Ireland's oldest book shrine unveiled after 39-year restoration
The Lough Kinale Book Shrine is now on public display at the National Museum of Ireland, following a nearly 40-year conservation effort.
Discovered in 1986 by divers in a lake in County Longford, the 9th-century wooden box was remarkably well preserved for over a thousand years.
The shrine, measuring over 13 by 11 inches, was designed to house a sacred Christian manuscript, likely linked to a saint.
Its intricate craftsmanship includes a central cross, circular medallions with precious stones, and snake-headed hinges that once supported a leather carrying strap for ceremonial use.
Museum conservators spent decades piecing together and digitally modelling the fragmented object, which was found all together but completely shattered.
Their research suggests it was designed using precise geometric planning - similar to techniques used in illuminated manuscripts.
The shrine is now a centrepiece of Words on the Wave: Ireland and St. Gallen in Early Medieval Europe , an exhibition exploring Ireland's medieval ties with mainland Europe.
Also featured are a Viking sword from the River Shannon, a rare medieval brooch, and the Faddan More Psalter, another manuscript preserved in a bog.
A special highlight is the return of 17 mediaeval manuscripts on loan from Switzerland's Abbey Library of St. Gall.
Scientific analysis shows that four of these were made from Irish cattle hides and ink derived from wasp nests, suggesting their creation in Ireland and subsequent transport to the continent by Irish monks over a thousand years ago.
The exhibition runs through October 24 in Dublin, offering a rare glimpse into early medieval Ireland.
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