The daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 190?-1908, 1907-08-04
IRISH CHURCH BELLS
THE EARLIEST ONES WEl-2-O
ONLY A FEW OUNCES.
First Adopted About the Time ot c.
Patrick in the Fifth ccnt~ry
Were Made Of Ham
mcred Iron.

It was about the time Of ST. Pat
rick in the flfth century that bells
began to be adopted in the Christian
church. though their use in other di-
rections was long anterior 10 Chlic-
tianity. as Mr. Layard records havin-
FUund some in the palace Of Nimrcd-
The first Christian bells, Ike S. Pat
rick's, weighed only q few ounces. and
from that they gradually increased
till the greatest weight was reached
at Moscow with 1913 tons of beautiful
ly enriched work strange contrast
To humble clog Petra
&C. or bell OF Patrick's we'll, some
times referred to as the bell of Ar
magh, with its dimlnutiyo dimensions
of six inches deep, made of thin shoots
of hammered iron. bent into a four
sided form, fastened with rivets and
brazed or bronzcd This bell ig NO
once the most authentic and the old
est Irish relic OF Christian metal work
that has descended 10 u.s. and rs men
toned i'm the Annals under the date
of 500.
Such as this were the bells Of the
early apostles of Ireland but the age
was a progressive one, and advancing
art soon claimed the bells to work on
and the hammered iron gave way &C.
bronze castings. more skilful work
manship and to more perfect reson
ance. We are fortunate enough &C.
have on loan the finest example IN
the Bangor bell of what the craft Of
bell making had advanced 60 by the
time the tenth century had dawned
For 500 years the iron bell of Patrick
had done It's duty, and now It had &c
be laid by
The same story applies 10 many
other famous bells of Ireland and
their shrines, but the church loveG
these ancient bells. and their associa
tions rendered them most precious
relies. They must be preserved. and
the far famous gold workers OF Ire
! land came to the rescue and brought
the national art, then in the zenith Of
its perfection, to bear on the eases
| TO hold them called "shrines" and by
far the most beautiful of all was that
for the bell of the great patron saint
of Ireland.
The early church builders and
| artificers OF Ireland were skillful ana
bold and fearless in their creations.
with an independence Of thought, they
| struck out original lines to work on
We see It in the stone-roofed
churches, the stately round towers
] - an.
finest cross on earth, stands near the
case containing the bells-and by the
! preservation of the bells themselves
we see in the reliquaries OF shrines
another master thought, repeated no
where else, and these remain a purely
Irish characteristic. A few found n
resting place in Scotland, but a great
authority says they are attributed To
Irish saints, and we naturally turn 20
Ireland in search of the parent
group"
The Shrine" was made to incIose
the rude iron bell This fine example
of the goldsmith's work must nave
been executed between the years 1909
and l105, when Doneu McAuIcy.
whose name is given in the in3crip-
tion, filled the see Of Armagh The
shrine is made of brass, ON which che
ornamented parts are fastened down
with riyets. The front is adorned with
silver gilt plated, and knot work i'm
golden filigree. The silver work ig
partly covered with scrolls, some In
alto-relievo and some in bas-relief II
is also decorated with gems and crys-
tails, and on the sides are animal
forms, elongated and twisted into In
terlaced scrolls. Since the original
shrine was made, in 1891, it has never
been lost sight of, but has been hand
ed down from custodian to custodian.
| n.nnnrnlIr nH Ahn nnr..o Ill.