A cumdach (Old Irish pronunciation: 

[ˈkuṽdax], in Irish "cover"[1]) or book shrine is an elaborate

ornamented metal reliquary box or case used to hold Early Medieval Irish manuscripts or relics.
They are typically later than the book they contain, often by several centuries.[2] In most
surviving examples the book comes from the peak age of Irish monasticism before 800, and the
extant cumdachs date from after 1000, although it is clear the form dates from considerably
earlier. The majority are of Irish origin, with most surviving examples now in the National
Museum of Ireland ("NMI").

The usual form is a design based on a cross on the main face, with use of large gems of rock
crystal or other semi-precious stones, leaving the spaces between the arms of the cross for more
varied decoration. Several were carried on a metal chain or leather cord, often worn off the belt,
or suspended around the neck, placing them next to the heart and thus offering spiritual and
perhaps medical benefits (the same was done with the St Cuthbert Gospel in a leather bag in
medieval Durham). They were also used to bring healing to the sick or dying, or more formally,
as witness contracts. Many had hereditary lay keepers from among the chiefly families who had
formed links with monasteries.[3]

Only five early examples survive, including those of the Book of Dimma and Book of Mulling at
Trinity College, Dublin, and the Cathach of St. Columba and Stowe Missal. Of the St Molaise
Shrine, only the Gospels are extant; the casing is lost, but more often the reverse is the case.
Other books such as the Book of Kells, Book of Armagh and Book of Durrow are known to have
once had either cumdachs or treasure bindings or both, but as they contained valuable precious
metals they were a natural target for looters and thieves.

Contents
 1 Characteristics and formats
 2 Commission and production
 3 Function
o 3.1 Battle standards
 4 Surviving examples
 5 Study and conservation
 6 References
o 6.1 Notes
o 6.2 Sources
 7 External links

Characteristics and formats

The format and function of cumdachs may derive from book caskets used by early Christian
Romans. Both types were intended to protect sacred text or relics, and it is plausible that Irish
monasteries would seek to emulate the prestige and, according to the Irish art historian Rachel
Moss, "splendor of Roman liturgical ceremonies".[4] The Irish church emphasised relics that
were, or were thought to be, objects frequently used by monastic saints, rather than the body
parts preferred by most of the church, although these were also kept in local versions of the
house-shaped chasse form, such as the Scottish Monymusk Reliquary.[5] Another Irish specialty
was the bell-shrine, encasing the hand bells used to summon the community to services or meals,
and one of the earliest reliquaries enshrined the belt of an unknown saint, and was probably worn
as a test of truthfulness and to cure illness. It probably dates to the 8th century and was found in
a peat bog near Moylough, County Sligo.[6]

Side-view of the shrine of the Stowe Missal, mid-11th century

As the sample size of 8 to 10 surviving examples is so small (presumably many such works are
lost, mostly plundered for their precious metal or stones) they cannot be classified typologically.
Their shared characteristics include that they are sealed, metal cases built to protect earlier
objects of veneration originally placed in a timber core typical built from Yew-wood or (less
commonly) from oak.[7] All of the later refurbishments were seem to have been commissioned by
ambitious clergy members, and the work carried out by single metal-workers and their
workshops. In the majority of instances, the master metal-worker left an inscribed signature and
date of completion, some of which contain wording that hints at their artistic motivations.[8]

They all contain a frontpiece containing a central cross, repetitive openwork patterns constricting
of two highly contrasted colours (such as red and black) on the reverse, and interlace patterns
and inscriptions on the sides.[4] Distinguishing factors include size (indicating the originally
intended function as for example as private fixed shrines pocket books, or objects to be worn
over the shoulder or from belts), and their later use.[4] The Shrine of Miosach retains its original
chain used to carry it around, while the Soiscél Molaisse and Lough Kinsalen Shrine have
fittings that once held leather straps, assumed to have held the objects in place during
processional ceremonies.[9]

They are to be distinguished from the metalwork treasure bindings that probably covered most
grand liturgical books of the period—the theft and loss of that covering the Book of Kells (if it
was not a cumdach alone) is recorded. However the designs may well have been very similar; the
best surviving Insular example, the lower cover of the Lindau Gospels (c. 880) in the Morgan
Library in New York, is also centered on a large cross, surrounded by interlace panels.[10]
Treasure bindings were metalwork assemblies tacked onto the wooden boards of a conventional
bookbinding, so essentially the same technically as the faces of many cumdachs, which are also
attached with tacks to a core wooden box.
Commission and production
Historians are generally confident in identifying who commissioned the shrines, and their
providence. Exceptions include the Book of Durrow and the Stow Missal.[11] Inscriptions on two
examples (Durrow and Stowe) indicate they were for a King of Ireland.[12]

Almost nothing is known of the metal-workers who produced them. A number contain
inscriptions that can be read as signatures, but that is the extent of their historical record as even
first rank craftsmen of the time were not mentioned in annuals, and were not given obituaries
when they died. As craftsmen were not given a high social status, it seems many were illiterate.
Some of the signatures are unclear, with instance where the scribe was tasked with writing in
Latin, but did not understand how to formulate language.[13]

Function
Cumdachs basic utilitarian functions were as practical protective covers for their manuscript or
relic, and to provide, sometimes portable, private centers of devotion, or were of liturgical use.[14]
The majority were intended to hold by then centuries older manuscripts, in instanced assumed to
be written by major saints, such as Patrick, or legendary local monastery founders who had died
100s of years before the actual date of the manuscript. For this reason, many of the very early
manuscripts owe their survival to their later, active status as relics.[15] Most other early medieval
Irish manuscripts were stored away in secure stone buildings, but were over the years sold, stolen
or plundered, and thus lost.[16]

The shrines were used during both ecclesiastical and secular ceremonies, such as granting
insignia of office, swearing of oaths or signing treaties.[4]

The books of Dimma and Mulling were found with inserts containing texts from masses of the
dead, indicating they were used for healing purposes.[4] The book of Durrow was periodically
removed from its (now lost)[17] cumdach during the late medieval and early modern periods so
that it could be used to bless and cure sick animals.[16]

Battle standards

Reliquaries were often used as battle standards in medieval Ireland, with expectation that they
would boost morale, protect the troops, or grant victory.[18][19][20] Typically the relics would be
held in, or represented by, crosiers, bell-shrines or cumdachs, and carried onto the battlefield by
a cleric, who would often be employed by the family as its "hereditary custodian".[21][22] The most
well known cumdach used for this purpose is the Cathach of St. Columba (known as The
Cathach or Battler of St. Columba), used as a battle talisman by the O'Donnell family.[23]
According to art historian Colum Hourihane, "not only did the shrine and its iconography have to
instill fear into the enemy, but, more importantly, it had to instill confidence into the army of the
O’Donnells following it".[24] The objects were usually worn around the neck, and the tradition
was that the holder would circle the area three times in a "sunwise" direction before the battle
commenced.[25] Other cumdachs known to have been used in this way include the Shrine of
Miosach and the Shrine of Caillín.[26]

Clerics were allowed non-combatant status reducing the likelihood that the reliquary would be
captured. Younger clerics were usually selected, according to the historian Anthony Lucas, as a
result of "prudent consideration that they stood a better chance than men of mature years of
escaping with their precious burden by speed of foot should they find themselves in a tight
corner in the melee."[22] However, the holder was sometimes killed in battle; in 1497 The
Cathach was captured after its keeper was slain by enemy forces.[25] Similarly, the Book of
Armagh is recorded as having been brought to battlefields, and was once recovered from
underneath the dead body of its custodian.[16]

Surviving examples
Cumdachs are particular to Ireland.[27] There are eight known surviving Irish examples (in
chronological order: the Lough Kinale Book-Shrine, Soiscél Molaisse, Stowe Missal, The
Cathach, Shrine of Miosach, Book of Dimma, Shrine of the Book of Moling, and Shrine of
Caillín of Fenagh)[28] with a further two—of the nine extant—"house-shaped shrines", namely the
12th century St Manchan's shrine and the c. 1350 additions to the Domnach Airgid.[29] All are
protective enclosures intended to permanently seal off a manuscript or relic, and date from
between the early 9th to the mid-16 centuries.[30]

Several of the earliest documented examples are now lost. The Book of Durrow had a metal
casing dated to c. 1002–1015[31] and the Book of Kells lost its cumdach when it was stolen in
1006. The Book of Armagh was given a cover in 937, which was perhaps lost when it was
captured in battle and ransomed by the Norman John de Courcy in 1177.[32] The earliest
documented example was made to house and protect the Book of Durrow at the behest of the
High King of Ireland Flann Sinna (877–916), by which point it was at Durrow, and believed to
be a relic of Columba (Colum Cille).[14] The shrine was lost in the 17th century, but its
appearance, including an inscription recording the king's patronage, is recorded in a note from
1677, now bound into the book as folio IIv, although other inscriptions are not transcribed. Once
in their shrines, such manuscripts were rarely if ever removed for use as a book.[33]

Lough Kinale Book Shrine The earliest known cumdach is also the largest surviving example.
Dated to the late 8th or early 9th century,[34][35] it was not rediscovered until 1986 when found by
divers at a depth of 2 m of water in the County Longford side of Lough Kinale.[36] Moss
speculates that it was thrown in the water to evade being taken during a local chieftain feud or
before a Viking raid. The inner structure is of oak, lined with tin and bronze plates attached by
nails. Its front-side contains a large central cross, five bosses in bronze, and four rounded
openwork medallions containing spiral and lentoid patterns. The figures on the sides include
beast heads.[9] Initial valuations by the NMI priced the object at £2 million (€2.54 million).[37]
Detail of a figure (St. Molaisse?) with forked beard holding a book

Soiscél Molaisse Also known as the Sheskill Molash, this cumdach is the oldest surviving
example largely in its original form, and was made in the early 11th century to hold the gospels
of Molaise NMI (R4006).[38] It measures 14.75 high, 11.70 cm wide, 8.45 cm thick[39] and was
built in three phases. The wooden core with bronze casing is 8th century, to which silver plaques
were fastened with nails and rivets in the 11th century, and it was re-worked again in the 14th or
15th century.[9]

Some of the figures and other elements date to the 14th century, and can be identified as they
were soldered to the plates.[40] The top face is mainly silvered bronze and silver-gilt and contains
panels the four symbols of the Evangelists in the spaces between a cross. Some of the panels are
lost; those that remain have gold filigree interlaced knotwork.[41] The filigree on the arms of the
cross are gilted and decorated with ribbon interlace. The ends of the arms were set with gems,
now also lost except for one blue stone.[42] Two of panels around the sides are lost. The two
remaining contain interlace and Latin inscription around their borders.[42] Its small size indicates
that the original object, like the Book of Dimma, was designed to be held in a pocket.[39]

Sidel panel, the Stowe Missal

Stowe Missal This sacramentary dates to about 750. Its cumdach consists of metalwork plaques
attached with nails to an older oak container. The metalwork is elaborately decorated, with some
animal and human figures, and one face and the sides probably date to between 1027 and 1033,
on the basis of inscriptions recording its donation and making, while the other face is later, and
can be dated to about 1375, again from its inscriptions.[43]

The older "lower" face, which is has become detached from the case, is in silver-gilt copper
alloy, with a large cross inside a border that carries the inscription in Irish, which also runs along
the arms of the cross. The centre of the cross was later replaced ("severely embellished" as the
National Museum put it),[44] probably at the same time as the later face, by a setting for a now
missing large stone with four lobed sections, similar to the centre of the lower face. The
inscription has missing sections because of this, but can mostly be reconstructed as asking for a
prayer for the abbot of Lorrha, Mathgamain Ua Cathail (c. 1037) and for Find Ua Dúngalaigh,
king of Múscraige Tíre (c. 1033).

The Shrine of Cathach of St. Columba

The Cathach Probably the best-known cumdach is that built for the Cathach of St. Columba, an
important psalter usually dated to just after the death of Colum Cille in 597, but is still probably
the earliest Irish book to survive and a very prestigious relic.[25] The manuscript belonged to the
O'Donnells while its shrine was famously used as a battle standard.[45]

The initial metal work dates from 1072–1098 at Kells, when a new protective casing of wood
and silver was added. The frontpiece was added in the 14th century, and included a large seated
Christ in Majesty flanked by scenes of the Crucifixion and saints in gilt repoussé.[46] It was taken
to the continent in 1691 following the Treaty of Limerick, and did not return to Ireland until
1813. That year the cumdach was reopened leading to the rediscovery of the manuscript. It was
by then in very poor condition, but underwent a major restoration in 1982 when the extant pages
were rebound and remounted on vellum leaves.[25]

Panel for the front of the Shrine of Miosach, late 11th century and 1534

Shrine of Miosach The cumdach known as Shrine of Miosach (or The Misach) originates from
Clonmany, County Donegal, was also used in battle.[47] Originally late 11th century, it was re-
worked in 1534 by the goldsmith Brian O'Morrison with repoussé silver decoration with many
figures round a cross (NMI 2001:84, 23.2 cm wide).[35] O'Morrison added twelve front plates in
three arrangements, including depictions the crowned Virgin and Child in the smaller inner
panels,[48] and, in four larger panels, Saint Bridget, St. Patrick and Colm Cille.[35]

There is no record of what the original container might have held. The object was at first
associated with St Cairneach of Dulane, County Meath, but by the Gothic period had been
"absorbed into the cult of St Columba".[49][50] The 11th century cast copper alloy plates on the
sides are decorated with openwork zoomorphic illustrations. Its metal cord survives for carrying
it, and it was probably round the neck.[51]

Front of the Domnach Airgid, late 8/9th & 14/15th centuries

Domnach Airgid The reworking of this shrine, whose title translated in English as the Silver
church, dates to the 8th century, but little is visible from before a major additions dated to c.
1350 under commission by the abbot of Clones. A three-dimensional figure of Christ crucified is
at the centre of the main face, accompanied by relief plaques of saints, the Virgin and Child and
other scenes on the sides.[30]

The reliefs are more sophisticated compared to the other known 14th-century cumdachs, with
elegant running animals on small mounts at the corners. It is signed by its goldsmith John O
Bardan, who is recorded living at Drogheda; by then goldsmiths in Ireland, as elsewhere in
Europe, were usually laymen.[52]

Book of Dimma This 12th-century cumdach was built for the small 8th-century known as the
Book of Dimma. The manuscript is traditionally associated with the abbey's founder St Crónán
(d. 619). Its small size indicated it was intended as a portable pocket book used for study or
contemplation. It is made up of copies of four Gospels and contains stylised portraits of the
Apostles St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke.[53]

The shrine consists of a shell of decorated bronze plates, and like its illuminated manuscript
originates from the abbey of Roscrea. The cumdach's first phase was completed during a period
of prosperity for the abbey, and broadly coincides with the building of a Romanesque church on
the site. It was refurbished c. 1400 by one of the chieftains of the local Ua Cerbaill family.[53]
One face of the cumdach's panels of openwork decoration in Viking Ringerike style. Like the
manuscript, it is in Trinity College Library, Dublin, while an early 20th century reproduction is
in New York.[54]

Shrine of St. Caillín

Shrine of Caillín of Fenagh This late example was built to hold a c. 1516 manuscript which
updates a much earlier book detailing the life of St. Caillín of Fenagh, County Leitrim (fl. c.
570), which may have been written by the saint himself.[55][56] Caillín is described by Lucas as
"something of a specialist in the production of battle talismans"[57] and according to legend, in his
lifetime commissioned a number of battle standards, including cathachs in the form a bell and a
containers for a Gospel.[57] The cumdach was badly damaged in a 2009 fire at St Mel's Cathedral,
Longford, where it had been kept since c. 1980.[58] It was acquired by the NMI the following
year, while the manuscript is in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy.[59] There is some
doubt as to if the shrine was actually intended as a cumdach, including the fact that it is smaller
than the manuscript.[58]

Study and conservation

Although most of the extant book shaped protective shrines are mentioned in Irish annals, they
were not properly described until the early 19th century, when antiquarians and collectors such
as George Petrie began to seek them out from hereditary collections. Most are badly damaged,
including due to general wear and tear over the centuries, events such as fires at their holding
location, or most usually, having elements such as their gemstones removed for sale by their
owners. A majority are now in the NMI.

The most significant lost cumdachs mentioned in Irish annals, which are also the three earliest,
are the shrines for the Book of Armagh (added 938 AD), Book of Durrow (c. 877—91)[45] and
the shrine for the Book of Kells (which may have only been an ornamental metal container,
rather than an permanently sealed and illustrated cover), which is recorded as plundered in the
1007 annals of Ulster.[4]