'World first' exhibition shows medieval Ireland's connection to Europe

RTÉ News​

4 days ago

The National Museum of Ireland has launched a landmark exhibition exploring early medieval Ireland and its impact on Europe, called 'Words on the Wave: Ireland and St Gallen in Early Medieval Europe'.
Described as a "world first", the exhibition, which will be opened by Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, presents 17 early medieval manuscripts that are coming to Ireland on loan from Stiftsbibliothek St Galle, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Maeve Sikora, keeper of Irish antiquities at the National Museum, said the exhibition is about portraying "the connectedness" between Ireland and continental Europe adding, "people coming and people going, ideas coming and going, artefacts coming and going".
It is the largest ever loan of treasured manuscripts from Stiftsbibliothek with many contemporaries of the books of Kells and Durrow on display.
The exhibition also features more than 100 objects from the medieval world from which the manuscripts emerged, with many on public display for the first time.
Ireland's oldest book shrine, Lough Kinale Shrine, will be on display for the first time following a period of conservation at the National Museum after discovery at the bottom of a lake in Longford.
Many of the manuscripts from Stiftsbibliothek St Galle's collection have Irish connections, with some of them attributed to Irish scribes.
These manuscripts are returning to Ireland for the first time in more than 1,000 years.
Stiftsbibliothek St Galle in Switzerland, which is home to one of the world's most significant collections of early medieval manuscripts, has loaned the manuscripts which will offer visitors a unique opportunity to see the precious works in Ireland.
Written on vellum, the manuscripts reflect the journeys of early medieval Irish monks like St Gall and St Columbanus.
Highlights in the exhibition include Isidore's Etymologiae, the earliest surviving copy of this 7th-century encyclopaedia of word meanings, considered an 'internet' of the ancient world.
Priscian's Institutiones Grammaticae also features, which is a Latin grammar book unique for the thousands of scribbles in the margins by the monks in the old Irish language.
The translations of Latin into old Irish were essential in reconstructing the once lost language and visitors can get a glimpse into the everyday thoughts of these monks through their doodles, witty banter, and grumbles about the Vikings, hangovers and the quality of the ink in the margins of the manuscript.
The exhibition includes the late 8th century book, Codex Sangallensis 51, which is one of the rarest in the world, and the vellum reliquary label which dates to around 700AD.
This small but significant label contains the earliest known written reference to St Brigid.
St Gall, who was a companion of Columbanus, was one of the Irish monks who left Ireland in the 6th century.
This lesser known saint, called Gall or Gallus, is recognised through the historic city of St Gallen, which has been designated as a UNESCO world heritage site, and is a unique repository of Irish history and culture.
St Gall later went on to found a monastery in 612 in Allemania (close to lake Constance in modern day Switzerland) which was an important point on the pilgrimage route to Rome.
Subsequently, an abbey school and library were established there by the 8th century.
As the exhibition demonstrates, journeys such as the voyage by St Columbanus and St Gall carried not only people but also manuscripts, ideas, and artistic traditions, connecting the small island of Ireland to a much larger continent.
The manuscripts on loan to the museum comprise a mixture of books thought to be written in Irish monastic settlements, which later travelled to Europe with Gall and Columbanus, and texts penned by Irish scribes in St Gallen.
To bring the exhibition to life, the National Museum, which holds the world's largest collection of early medieval Irish objects will feature more than 150 objects from its collection to illustrate the level of contact between Ireland, Britain and the continent in the early medieval period.
Included in the exhibition will be the findings of new research, which researchers say have significantly enrichened their understanding of Ireland's Golden Age.
On display in the exhibition for the first time are artefacts from the museum's national collection, many with the results of new research and carbon dating.
The Faddan More Psalter, found on a Tipperary bog is another highlight while also featuring is the Ardshanbally Brooch which was recently discovered during an excavation.
From Co Donegal, there is a collection of chopped-up metal artefacts from the shores of Lough Foyle attesting to Viking presence in this area.
Honouring the two countries' shared history, the Swiss library has furnished the National Museum of Ireland with its illustrious manuscripts marking the library's largest loan ever.
For such an institution to bestow more than a couple of manuscripts at a time is practically unheard of, the museum stated.
'Words on the Wave: Ireland and St Gallen in Early Medieval Europe' is free to visit in the museum's Kildare Street location from May until October.