Masterpiece of Jewellery Art

Above: The Ardagh Chalice

The Tara Brooch, rightly referred to as a masterpiece of the jeweller’s art, was found on the strand at Bettystown near Drogheda in 1850. " The body of the brooch is of bronze, and is decorated with panels in fine gold filigree work, enamel, and settings of amber and glass. The ornament includes spirals, interlaced work, human heads and animal forms On the front the ornament is confined mostly to interlaced work ; the trumpet pattern may be noticed, however at the base of the pin-head and round the outer margin ‘ The back of the brooch is freer in style than the front .  The two principal panels are formed of a hard white bronze, inlaid with fine spirals, apparently of a copper alloy.  . The inlay of scrolls on the back is equal to penmanship ; and it cannot be too much insisted upon that the patterns and work of the brooch are quite equal in then-own class to the work of the best MSS.   Thus the fine wires of the interlaced patterns carry a minute beading which can hardly be detected by the eye, but needs a strong glass to make it apparent. Even the thin gold ribbons of the central interlacements and of those on the head of the pin, which are set on edge, have a similar minute beading on the edge of the ribbon. .  The ornament presents such a close analogy to the patterns of the Book of Durrow, and especially to those of the Book of Kells, that it is usual to assign it to about 700 A.D."1 certainly before the Viking invasions.
"The Tara Brooch and the chalice of Ard Achadh," says Prof. MacAlister, "between them illustrate all the materials, technical processes, and methods of construction used in ornamental work in Ireland during the early centuries of Christianity.