Editing Irish art (section)

===1150 to 1550===
[[File:Domhnach Airgid.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Front of the [[Domnach Airgid]], a late 8–9th century [[book shrine]] heavily reworked after 1350]]
These earlier styles largely came to an end with the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman invasion]] of 1169–1170 and the subsequent wide adoption of [[Romanesque art]]. Through the Gothic and Renaissance periods Irish art was essentially a regional variation of wider European styles, with many works imported from England or further afield, and some English artists and craftsmen active in Ireland. Many objects of a distinctively Irish form from the first millennium, such as bell or [[book shrine]] [[reliquaries]], were renovated or repaired in the contemporary style.  

The superlative standard of the best [[Early Medieval]] works is not seen, but craftsmen such as metalworkers retained a relatively high social status.  Many more signed their work than was usual in other countries in this period, but the rate of losses has been such that there is only a single metalworker whose signature is on two surviving pieces.  They seem very often to have been attached to the court of a lord, as were poets.<ref>NMI, Chapter, 7, ''Later Medieval Ireland''</ref>

A number of important literary or historical manuscripts from the period have survived, many now entirely in the [[Irish language]]; examples include the [[Book of Leinster]], which is one of several with a text of the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' or "Book of Invasions".  But there are no surviving manuscripts with significant illumination beyond a few decorated initials.  In contrast, the period saw a considerable development in the [[architecture of Ireland]] with several surviving churches and castles in English-influenced styles.<ref>NMI, Chapter, 7, ''Later Medieval Ireland''</ref>