The Golden Age of Irish Art: The Medieval Achievement 600‐1200

During the early medieval period, inspired by monastic Christianity, Ireland produced artwork of a quality and complexity that has never been surpassed. The Books of Kells and Durrow, the Gallarus Oratory, the Tara Brooch and the Ardagh Chalice are well‐known, but there are numerous lesser‐known manuscripts and items of sculpture and metalwork, and new treasures are constantly coming to light.

The problems associated with describing and analysing this corpus of work are, on the one hand, uncertainty over dating and lack of documentation, and, on the other, the mythologising of its achievement for political purposes, which ensured that it...