Lawi.or— 2Vze Cathach of St. Coluinba. 393 



ornament resemble those on certain tenth-century brooches of the Viking 

 period, decorated with bosses and strap-work enclosing panels of interlaced 

 zooniorphs, of which several examples have been found in Ireland, and are in 

 the Eoyal Irish Academy's collection. 



The ends consisted in each case of a single panel of bronze, gilt, decorated 

 with bold interlaced zoomorphic ornament, much of the design being wrought 

 in niello-work. The repairing of the corners has led to the extremities of 

 these panels being covered by one vertical and two horizontal sections of 

 later workmanship. On the right-hand end (Plate XXXVIII) the vertical 

 panels are bronze, gilt ; both are engraved with different linear patterns ; 

 the horizontal, towards the hinged side, appear to be bronze, coated with silver, 

 decorated with leaf- ornament, and towards the front of bronze, gilt, the 

 top one being engraved with two quatrefoils, the lower with a rectilinear 

 design. On the left-hand end (Plate XXXVIII) the added horizontal panels 

 towards the hinged side are similar to the ones described above in the 

 same position on the right-hand end. Those towards the front are of 

 bronze, gilt, and contain a floral design. The vertical panel to the hinged side 

 is ornamented with a leaf -pattern, and that to the front side with a linear 

 design; all are contained in niello- work borders. The fine bold design of the 

 interlaced zoomorphs, which resembles, in some degree, the decoration of 

 the head of the crozier of Clonmacnois, makes the addition of the later and 

 inferior panels a matter of regret. 



The lid of the box (Plate XXXV) is formed of a plate of silver, gilt, with 

 a tubular rim wliich has corners ornamented with small knobs and twisted 

 wire-work ; it was riveted to a brass plate, to which the wooden cover of the 

 box at present inside the shrine is attached. The ornamental features of 

 the lid show it to be later in date than the back and older portions of the 

 sides and ends ; it is decorated in the following manner : — In the centre, 

 in a round-headed niche, is seated a figure with waving hair, wearing a 

 full robe ; his right hand is raised in benediction, he holds a book in his 

 left ; the arms of the chair upon which he is seated terminate in animal 

 heads. On the dexter, in a similar but smaller niche, is the effigy of a bishop 

 wearing a mitre, amice, dalmatic, and an orphreyed chasuble, having his right 

 hand raised in benediction, and holding his crozier in his left ; below his right 

 hand is engraved a bird (a dove) ; underneath this is the head of an ecclesiastic 

 whose body is covered by one of the six settings that enrich the lid. In a 

 similar niche on the sinister side, is a representation of the Crucifixion, with the 

 Virgin standing on the de.xter, and St. John on the sinister; above the Saviour's 

 head are engraved two birds (eagles). On each side of the central figure, out- 

 side the niche, and above the side niches, is the figure of an angel swinging a 



R.I. A. PKOC, VOL. XXXIII., SECT. C. [55] 



