for classical restraint by a deliberate decision to prevent the ornamentation from spreading so copiously as to blur the proportions... contrasting markedly with the lavish ornamental spread of the almost contemporary Tara Brooch
Tara Brooch
The Tara Brooch is a Celtic brooch of about 700 AD generally considered to be the most impressive of over 50 elaborate Irish brooches to have been discovered...
and the still more elaborate systems of the later period. The bulk of the decoration consists of exquisitely drawn spiral or interlace patterns, given depth by the soldering of two layers of gold thread one on top of the other. At intervals are set cloisonné enamel bosses of blue and red, the complicated manufacture of which shows direct continuity with the Anglo-Saxon jewellers' craft of the preceding century. But apart from the extraordinary perfection of execution of this elaborate decoration, what gives to the Ardagh Chalice its outstanding position in Irish metalwork is the strictness of the relationship between the simple swelling lines of the cup and its base and the arrangement of the glittering studs, bands, and roundels that adorn its surface." The standard monograph is L.S. Gógan, The Ardagh Chalice.
The chalice is similar to the only other major early Irish example to survive, the Derrynaflan Chalice
Derrynaflan Chalice
The Derrynaflan Chalice is an 8th- or 9th-century chalice, that was found as part of the Derrynaflan Hoard of five liturgical vessels. The discovery was made on 17 February 1980 near Killenaule, South Tipperary in Ireland...
, found close by in the neighboring County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
. That was found with a paten
Paten
A paten, or diskos, is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic bread which is to be consecrated. It is generally used during the service itself, while the reserved hosts are stored in the Tabernacle in a ciborium....
and liturgical strainer. At that time the ruling dynasty in Tipperary and most of Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
were the Eóganachta
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, well into the 16th century...
, while their allies and possible cousins the Uí Fidgenti
Uí Fidgenti
The Uí Fidgenti or Wood-Sprung People were an early kingdom of northern Munster, situated mostly in modern County Limerick, but extending into County Clare and County Tipperary, and possibly even County Kerry and County Cork, at maximum extents, which varied over time...
ruled in the Limerick area (see Byrne 2001; Begley 1906). Although the early suggestion that the chalice was fabricated at Clonmacnoise
Clonmacnoise
The monastery of Clonmacnoise is situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone....
and stolen from there by a Limerick Dane is widely circulated, this is unprovable. A Munster origin is just as likely if not more so given the 1980 discovery of the sister Derrynaflan Hoard. A Clonmacnoise origin is not mentioned at the National Museum of Ireland
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...
website http://www.museum.ie/en/list/artefacts.aspx?article=bfcd87b3-c3b1-489c-84f3-5c8bc08cc471.
The chalice was featured on a £1 value definitive postage stamp
Definitive postage stamps of Ireland
Definitive postage stamps of Ireland are the regular series of definitive postage stamps issued by the Irish Free State between 1922 and 1937 and by Ireland since 1937...
issued by An Post
An Post
An Post is the State-owned provider of postal services in the Republic of Ireland. An Post provides a universal postal service to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union...
between 1990 and 1995 as part of the series Irish Heritage and Treasures designed by Michael Craig.
Two Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
trophies are modeled on the Chalice: the O'Duffy Cup
O'Duffy Cup
The All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship is the premier round-robin and knock-out competition in the game of camogie played in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Camogie Association and are played during the summer months with the All-Ireland Camogie Final being played on the...
and the Sam Maguire Cup
Sam Maguire Cup
The Sam Maguire Cup, often called The Sam , is the name of the cup that is awarded to winners of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland...
.
Further reading
- Begley, John, The Diocese of Limerick, Ancient and Medieval. Dublin: Browne & Nolan. 1906.
- Bhreathnach, EdelEdel BhreathnachEdel Bhreathnach is an Irish historian and academic.Bhreathnach was a Tara Research Fellow for the Discovery Programme from 1992 to 2000. As of 2005 she is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute for the study of Irish History and Civilization, at University College Dublin...
, "The cultural and political milieu of the deposition and manufacture of the hoard discovered at Reerasta Rath, Ardagh, Co. Limerick", in Mark Redknap (ed.), Pattern and Purpose in Insular Art. Oxbow Books. 2001. - Byrne, Francis J.Francis John ByrneFrancis John Byrne is an Irish historian.Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II...
, Irish Kings and High-Kings. Four Courts Press. 2nd edition, 2001. - Duffy, Seán (ed.), Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. 2005.
- Gógan, Liam S., The Ardagh Chalice. Dublin. 1932.