1890-91.] 3°5 



gold antiques. The gold antiquities in the British Museum 

 illustrative of British history are, without exception, Irish. The 

 museum of Trinity College, Dublin, contains many fine exam- 

 ples, and there are several large private collections. But there 

 is no doubt that much greater quantities of gold ornaments than 

 are now known as existing have been lost for ever. A number 

 of quotations from various early Irish writers were next given to 

 show how constantly gold and golden ornaments are mentioned 

 by the ancient chroniclers, and what abundance of the precious 

 metal must formerly have been in use. The principal antiquities 

 of gold that remain to us may be classed under ten heads, as 

 follow : — 1. Crowns — A magnificent gold ornament resembling 

 in shape a helmet or skullcap, found in County Tipperary in 

 1692, and now in the Royal Irish Academy collection, which 

 has been called a crown for want of a better name, was described, 

 and a drawing exhibited. This specimen is unique, but a 

 somewhat similar gold cap is described by Vallancey in 1783. 

 2. Minds of lunulce — These elegant ornaments may be described 

 as flat crescent-shaped plates of gold, with a small plate at each 

 extremity ; they have been discovered on frequent occasions ; 

 and their surface is frequently enriched with minute and 

 elaborate designs. Mr. Dugan showed a fine example from his 

 own collection, found in boggy land in West Mayo, and ex- 

 hibited drawings of some of the finest of the fifteen lunulce in 

 the Royal Irish Academy collection. 3. Diadems — These 

 gorgeous and elaborate ornaments have also been frequently 

 found, and are undoubtedly the most magnificent specimens of 

 gold work to be found in the world. Like the lunulce, they 

 were probably head ornaments, and their great antiquity is 

 shown by the fact that they are not mentioned among any of 

 the known annals. 4. Gorgets — These were probably collars 

 of gold, such as Malachi " won from the proud invader." Some 

 of them exhibit the peculiar herringbone ornamentation 

 characteristic of Celtic work. 5. Necklaces of gold and amber 

 were not uncommon in Ireland, and must have constituted 

 unique and splendid ornaments. The amber probably came 



