Editing Ardagh Hoard (section)

==Chalice==
[[File:Ardagh chalice from below.jpg|thumb|The chalice seen from below]]
The chalice is a large, two-handled beaten silver cup, decorated with gold, gilt bronze, brass, lead pewter and enamel, which has been assembled from 354 separate pieces; this complex construction is typical of early Christian Irish metalwork. The main body of the chalice is formed from two hemispheres of sheet silver joined with a rivet hidden by a [[gilt-bronze]] band and sits at 7 inches high.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ardagh chalice, Irish Celtic work, height, 7 inches |url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-0115-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=NYPL Digital Collections |language=en}}</ref> The width across its rim is {{Convert | 7.5 | in}}.<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Brien|first1=Máire|author-link1=Máire Mhac an tSaoi|last2=O'Brien|first2=Conor Cruise|author-link2=Conor Cruise O'Brien|date=1999|orig-year=1972|chapter=Christianity to the Coming of the Normans|title=Ireland: A Concise History|edition=3rd ed. (rev.) and reprinted|location=New York, NY|publisher=[[Thames & Hudson|Thames and Hudson]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00obri_0/page/34 34]|isbn=0-500-27379-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00obri_0/page/34}}</ref> The names of the apostles are incised in a frieze around the bowl, below a girdle bearing inset gold wirework panels of animals, birds, and geometric [[interlace (visual arts)|interlace]].<ref>{{cite book |last=De Breffny |first=Brian |date=1983 |title=Ireland: A Cultural Encyclopedia |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson |page=35 }}</ref> Techniques used include hammering, engraving, [[lost-wax casting]], [[filigree]] [[applique]], [[cloisonné]] and [[vitreous enamel|enamel]]. Even the underside of the chalice is decorated (photo above).

According to the art historian [[Lawrence Stone]] (writing before the discovery of the [[Derrynaflan Chalice|Derrynaflan Hoard]]): "Here the Irish artist has shown a capacity for classical restraint by a deliberate decision to prevent the ornamentation from spreading so copiously as to blur the proportions... contrasting markedly with the lavish ornamental spread of the almost contemporary [[Tara Brooch]] and the still more elaborate systems of the later period. The bulk of the decoration consists of exquisitely drawn spiral or interlace patterns, given depth by the soldering of two layers of gold thread one on top of the other. At intervals are set cloisonné enamel bosses of blue and red, the complicated manufacture of which shows direct continuity with the Anglo-Saxon jewelers' craft of the preceding century. But apart from the extraordinary perfection of execution of this elaborate decoration, what gives to the Ardagh Chalice its outstanding position in Irish metalwork is the strictness of the relationship between the simple swelling lines of the cup and its base and the arrangement of the glittering studs, bands, and roundels that adorn its surface."<ref>Stone, 18</ref> The standard monograph is L.S. Gógan, ''The Ardagh Chalice''.

The chalice is similar to the only other major early Irish example to survive, the [[Derrynaflan Chalice]], found in the neighboring [[County Tipperary]]. That was found with a [[paten]] and liturgical strainer. At that time the ruling dynasty in Tipperary and most of [[Munster]] were the [[Eóganachta]], while their allies and possible cousins the [[Uí Fidgenti]] ruled in the Limerick area (see Byrne 2001; Begley 1906). Although the early suggestion that the chalice was [[Metal fabrication|fabricated]] at [[Clonmacnoise]] and stolen from there by a Limerick Dane is widely circulated, this is unprovable. A Munster origin is just as likely if not more so given the 1980 discovery of the sister Derrynaflan Hoard. A Clonmacnoise origin is not mentioned at the [[National Museum of Ireland]] website.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150610194650/http://www.museum.ie/en/list/artefacts.aspx?article=bfcd87b3-c3b1-489c-84f3-5c8bc08cc471 The Ardagh Chalice; Object Number: IA:1874.99]. [[National Museum of Ireland]]</ref>

The chalice was featured on a £1 value [[Definitive postage stamps of Ireland|definitive postage stamp]] issued by [[An Post]] between 1990 and 1995 as part of the series ''Irish Heritage and Treasures'' designed by Michael Craig.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flannery |first=Maria |date=2018-02-03 |title=Stamp of approval for Ardagh Chalice as artefact gets definitive treatment from An Post |url=https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/294849/stamp-of-approval-for-ardagh-chalice-as-artefact-gets-definitive-treatment-from-an-post.html |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.limerickleader.ie |language=en}}</ref> Two [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] trophies are modelled on the Chalice: the [[O'Duffy Cup]] and the [[Sam Maguire Cup]].