DUBLIN - Ireland 2014 - page 116

filigree. It's studded with colorful glass, amber, and enamels. Mirrors below the display
case show that even the underside of the chalice was decorated. When the priest grabbed
the chalice by its two handles and tipped it to his lips, the base could be admired by God.
Tara Brooch: A rich eighth-century Celtic man fastened his cloak at the shoulder with
this elaborate ring-shaped brooch, its seven-inch stick-pin tilted rakishly upward. Made of
cast and gilded silver, it's ornamented with fine, exquisitely filigreed gold panels and stud-
ded with amber, enamel, and colored glass. The motifs include Celtic spirals, snakes, and
stylized faces, but the symbolism is neither overtly pagan nor Christian—it's art for art's
sake. Despite its fanciful name, the brooch probably has no actual connection to the Hill of
Tara. In display cases nearby, you'll see other similar (but less impressive) brooches from
the same period—some iron, some bronze, and one in pure gold.
Viking Art Styles: When Vikings invaded Dublin around A.D. 800, they raped and pil-
laged. But they also opened Ireland to a vast and cosmopolitan trading empire, from which
they imported hoards of silver (see the display case of ingots). Viking influence shows up
in the decorative style of reliquaries like the Lismore Crozier (in the shape of a bishop's
ceremonial shepherd's crook) and the Shrine of St. Lochter's Arm (raised in an Irish-
power salute). The impressive Bell of St. Patrick was supposedly owned by Ireland's pat-
ron saint. After his death, it was encased within a beautifully worked shrine (displayed
alongside) and kept safe by a single family, who passed it down from generation to gener-
ation for 800 years.
Cross of Cong: “By this cross is covered the cross on which the Creator of the world
suffered.” Running along the sides of the cross, this Latin inscription tells us that it once
held a sacred relic, a tiny splinter of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. That
piece of wood (now lost) had been given in 1123 to the Irish high king, who commissioned
this reliquary to preserve the splinter (it would have been placed right in the center, visible
through the large piece of rock crystal). Every Christmas and Easter, the cross was fitted
onto a staff and paraded through the abbey at Cong (see here ) , then placed on the altar
for High Mass. The extraordinarily detailed decoration features gold filigree interspersed
with colored glass, enamel, and(nowmissing) precious stones. Thoughfully Christian, the
cross has Celtic-style filigree patterning and Viking-style animal heads (notice how they
grip the cross in their jaws).
Before leaving the Treasury and heading upstairs, check out the Faddan More
Psalter —a (pretty beat-up) manuscript of the Book of Psalms from the same era as the
Book of Kells.
Viking Ireland (c. 800-1150, on first floor): Dublin was born as a Viking town. So-
metime after 795, Scandinavian warriors rowed their long ships up the Liffey River and
made camp on the south bank, around the location of today's Dublin Castle and Christ