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Celtic art in Pagan and Christian times

John Stuart Mill · en
Only one metal chalice of undoubted Irish work has been preserved
until the present time, namely, the Ardagh Chalice[411] in the Museum
of the Royal Irish Academy at Dublin. It was found in 1868 in a rath
in the townland of Reerasta, in the parish of Ardagh, Co. Limerick.
The chalice belongs to the two-handled type, and has a hemispherical
bowl, a very short cylindrical stem, and a conical base with a flat rim
round the bottom. It is 7 inches high by 9½ inches in diameter at the
top, and 6½ inches in diameter at the bottom, the bowl being 4 inches
deep and of sufficient capacity to hold three pints of liquid. The
chalice is composed of gold (1 oz. 2 dwts.), silver (20 ozs. 13 dwts.),
bronze (9 ozs.), lead, enamel, glass, amber, and mica. No less than 354
different pieces, including 20 rivets, are used in the construction of
the vessel.

[411] Petrie’s _Christian Inscriptions in the Irish Language_, vol.
ii., p. 123; _Trans. R.I.A._, vol. xxiv., p. 433; Miss M. Stokes’
_Early Christian Art in Ireland_, p. 83.

The exterior of the bowl of the Ardagh chalice is inscribed with the
names of the Twelve Apostles in Hiberno-Saxon capitals, finely engraved
on the silver. The forms of the letters correspond with those used in
the Books of Kells, Dimma, St. Chad, Durham, and MacRegol.

[Illustration: BRONZE FIBULA WITH PLAITWORK AND LATE-CELTIC ORNAMENT
FROM THE ARDAKILLEN CRANNOG, NEAR STROKESTOWN, CO. ROSCOMMON; NOW IN
THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, DUBLIN]

[Illustration: DETAIL OF ORNAMENT ON THE UNDER SIDE OF THE FOOT OF THE
ARDAGH CHALICE IN THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, DUBLIN]

The raised decoration of the chalice, which is made in separate pieces
and fixed on with rivets, is concentrated on the following parts:—

    (1) A horizontal band just below the rim and running through
        the handles.
    (2) The two handles.
    (3) Two circular medallions on the lower side of the bowl
        midway between the handles.
    (4) The stem.
    (5) The flat rim at the bottom of the base.
    (6) The under side of the flat rim round the base.
    (7) The circular medallion in the centre of the under side
        of the conical base.