Ireland is home to many iconic historical artifacts and objects, from the Book of Kells to the Brooch of Tara. Many of these items are beautifully designed but contain many mysteries. Others have a long and rich story behind them. There are a few better examples of an artifact such as the Bell and the Shrine of St. Patrick. Believed to have belonged to St. Patrick himself, the bell and shrine have a fascinating and unusually well-documented history spanning some 1,400 years.
How Patrick became a Saint
The bell belongs to Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Despite his strong connection to the Emerald Isle, St. Patrick was actually born in Roman Britain around 385 AD. Little is known about Patrick’s early life, but we do know he was the son of a deacon and the grandson of a priest. As a teenager, Patrick was captured by Irish pirates and enslaved for six years. During this time, he worked as a shepherd. He eventually escaped and returned home, where he spent several years studying to become a priest.
After several years had passed, Patrick had a vision telling him to return to Ireland. Patrick returned to Ireland and began preaching to the pagans in Ireland at that time, converting them to Christianity. Patrick would spend the rest of his life spreading God’s word and helping establish churches and parishes in Ireland. It was this work that made him the patron saint of Ireland. He received great honors after his death, including having churches and cathedrals dedicated to him. He was also given a tomb upon his death.
About sixty years after his death, another missionary named Colum Cille visited Patrick’s tomb and removed three relics from it. The first of these was a cup, sent to County Down; the second was “The Gospel of the Angels”, which he kept for himself. The last relic was a small iron bell which he sent to Armagh, an important ecclesiastical site at the time and where Patrick spent a lot of time.
The stained glass depicts Saint Patrick and refers to the year 445, when Saint Patrick is said to have built the first church in Armagh. Located at St. Patrick of the Church of Ireland, Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland (Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE)
History of the St. Patrick’s Bell
According to legend, when St. Patrick founded a new Christian parish or community in Ireland, he would choose one of his disciples to lead that parish or community after he left. Before departing, he would give the chosen disciple a bell to call the local people to pray. Apparently, in the province of Connaught alone, he donated over fifty bells, and he had three blacksmiths with him wherever he went, who worked full-time making the bells. St. Patrick’s bells are similar to these bells.
When Colum Cille sent the bell to Armagh, it was left in the hands of the Mulholland family. It remained in their possession and largely forgotten until the 18th century, when the last surviving member of their family, Henry Mulholland, transferred ownership of it to Adam McClean, one of the pupils in his school. Mulholland told McClean before he died that there was an oak box buried in his backyard and that he would leave him a legacy. In the box, McClean found St. Patrick’s bell and an equally valuable ancient Irish Bible.
The bell and temple remained in McClean’s possession until his death, before his family sold it to a professor at Trinity College Dublin. Later, the Royal Irish Academy became aware of these items and their importance and purchased them for £625, a huge sum at the time.
The bell and Shrine of St. Patrick were restored in the 18th century, along with the 17th-century Bedell Bible, believed to be the first translation of the Old Testament into Irish (Marsh Library/CC BY NC ND 3.0)
Design of the temple
Of course, while the bell is of great importance, it is the temple that houses it that is truly eye-catching. The bell has a rather modest design. It is made from two iron plates joined together. A bronze coating was added after the bell was sent to Armagh by Colum Cille. On the other hand, the temple has intricate details. The shrine was crafted later than the bell. An inscription on its surface indicates it was made around 1100 AD. An inscription along the edge of the backplate also provides details about who created it (Cuduilig O Inmainen and his sons) and who commissioned it. The temple was commissioned by Irish King Domhnall Ua Lochlainn. The bellkeeper, Cathalan Ua Maelchallain (Irish version of Mulholland) is also engraved here.
The humble St Patrick’s bell was fashioned in the 7th century, one of many commissioned when he founded churches across Ireland (Ceoil/CC BY SA 4.0)
The temple is trapezoidal in shape, with a curved top at the top. On both sides of the shrine there are two small handles for holding or holding. The front is covered in a gilded frame that once contained thirty gilded panels arranged in the shape of a cross. It also has many Celtic knot patterns. The sides of the temple are decorated with open panels depicting elongated beasts intertwined with snake figures, possibly alluding to the legend of St. Patrick banishing snakes from Ireland.
Detail of the sides of St. Patrick’s Bell Temple (Sailko / CC BY 3.0 )
Meanwhile, the back of the temple has a much simpler style. It is decorated with an open silver panel patterned with interlocking crosses. Finally, the top of the temple is probably the most elaborately decorated part. It features two birds made of iron, as well as several other carved panels and a beautiful, symmetrical Celtic-patterned Viking-influenced design, known as the Urnes style. Today, the bell and shrine to St. Patrick are in the National Museum of Ireland.
Rear view of St. Patrick’s Cathedral with interlocking crosses (Sailko / CC BY SA 3.0)
Top photo: St. Patrick’s Bell (left) has a simple design. The temple (right) was later designed to cover it quite elaborately. Source: National Museum of Ireland / CC BY SA 2.0
By Mark Brophy
