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Saint Patrick's Bell and Shrine
Saint Patrick's Bell and Shrine; bell: 8th–9th century C.E., iron; shrine: c. 1100 C.E., copper-alloy box, silver gilt, gold, silver, gilt-copper, rock crystal, colored stones, 26.7 x 15.5 cm (National Museum of Ireland, Dublin). Speakers: Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Smarthistory.
Video transcript
(light piano music) - [Steven] We're in the
Archeological Museum in Dublin, looking at the bell of
Saint Patrick and its cover, one of the great Medieval
treasures of Ireland, both in terms of its artistic quality, but also in terms of its
religious significance. - [Lauren] The bell of
Saint Patrick is this small, iron, trapezoidal-shaped hand bell with a clapper inside. The bell dates to around
the sixth century, maybe as late as the eighth century. The shrine that eventually
encased it dates to around 1100, and it is
covered in luxurious decoration. - [Steven] The bell itself is
this roughly surfaced iron, but the shrine made to encase
it so many centuries later is a testament to the importance
of this much plainer object in its incredible ornamentation. - [Lauren] The bell is
associated with Saint Patrick, who is considered the founder
of Christianity in Ireland in the fifth century. One of the places where he established as an important center is
Armagh, north of Dublin, and we know that this bell
and especially its shrine were made in Armagh. - [Steven] The idea was to
associate Patrick with Armagh and therefore, to boost Armagh's religious and political importance. - [Lauren] In the century
after Patrick dies, his tomb is opened and
there is reportedly a bell that was found with him. We cannot say with any
certainty whether this is the exact bell, but clearly, the idea of a hand bell
is associated with Patrick and his importance in
early Medieval Ireland. - [Steven] Let's talk
about the use of hand bells in early Christianity in Ireland. They were used in a monastic setting to mark significant points of the day, to call monks to prayer
and other key moments during the monastic calendar. - [Lauren] And monasticism is so important to the history of early Medieval Ireland. Beginning in the sixth century is when you have the establishment of these important monastic centers. And many of those founders become saints. And so, hand bells often become associated with these founder saints, like Patrick. - [Steven] And that word
associate is important here because this is known
as an associative relic, distinct from the kinds of
relics that you might find so often in continental Europe, where you have an element
of a saint's actual body. - [Lauren] Associative relics
are much more prominent, whether that's hand bells,
books, or other items that were thought to be associated with or touched by or created by some of these important early saints. - [Steven] And Medieval
pilgrims would travel a great distance to come
into contact with them to help assure their passage into Heaven but also even for more
immediate aims, for example, to heal the sick. - [Lauren] So we have
this early iron hand bell that then is encased in
this elaborate shrine. - [Steven] The front is magnificent, and it recalls the illuminated manuscripts that had been produced in Ireland or at monasteries that were
associated with Ireland in the earlier Medieval era. - [Lauren] On the front, we
see these individual panels with this elaborate gold filigree filled with interlace and animal imagery that reminds me of the "Book of Kells" - [Steven] The front depicts a cross. There is a thick frame that surrounds it, and the surface is studded with large gems or semiprecious stones. And then there is this
elaborate and minute metalwork. - [Lauren] We also have
rock crystal embedded here. We see one in this circular ornament in the center of the cross. It looks like there was
another one on the other side that's now missing. There's also indications
of the artist looking to more contemporary Norse
or Viking-inspired styles. Some of the elaborate
filigree and the decoration on the shrine is the Urnes style, which is a style prominent in Scandinavia, for instance, at the Urnes
Stave Church in Norway, that shows often a beast or an animal with delicate, intertwined snakes. - [Steven] And that's
not surprising because, in the 11th century when this was made, Vikings were quite familiar. They had for the previous
several centuries raided Ireland and then settled here, taking control of the very city in which this museum sits, in Dublin. The side panels are especially elaborate, and you can see that the filigree work is one layer that's set upon
a metal ground behind it. - [Lauren] Beyond the complicated
interlacing and design, we have bronze, we have
silver, gold, stones, enamel, rock crystal, a mixture
of textures and colors. It's hard to focus on
any one particular place. - [Steven] And on a more practical note, you can see the remnants of a handle. Perhaps there was a chain
that would've hooked around and would've allowed one to
pick up this reliquary easily. Let's move around to the back panel. Here, the geometry is more regularized. It's simplified and we can see that it is a complex patterning of the cross. - [Lauren] This is common on bell shrines, but it's also something
that we see on book shrines. And if we look closely, we see that there is an
inscription that runs along the edge of the entire back panel. It starts off by saying, "A prayer for Domnall Ua Locklainn," who was the King of Ireland aspiring to be the High King of Ireland, and who commissioned the shrine. After that, it notes a
prayer for another Domnall, the successor of Patrick, who was the abbot at Armagh. And then, the inscription
proceeds to note who made it, not only the metal workers, but also the keeper of the bell, who was a member of the
Maelchallain family. - [Steven] And so, the
inscription reaches across time. It refers to the abbot
who took over for Patrick, and then it jumps several
centuries into the future and speaks to the fact that this reliquary had royal patronage. - [Lauren] Around 1100,
Armagh is trying to claim that it is the most important
center of Christianity in Ireland because of its
association with Patrick. And it's at a time when you
have lots of different places trying to make a similar claim. So this bell and its shrine was used in those political and
religious claims for primacy in the Irish church. (light piano music)