Steven and I normally pass on visiting archaeology museums but the National Museum: Archaeology in Dublin came so highly rated, we opted not to miss admiring its treasures from the Stone Age to modern times.
I'd never associated
large quantities of gold jewelry with Ireland so I was amazed at the huge
collection of gold pieces, many dating back 4,000 years. These eleven, hollow, gold beads were found in a field in 1834 in County Roscommon by the Shannon River. They were divided among various collectors with ten subsequently re-acquired 150 years later by the museum. One is in the British Museum in London - perhaps we'll get an opportunity to see it when we visit it in early October at the end of this trip. The whereabouts of the last one remains a mystery to this day!
Early Bronze Age goldsmiths produced a limited range of objects making economical use of small quantities of gold. Great skill was needed to hammer the gold into thin sheets which were then used to make crescent collars called lunulae. Over 100 examples are known from Ireland.
A lot more gold pieces were fittingly displayed in the Death of Cleopatra exhibit.
Ireland’s first
inhabitants – hunters and fishermen from Scotland – left behind standing stones
and passage tombs. This mound-shaped heavy stone structure, covered with
smaller rocks, was a reconstructed typical tomb from about 3,000 BC. It had a passage
that led into a central burial chamber where the deceased’s ashes were interred.
One section of the museum called Bog Bodies was very captivating even though the Celts who arrived in Ireland circa 500 B.C. to 500 A.D. brutally slayed sacrificial slaves or prisoners and buried them in bogs! The first was Clonycavan Man whom, it has been determined, was hacked to death around 200 B.C. by an ax and then disemboweled. The 20-something fellow had a Mohawk-style haircut which was poofed up with a pine-resin product that had to be imported from France! Only his upper body remained as the bottom part was likely lost in a threshing machine that ‘unearthed’ him in 2003.
The next, Oldcroghan Man, was over 25 years old when he died; he was also uncovered in 2003 during the digging of a bog drain. He was estimated to be 6'3.5" tall even though only his severed torso was found. Look at his well preserved hands - weren't they incredible to see considering he was born in the early Bronze Age, circa 400-200 B.C.! Scientists were able to determine from analysis performed on his fingernails that he ate a diet with a substantial meat component in the four months prior to his death which they suggested meant he died early in the year before plant-based foods were available. CSI to the rescue!
Gallagh Man also came from the early Bronze Age, and was found in a bog during peat cutting in 1821. His body was naked except for a deerskin cape tied around his neck with a band of willow rods that may have been used to strangle him.
The Treasury was the finest gallery in the museum, in my mind, as just one large room showcased 1,500 years of exquisite objects beginning with the world of the pagan Celts to the beginning of Christianity, to the Viking invasions in the 9th-12th centuries to the reemergence of religious metalworking in the 11th and 12th centuries.
The first object that greeted us in the Pagan Era Art section was appropriately the carved stone head of a 100 A.D. pagan god with three faces which expressed different aspects of his personality. Sort of like a very early Three Faces of Eve, I couldn't help but think!
The magnificent 1st century B.C. Broighter Hoard, the most exceptional find of Iron Age metalwork in Ireland, came from County Derry and included a king’s golden collar with interlaced vines. The minuscule boat was an offering to the sea god.
This 1st century, bronze, sword hilt came from County Donegal. In case you're wondering, there are 32 counties in the island with 26 in the Republic of Ireland and another 6 in Northern Ireland - that's the part that is part of Britain.
While exploring the Early Christian Objects part, I learned that Christianity officially entered Ireland in the 5th century when St. Patrick converted the pagan king. However, Celtic legends and art continued well into the Christian era. One example of that was the 8th century A.D. Belt Shrine. Found in County Sligo, it was a round metal casing to hold a saint's leather belt, that was believed to have magical properties. When placed around someone's waist, it could heal the wearer OR force her or him to tell the truth like a very early truth serum!
The Silver Chalice and the Silver Paten were used during Communion to hold blessed wine and bread. The former had a contrasting band of intricately patterned gold filigree studded with amber and minerals. The mirror below the case showed that when the priest would hold on to the chalice by its two handles to drink from it, the decorated base could be admired by God.
The 8th century A.D. Tara Brooch from County Meath was made of gold and silver and used to fasten a man's cloak at his shoulder with its 7" stick pin raised upward. With its Celtic spirals, stylized faces, it was neither a pagan nor Christian figure but simply art for art's sake.
Travel writer Rick Steves wrote that when the Vikings invaded Dublin about 800 A.D., they raped and pillaged the people living there. They did, though, open up the country to a large trading empire and their influence was seen in the Shrine of St. Lochter's Arm raised in an Irish power salute from County Cork.
Also in the Viking Art Style section of the Treasury was this Bell of St. Patrick from County Armagh which was attributed to Ireland's patron saint. It was impressive learning that it was encased after his death in this shrine and kept safe for 800 years by the same family who passed it down from generation to generation.
One of the most revered pieces in the museum was the Cross of Cong whose Latin inscription on the side stated it once held a sacred relic, a splinter of what's called the True Cross where Jesus was crucified. The now lost piece of wood was given to the Irish high king in 1123 who commissioned this extraordinarily detailed reliquary to preserve the splinter. The cross was paraded through the abbey at Cong at both Easter and Christmas and then placed on the altar at High Mass. It's believed the relic would have been visible behind the rock crystal in the center.
Imagine having to lug around the hefty St. Manchan's Shrine from County Offaly! It was likely made by the same individual who created the Cong cross and had Viking art elements as well as native Irish art.
In addition to having some fantastic treasures, the museum was also an architectural masterpiece.
Posted on September 6th, 2019, on what have been my father's 105th birthday, from tiny Knightstown, Valentia Island, Ireland, hoping the Atlantic will be calm tomorrow for our 90 minute boat ride to land on Skellig Michael where Star Wars: The Force Awakens was filmed.
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