Tara Brooch
Famous Item of Celtic Metalwork From Ireland.
Cork Arts and Crafts

The Tara Brooch (c.700 CE).

Tara Brooch

One of the great surviving masterpieces of Celtic metalwork art of the early eighth century, the Tara Brooch is named after the Hill of Tara, seat of the legendary High Kings of Ireland. Dated to about 700 CE, the brooch is seven-inches in length and consists mainly of silver gilt with a knitted silver wire, decorated all over with intricate Celtic interlace patternwork. However, it has no link with either Tara or Irish royalty, having been discovered outside Bettystown, near Laytown, County Meath, in 1850 by a peasant woman. The artifact was only called the Tara Brooch as a sales ploy by the antique dealer who purchased it. Even so, it is considered one of the great treasures of the Irish Insular art style in the history of Irish art.

Made from cast silver, the Tara Brooch
is ornamented in La Tene style Celtic decoration.

Penannular Ring

Although in appearance the Tara Brooch is a Roman-style penannular ring brooch - most of which were used for fastening woollen cloaks - it was intended primarily as a decorative status symbol. Scholars believe it was made for a wealthy patron, probably male, as a sign of his wealth and high status. This is consistent with the superlative quality of materials and metallurgical craftwork used in the manufacture of the brooch.

The construction of the Tara Brooch exemplifies the advanced craft of metalworking in Ireland during the early Christian art era. Fashioned from cast silver, the entire surface is embellished with La Tène style Celtic decoration. Its front is ornamented with panels of interlace design in gold filigree and zoographic triskeles. The settings contain numerous geometric shapes in amber. Several connecting parts of the brooch are emblazoned with designs of animal heads - including wolves and dragons - as well as human heads in glass. Its rear is decorated in plainer style, with panels of silver fastened over copper.

Celtic Cultural Revival

The Tara Brooch displays no religious iconography - neither Christian nor pagan - which is consistent with other similar brooches of the period. As one of the foremost examples of Celtic La Tène style artwork, its discovery - along with that of the Ardagh Chalice - lent momentum to the Celtic Cultural Revival of Victorian Britain. The Tara Brooch is now on display at the National Museum of Ireland, together with other examples of Celtic metalwork like the Derrynaflan Chalice, the Moylough Belt, the Ardagh Chalice, the Cross of Cong, the Petrie Crown, the Tully Lough Cross and the Broighter Collar.

• For more about Irish cultural history and craftwork, see: Visual Arts in Ireland.
• For information about art and crafts in Ireland, see: Irish Art: Visual Arts Cork.

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