Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

Some time ago I published a piece on this blog about the occurrences of swastikas in Early Medieval Irish Art ("Always remember to draw the swastika turning to the right": Some thoughts on swastika directionality in Early Medieval Irish Art ). For the most part, these examples are relative uncontroversial – while their exact meaning may be up for debate, they’re individually identifiable as swastikas. That is, until one comes to St Patrick’s Bell shrine. The external portion of the shrine was commissioned somewhere between 1091 and 1105 by King Domnall Ua Lochlainn. In among the writhing serpentine motif, showing the influence of the Scandinavian ‘Urnes style’ there are a number of swastikas, L-shapes, and Tau crosses. They are all formed through the interplay of a pierced silver grille against a sheet of gilded bronze. By my count there are some 37 clockwise-spinning swastikas. And that is where the problem lies … ‘by my count’ … one particular commentator on the piece ar...

< Back to Table of Contents Many of the posts in this series concentrate on artefacts and features I know well and have seen on several visits to these musea. This large iron cross, however, is a recent addition to the exhibition (or, I’ve utterly failed to notice it before). It was constructed from wrought iron in the 15 th  century and decorated the summit of Saint-Laurent’s bell tower. It consists of a vertical shaft that was split into two to form the horizontal beam. The ends of the horizontal beam and the top of the cross shaft are each decorated with arrangements of three leaves. The leaves have turned-up edges and enclose lily flowers. The use of threes symbolises the Christian trinity, while the lily is commonly used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary, the annunciation, or the resurrection. The museum’s information card adds that the leaves and lilies may have been added in 1646, when the tower was rebuilt. The dolphin-shaped wind wane appears to be an original feat...