A History of Ireland in a hundred Objects

Eire 90

Image by bogman

moss Mar 5, 2011 09:05:56

Neil Macgregor did a marvellous History of the World in a hundred objects recently. Well a similar idea is happening in Ireland, the three links below are the first three.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0305/1224291339401.html

Flint macehead, 3300-2800 BC

"This ceremonial macehead, found beneath the eastern chamber tomb at the great passage tomb at Knowth, in the Boyne Valley, is one of the finest works of art to have survived from Neolithic Europe. The unknown artist took a piece of very hard pale-grey flint, flecked with patches of brown, and carved each of its six surfaces with diamond shapes and swirling spirals. At the front they seem to form a human face, with the shaft hole as a gaping mouth.".....

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0219/1224290245318.html

Ceremonial axe 3600 years old

"Even now, its sheen and colour are magnetically alluring, the jade green surface, mottled with darker veins and glimmers of light, polished to a high sheen. The shape is beautifully balanced between sharp edges and elegant curves. It was once thought that it must have come from China. But if it looks exotic and mysterious now, 5,000 years ago in Ireland it would have seemed astonishing."

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0226/1224290900203.html

Neolithic bowl, c 3500 BC

"The bowl is simple enough, very dark with burnished surfaces and relatively crude lattice-pattern decorations. It was probably used for drinking and similar vessels have been found elsewhere in Ireland.

Yet, because of the context in which it was found, this everyday object is extraordinarily eloquent. It tells us a great deal about the lives of some of the earliest Irish farmers."

tjj Mar 5, 2011 09:18:23

Replying to moss

The macehead is breathtakingly exquisite, isn't it. I first saw it when Neil Oliver visited Knowth for the Ancient Britons series - awesome is a much over-used word but it truly is.

It would good if there is an online link later so we can share this series.

The Sea Cat Mar 5, 2011 09:32:49

Replying to moss

What magnificent artifacts. Many thanks for the links. I will certainly follow this.

summerlands Mar 5, 2011 09:38:47

Replying to moss

Wonderful! Cheers Moth! :-)

I agree June, the mace head was amazing wasn't it?!

We have the History of the World in a Hundred Objects (UK) book - I'm waiting for hubby to finish reading it so I can get stuck in. He loved the series but I missed most of it alas.

moss Apr 9, 2011 06:43:59

Replying to moss

Not really keeping this up, but this Bronze Age dugout canoe, circa 2200 BC from Lurgan looks interesting, if only for the fact that it is very large.....

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0409/1224294264690.html

The Eternal Apr 9, 2011 23:34:35

Replying to moss

To everyone interested in "objects" from Ireland, I implore you all to visit Dublin, and the fantastic, free entry museum there. The objects within are simply breath-taking. The Bronze-Age canoe, in full, the bog bodies in the "cellar", the quality of the Neolithic and Bronze Age artefacts. There is also a Hill of Tara exhibition, which is superbly presented. But, the most incredible part is the exhibition of gold-work in the centre of the museum. It has to be seen to be believed. I find it hard to believe that people so long ago could be capable of such craftsmanship. There is a fantastic selection of books to buy, ones I have never seen or heard of before, but at a price. The Euro isn't kind to books in Ireland, well not for people who deal in the pound.
All the best,
TE.

moss Apr 16, 2011 09:33:35

Replying to moss

Bronze Age funerary pots, 1900-1300 BC

This week's offering - 'the tomb is a womb'.....

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0416/1224294766199.html

moss Apr 30, 2011 06:59:38

Replying to moss

I missed last week because it was more gold torques, but again this week there is a 19th century gold hoard found in a burial chamber by the small lake of Mooghaun.

" A little under 3,000 years ago someone in Ireland was very, very rich. In March 1854 a ganger ordered some navvies working on the construction of the West Clare Railway near Newmarket-on-Fergus to straighten a dyke running close to the small lake of Mooghaun. They shifted a stone and found a small rough chamber with a flagstone on top. When they opened it they uncovered the largest hoard of Bronze Age gold objects ever found in western or northern Europe."

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0430/1224295739750.html

moss Jun 11, 2011 09:02:41

Replying to moss

The objects aren't always interesting, but this one is. Wonder if they were used at Anglesey.

Loughnashade trumpet c.100 BC

"This splendid bronze trumpet, one of four found in a dried-up lake at Loughnashade (“lake of the treasures”), near the important royal centre of Emain Macha, in Co Armagh, is similar to the one that lies at the feet of The Dying Gaul and to those that so terrified the Romans. It is an outstanding piece of Celtic art. The main section of the tube is a masterpiece of skilled riveting. The bell end is superbly decorated with a lotus-bud motif, whose origins lie in Mediterranean art. The style of elaborate curved patterns is that of high Celtic art, called La Tène, after a site in Switzerland. It is a style that would dominate Irish art for many centuries."

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0611/1224298711881.html