el. Below this are the names of the twelve Apostles in
faint Celtic lettering. The two handles are beautifully decorated
with panels of interwoven ornament, and on the sides are two circular
discs divided into ornamented panels. The under side of the foot of
the Chalice is also very beautifully decorated.

The shrines of the bells of the Irish saints are interesting examples
of Irish metal work. As is fitting, the finest of these is the Shrine
of St. Patrick's Bell. This was made by order of King Domnall
O'Lachlainn between the years 1091 and 1105 to contain St. Patrick's
Bell, a square iron bell made of two plates of sheet iron riveted
together. The shrine is made of bronze plates, to which gold filigree
work and stones are riveted. The top of the shrine, curved to receive
the handle of the bell, is of silver elaborately decorated. The back
is overlaid with a plate of silver cut in cruciform pattern. Around
the margin of the back is engraved the following inscription in
Irish: "A prayer for Domnall Ua Lachlainn, by whom this bell [shrine]
was made, and for Domnall, successor of Patrick, by whom it was made,
and for Cathalan Ua Maelchallann, the keeper of the bell, and for
Cudulig Ua Inmainen with his sons, who fashioned it." The whole is
executed in a very fine manner and is the most beautiful object of
its kind in existence. Another beautiful shrine, known as the Cross
of Cong, made to enshrine a piece of the true cross presented by the
pope in 1123, was made for King Turlogh O'Conor at about that date.
It is 2 feet 6 inches high and 1 foot 6-3/4 inches wide. It is made
of oak cased with copper and enriched with ornaments of gilded
bronze. The ornamentation is of the typical Irish type, as on the
Ardagh Chalice and the Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell. A quartz crystal
set in the centre of the front of the cross probably held the relic.

It is clear from the succession of beautiful work executed from the
eighth to the twelfth century, that there must have existed in
Ireland during that period a school of workers in metal such as has
seldom been equalled by any individual worker or guild before or
since, and never excelled. The examples described are only the more
famous of the remains of early Irish Christian art in metal, but they
are surrounded by numerous examples of pins, brooches, and shrines,
each worthy to rank with the finest productions of the metalworker.
The Shrine of St. Moedoc (date uncertain) ought perhaps