Wood, copper alloy, silver, niello, glass and enamel
Size
Height: 97 cm (38 in)
Width (max): 13.5 cm (5.3 in)
Created
Late 11th century
Refurbished in the 14th or 15th centuries
Discovered
Late 18th or early 19th century Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Ireland
Present location
National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology, Kildare Street, Dublin
Identification
R2988
The Clonmacnoise Crozier is a late-11th-century Insular crozier that would have been used as a ceremonial staff for bishops and mitred abbots. Its origins and medieval provenance are unknown. It was likely discovered in the late 18th or early 19th century in the monastery of Clonmacnoise in County Offaly, Ireland. The crozier has two main parts: a long shaft and a curved crook. Its style reflects elements of Viking art, especially the snake-like animals in figure-of-eight patterns running on the sides of the body of the crook, and the ribbon of dog-like animals in openwork (ornamentation with openings or holes) that form the crest at its top. Apart from a shortening to the staff length and the loss of some inserted gems, it is largely intact and is one of the best-preserved surviving pieces of Insular metalwork.
The crozier may have been associated with Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (died c. 549 CE), and was perhaps commissioned by Tigernach Ua Braín (died 1088), Abbot of Clonmacnoise, but little is known of its origin or rediscovery. It was built in two phases: the original 11th-century structure received an addition sometime around the early 15th century. The staff is made from a wooden core wrapped in copper-alloy (bronze) tubes, fixed in place by binding strips, and three barrel-shaped knops (protruding decorative metal fittings). The hook was concurrently but separately constructed before it was placed on top of the staff. The crozier's decorative attachments include the crest and terminal (or "drop") on the crook, and the knops and ferrule on the staff; these components are made from silver, niello, glass and enamel. The hook is further embellished with round blue glass studs and white and red millefiori (glassware) insets.
The antiquarian and collector Henry Charles Sirr, Lord Mayor of Dublin, held the crozier until his collection was acquired by the Royal Irish Academy on his death in 1841. It was transferred to the archaeology branch of the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street on the branch's foundation in 1890. The archaeologist and art historian Griffin Murray has described the crozier as "one of [the] finest examples of early medieval metalwork from Ireland".[1]
^Murray (2021), p.1
and 18 Related for: Clonmacnoise Crozier information
The ClonmacnoiseCrozier is a late-11th-century Insular crozier that would have been used as a ceremonial staff for bishops and mitred abbots. Its origins...
enduring artworks in metal and stone ever seen in Ireland, with the ClonmacnoiseCrozier (on display in the National Museum of Ireland) and the Cross of the...
including the ClonmacnoiseCrozier, Kells Crozier, Lismore Crozier, Prosperous Crozier, River Laune Crozier, St. Columba's Crozier, St. Fillan's Crozier, and St...
include the ClonmacnoiseCrozier (believed to be amongst the first examples of Irish metalwork of the medieval period), the Kells Crozier (9th to 11th...
are lost. Unusually for medieval croziers, the ferrule is fully intact and in place: the Dunloe and Clonmacnoisecroziers are the only other surviving examples...
Missal, c. 1026 Shrine of Saint Lachtin's Arm, early 10th century The ClonmacnoiseCrozier, 11th century Soiscél Molaisse, metalwork added in 11th century Cathach...
their heads before intertwining with their bodies. Similar to the ClonmacnoiseCrozier, the drop (i.e., the plate at the front of the crook) shows a human...
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Beatha of southern Offaly three times, and burning Clonmacnoise. In 833, he is back in Clonmacnoise burning it and the Clann Cholmáin monastery of Durrow...
generation. Clonard drew students from various parts of Europe. Ciarán of Clonmacnoise and Columcille of Iona are among the many who trained under him. They...
saint's relics, and range from surveys of early Irish hand-bells, to Insular croziers, Celtic brooches, crucifixion plaques and cumdachs. Describing his widely...
at his allies, comprising simple looting expeditions. The Annals of Clonmacnoise state that "the Scottish men compelled [Æthelstan] to return without...
geographical spread, with find spots ranging from the broad area between Clonmacnoise in County Offaly and Tynan, County Armagh. The plaques are all cast as...
"The history and provenance of two early medieval crosiers ascribed to Clonmacnoise". Dublin: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture...
Muiredach's Cross and West Cross at Monasterboice, County Louth The Clonmacnoise crosses: Cross of the Scriptures (the original 9th century cross is housed...
further inland, striking larger monastic settlements such as Armagh, Clonmacnoise, Glendalough, Kells and Kildare, and also plundering the ancient tombs...
Bishop of Killala Uilliam Ó Dubhthaigh, OFM (fl. 1290–1297), Bishop of Clonmacnoise Céle Ua Dubthaigh (died 1210), Bishop of Mayo. Cadla Ua Dubthaig (fl...
1749; died 1758. 1758 1787 Anthony Blake Translated from Ardagh and Clonmacnoise; appointed 21 August 1758; died 11 November 1787. 1787 1818 Richard O'Reilly...
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