Bell Shrine of St. Cuileáin
Bell shrine in Ireland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Bell Shrine of St. Cuileáin (or the Bearnán Chúláin bell shrine or the Glenkeen bell shrine)[3][4] is a late-11th or early-12th century bell shrine found in the early modern period hidden in a tree in Glenkeen, near Borrisoleigh in County Tipperary, Ireland. It was built to hold a 7th century iron hand-bell thought to have been owned by St. Cuileáin; the name "Bearnán Chúláin" translates from Irish as the "gapped [one or bell] of Cúlán".
Bell Shrine of St. Cuileáin | |
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Material | Bronze, brass, iron, gold, enamel, niello |
Size |
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Created | Bell: 7th or 8th centuries Shrine: 11th and 12th centuries[1] |
Present location | British Museum, London |
Registration | 1854,0714.6[2] |
The shrine's frame is mostly of bronze. It is capped by a horizontal shaped mound containing a wide band of openwork and interlace patterns. It terminates at each side with a large animal head, over which is an inwards facing human head.[5] The mound supports the arched crest, which is decorated with yellow enamel and niello.
The bell would have been used to mark canonical hours and to call for mass. It's shrine is first mentioned in Irish records in the 1600s, when it was regarded as having "miraculous" healing and lie-detecting abilities.[6] It is badly damaged, having lost all of its front plate and one of its sides. It was first mentioned in records during the 17th century, and after passing through the collections of a number of Irish antiquarians during the 18th and 19th centuries, it was acquired in 1854 by the British Museum, where it is on permanent display.