List Of treasure Robbed From Ireland In the British Museum

St Cuileáin's bell shrine

Irish, 7th or 8th (iron bell) and early 12th centuries AD
From Glankeen, County Tipperary, Ireland

A powerful lie detector

This magnificent bell-shrine is said to have been recovered from a tree at Kilcuilawn, and has survived rough treatment. The ancient iron hand bell inside was first used to call members of a monastic community to prayer. It comes from the ancient monastery of Glankeen founded by St Cuile�in in the seventh century. St Cuileáin was a powerful figure, the brother of Cormac, king-bishop of the rocky stronghold of Cashel nearby. It was venerated and later enshrined as a relic associated with him.

The iron bell is now incomplete. The elaborate outer brass case was added in the twelfth century. The case was cast in sections, some of which are missing. The front is now bare iron but once carried a Jewelled cross. The surviving main plate engraved with a cruciform pattern is the back. The elaborate openwork crest at the top is inlaid with copper and silver wires and further embellished with black niello and enamels. The intricate ornament is an Irish version of the Viking Ringerike style. It includes a typical looped knot on the front and a huge animal's head on each shoulder.

The early medieval custom of enshrining the belongings of the founders of churches and monasteries came to a second peak in Ireland under royal patronage in the twelfth century. As well as bells, items including staffs (such as the 'Kells crozier'), holy books, clothing, bones and teeth were cherished by later generations. Up to the nineteenth century the hereditary keepers of this bell, the B�arnan Cuile�in, used its power to detect false oaths; liars risked their heads being reversed.

Height: 30 cm (including shrine)
Width: 24 cm

M&ME 1854,7-14,6

Room 41, Sutton Hoo and early Medieval, case 28, no. 1

Penannular brooch

Irish, late 6th - early 7th century AD
From County Cavan, Ireland

Typical clothes fastener of early medieval Ireland

Both men and women of rank in Ireland wore brooches of this form: first the pin was stabbed through the folds of a cloak and then one end of the ring was pushed under the sharp end of the pin where it came out of the cloth. The ring was then turned until the pin tip lay securely locked in place beyond the raised bump of the decorated terminal.

This fine brooch has been cast in bronze and the pin and expanded ends of the ring are inlaid with bright red enamel. The addition of pieces of colorful millefiori glass is a distinctive feature of Irish jewelery at this period. The bronze collars show the smith experimenting with ways of fixing the glass when the enamel was heated. There is also simple stamped and incised decoration on the back. The front may have been tinned to give it a rich silver look.

The term 'penannular' is used for brooches like this which have a gap in their hoop. On eighth-century Irish brooches, like the Londesborough brooch, the terminals are enlarged and the space between is filled with added decoration but they still show that they have developed from this open-ring type.

Diameter: 7.3 cm
Length: 13 cm (pin)

M&ME 1856,3-20,1

Room 41, Sutton Hoo and early Medieval, case 26, no. 11

The Kells crozier

Ireland, late 9th-11th century AD

Irish religious relic found in London solicitor's office

This fine crozier was found without explanation in a solicitor's office in 1850, and was owned by Cardinal Wiseman before purchase by The British Museum in 1859. Originally it would have been venerated as a relic of a saint in the early church in Ireland, and also been a symbol of office for a leading cleric, possibly a bishop or abbot.

The appearance of the crozier today is the result of at least two periods of ornamentation as well as early attempts to dismantle or destroy it. The core is a staff of yew wood, now cut in two. This was first encased in bronze in the late ninth or tenth century when the staff was decorated with cast knobs (or �knops') and cross-shaped strips. Raised borders divide the knops into panels filled with animal interlace, once covered with bright silver foil. The original bronze casing to the curved crook had a diamond pattern grid and animal ornament.

In the eleventh century the crook was given an outer casing of silver sheet and a new crest in gilded openwork of linked birds. A new knop decorated with black niello and silver inlay in the Scandinavian Ringerike style replaced an earlier one at the top of the shaft. The straight end of the crook is a feature of early Irish croziers, and like many others it was altered to form a hollow box with a human head above, to hold a holy relic. On the underside of the crook a silver strip engraved in Irish asks for a prayer for C�duilig and Maelfinn�n who were involved in the refurbishment. Although these names have been identified with individuals who were important at the great Irish monastic city of Kells, County Meath, recent work has questioned this connection.

Enshrining items which had belonged to holy men or their communities was an important feature of religious life in early medieval Ireland. Many of these shrines, like St Cuile�n's bell, were preserved into modern times by the families of keepers who inherited this duty.

Length: 133 cm

M&ME 1859.2-21.1

Room 41, Sutton Hoo and early Medieval, case 29, no. 1

Shrine boss

Irish, AD 700-750
From Steeple Bumpstead, Essex, England

Reused as the handle-plate on the parish church

This once sumptuously decorated boss would originally have been attached to a shrine, along with four others, to form a cross-shape. It was apparently found in the church during construction work, stored in a chest and then attached to the chancel door where it was noted in 1842.

The boss was cast from a wax or lead form in bronze and then thickly gilded. The decoration is divided into bands of different ornament. Each band is divided into panels by a variety of twenty-four settings. These are now all empty but once held glass, crystal or amber giving the boss a rich glittering appearance. Four highly stylized lions crouch on the sides and divide the boss into quarters. At the top is a ring of black niello framing plain gold troughs once filled with panels of filigree. The ring surrounds a big hole where a large setting once lay. On the sides is a band of complex animal interlace while on the bands below and above there is trumpet and spiral decoration.

The accomplished decoration and casting is exceptional and is at the pinnacle of Irish art. In this respect it shares qualities with aristocratic pieces such as the Londesborough brooch, also in The British Museum. The battered state of this boss can only hint at what must have been a magnificent shrine and shows years of use as the backplate to a door handle.

Diameter: 13.5 cm

Gift of H. Oppenheimer

M&ME 1916,7-5,1

Department of Medieval and Modern Europe (study collection)

The Londesborough Brooch

Ireland, 8th- 9th century AD

Outstanding Irish brooch from Lord Londesborough's collection

This silver and gold brooch belongs to a 'Golden Age' in Irish art, which saw the production of the finest jewelery worn by people of rank and wealth. Evidence from sculpture and literature suggests that brooches like this one were used to fasten cloaks, and worn by both men, at the shoulder, and also by women on the breast.

The Londesborough brooch is unusual in that all its fine decoration is cast and no filigree was used. The three domed bosses look like miniature shrine fittings, which suggests that it may have been made for a senior churchman. Its original find spot is not known.

The brooch is a heavy silver ring cast with complex patterns of interlace, spirals, animal and bird motifs and then thickly gilded on the front. Seven circular amber settings on the hoop compliment the gold. The use of chip-carving, best seen on the panels of interlace, adds to the glittering surfaces. The pin was made from three pieces and the head is decorated in a style to match the hoop, with a large domed boss and amber at its center Two L-shaped fields at the top corners once held blue glass. The back of the brooch is also decorated with amber and has as well two inset gilt-bronze discs with Celtic triskeles.

The rich mixture of motifs on the Londesborough brooch is typical of the finest Irish work of the eighth century. It is known as the Insular style and combines Celtic, germanic and classical elements.

Alfred Denison, 1st Baron Londesborough, collected classical, medieval and Renaissance pieces in the 1850s and presented a notable collection of rings and brooches to his wife, including medieval Irish and Anglo-Saxon items.

Length: 24 cm (pin)
Diameter: 10.2 cm (hoop)
Weight: 201.5 g

M&ME 1888,7-19,101

Room 41, Sutton Hoo and early Medieval, case 27, no. 11

St Conall Cael's bell

Irish, 7th-9th century AD (bell), late 10th-11th century AD (brass mount)
From Inishkeel, County Donegal, Ireland

This iron hand bell is said to have originally belonged to St Conall Cael in the sixth century. Long after his death it was enshrined as a relic in an elaborate covering, and was worshiped by pilgrims visiting St Conall's well on the island of Inishkeel.

The bell is an early type made from a sheet of iron, its handle and loop for the clapper are missing. A plate of brass decorated with native Irish and Viking interlace ornament was added around the year 1000.

In the fifteenth century an ornate silver 'bell shrine' was made to protect and embellish the bell. This bell and its shrine, like most Irish reliquaries, were preserved by keepers who were the descendants of the stewards of monastic lands. Many like St Conall's bell were sold to collectors in the nineteenth century.

Relics associated with the early Irish saints were believed to hold miraculous powers and were much revered in the medieval church in Ireland. Oaths were sworn upon them and curses were cast using them. Water drank from ancient bells was believed to cure a wide variety of illnesses.

Height: 17 cm
Width: 12.8 cm

Gift of Sir A.W. Franks

M&ME 1889,9-2,22

Department of Medieval and Modern Europe (study collection)

Silver ring brooch

Irish, 9th century AD
From Tara, County Meath, Ireland

Weighted to give a false impression of value

This handsome brooch is said to have come from the ancient royal site of Tara, County Meath, in Ireland. But all we know for certain is that came into the collection of Thomas Bateman, the pioneering Derbyshire archaeologist, in the nineteenth century.

The brooch was cast in silver before the addition of gilding and amber and there may once have been panels of gold filigree work in the three empty lozenges. There is no catch plate so in use the brooch works as a pin with a huge disc head. The form is typical of Irish jewelery in the eighth and ninth centuries.

The fine, repetitive interlace and style of the little animals in the central panels suggest a date in the ninth century, a period when Viking activity made silver and Baltic amber more abundant. Empty recesses on the back may have been filled with lead to falsify the weight (this is seen also on the great Londesborough brooch). The style shows the influence of contemporary continental animal art.

Diameter: 7.6 cm (hoop)
Length: 15.5 cm (pin)

From the collection of Thomas Bateman

M&ME 1893,6-18,29

Department of Medieval and Modern Europe (study collection)

Sheela-na-Gig

11th-13th century AD
From Chloran, County Meath, Ireland

Sheela-na Gig is probably a corrupt version of the Irish meaning 'old hag of the breasts' or 'of the hunkers', referring to the figure's typical pose with bent legs. Over one hundred figures like this one have been recorded in Ireland and over forty in Britain. They are commonly set above doorways and arches, sometimes on castles but mostly on Christian churches and monastic buildings. The size, style and quality of carving are variable but the pose and display of genitalia unmistakable.

The ancient meaning or function of these figures is not well understood. They are usually interpreted as protective images, or as reminders of the grossness of lust. More benign subjects, placed in obscure corners, might have been intended to aid fertility. Their survival through centuries of reform and enlightenment is remarkable and suggests considerable local attachment to these powerful images for undocumented reasons. From the sixteenth century there are many records of destruction or orders to do so and several carvings have been reused as building material.

M&ME Witt 258

Department of Medieval and Modern Europe (study collection)

Sandstone memorial slab carved with Ogam script

Irish, 5th century AD
From Roovesmore Rath, Aglish, County Cork, Ireland

The earliest Irish writing

This rough sandstone slab is inscribed in ogam script along the vertical edges. It reads 'VEDACUNA [MAQI] TOBIRA MUCOI SOGINI', meaning '[stone] of Vedac, son of Tob of the Sogain' in Primitive Irish. It dates from the fifth century AD, before the widespread introduction of the Latin alphabet in Ireland. It is the earliest reference to the Sogain, a people known from later records.

The basic twenty-six ogam letters are formed by groups of lines and notches cut on a stem line. It is usually read upwards, but here it runs down one side and up the other. Ogam script was invented in southern Ireland around AD 400 and was used for simple inscriptions to record names and kin-groups in early Irish. Such stones marked boundaries and burials and are the earliest local records of the language and peoples of Ireland.

This stone, together with two other large ogam stones, comes from a rath or stone-walled homestead, in County Cork. They commemorate members of local groups of peoples also known from placename and early historic evidence. The stones had all been reused, perhaps in the ninth century, as roofing slabs for an underground chamber, suggesting that even at this early date these monuments had lost their meaning in the local landscape.

In 1865 the inscriptions were noticed and the stones removed by Colonel Augustus Lane Fox, later better known as the archaeologist General Pitt Rivers. He published a detailed account with drawings of his work.

Height: 2.1 m

Gift of Colonel Lane-Fox (later known as General Pitt-Rivers)

M&ME 1866,5-11,2

Great Court concourse, east side

'Latchet' dress fastener

Irish, 6th-7th century AD
From Castle Island, Dowris, County Offaly, Ireland

Badge or brooch?

This strange shaped object was found in 1850. It consists of a large disc attached to a Z-shaped section, which forms two open slots, and terminates in a hook and smaller disc. Such pieces, incorrectly called 'latchets', were a form of dress fastener attached by coils of wire in the slots between the discs. They are only found in Ireland and remained popular only until the seventh century. They may have been worn in pairs.

Earlier latchets, some of which can be seen in the British Museum, have a more fluid open S-shaped body joined to the large disc. Some of these still have spring-like wire coils attached, and these may have been pushed through or sewn onto the fabric of a garment. The lavish use of red enamel and very finely worked spirals makes this an exceptionally fine piece and one that would have marked the importance of its owner.

Length: 7.4 cm

formerly 41/39/13

M&ME 1854,7-14,97

Department of Medieval and Modern Europe (study collection)

'Handpin'

Irish, 6th-7th century AD
From Craigywarren Bog, Skerry, County Antrim, Ireland

Long pin with a head resembling a hand

This decorative bronze pin is so big it would have been worn on a cloak. It is a fine example of a distinctive medieval Irish pin type. Handpins were in fashion from the fifth to the early seventh century. The name comes from the idea that the projecting tubes at the top are like fingers and the lower part resembles the palm of the hand. Here the palm has a curving pelta-based design set against brilliant red enamel. A herringbone pattern runs around the edge. The central hole held a cord used to twist round the tip of the pin to secure it when it was in use.

The bold use of red enamel is a special feature of Irish and British fine metalwork in the early middle ages. These pins were worn at the same time as big, enameled, open-ring brooches. Some are also known to have been made in west Scotland, which shared the same cultural traditions.

Length: 23.4 cm

Gift of Sir A.W. Franks

M&ME 1880,8-2,132

Room 41, Sutton Hoo and early Medieval, case 26, no. 22

Bronze shrine figure

Irish, early 12th century AD
From Dublin, Ireland

Said to have been found on the site of the monastery of St John

Similar figures to this can be seen mounted on the twelfth-century shrine of St Manachan kept in Boher Catholic Church, near Clara, County Offaly. It is likely that this figure had the same purpose and was attached to a shrine by rivets through the holes piercing its breast and feet.

The bearded figure has been cast in bronze and depicts either an apostle or a saint. He is dressed in a bishop's robes, which are decorated with fine scrolled spirals, and geometric patterns. The arms project from the slender body and the hands hold a holy pose with the index finger and thumb touching.

Although the decorative detail on this figure is essentially Irish, the form of the figure shows the influence of Romanesque art from continental Europe. It reflects a period of contact overseas and local reform in the church in Ireland, when a regular pattern of bishoprics was established.

Height: 18 cm
Width: 4.3 cm

M&ME 1868,7-9,52

Department of Medieval and Modern Europe (study collection)

Three bronze rattle pendants

Bronze Age, 950-750 BC
From Dowris, Co. Offaly, Ireland

Rare 'musical' objects of the Bronze Age

These unusual objects are known as 'crotals' - globular or pear-shaped bells or rattles. They may have been rather heavy for suspension from straps, for example on horse harnesses, and instead may have hung from a rigid support, such as the draught-pole of a wagon. In this way the sound produced while in motion, while not very 'musical', would nevertheless draw attention to and enhance the procession of the wagon. As wagon accessories, crotals join other ornamental bronzes in embellishing wheeled vehicles in this period.

Crotals were cast hollow by flowing the molten metal around a clay core suspended within the mould. A small perforation was left in one side of each orb to allow the clay core to be scraped out, leaving behind only a small lump of bronze to serve as the rattle. The hole was then blocked with a metal plug. The initial casting also created a free-running ring at the top of each crotal for its suspension.

These three crotals were part of a large find of bronze metalwork made in Dowris bog in the mid-nineteenth century, which included weapons, tools and elaborate sheet metal vessels.

Height: 10.2 cm (min.)
Height: 17.2 cm (max.)

P&EE 1854 7-14 9, 13

Room 50, Later Bronze Age & Celtic Europe (gallery closed for refurbishment until 2007), case 3

CROOKS