St. Patrick's Fingers - a possible inauguration stone?

A description and discussion of a rather showy gold, filigree-decorated finger-ring with a large bezel which may have been decorated with garnet. The finger-ring is now in the British Museum, but was formerly part of the collection of Redmond Anthony. It was not possible to pin-point a place of manufacture, but the filigree and overall design of the finger-ring fit best in a sixth or seventh century context. It has some odd features which may indicate that it was made in Ireland at a time when goldsmiths were beginning to copy foreign models and getting to grips with new techniques.

The paper discusses the inauguration practices of Mac Aonghusa, King of Uíbh Eachach Cobha, which were centered on Knock Iveagh and Lisnacroppan, Co. Down. The likelihood that a stone chair, found in boggy ground close by, is the inauguration chair of Mac Aonghusa is discussed.

Heritage Ireland, 2022

The carved stone artefact that is the subject of this piece was discovered by a former Head Guide of the Carrowmore Visitors Centre, Patricia Curran-Mulligan. The stone has been deliberately broken in the past and may once have been a complete sphere. A stone ball with carved decoration has never been found in any Irish passage tomb context previously.

Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 128, 4-30., 2023

This paper examines the chronology and religious significance of stone rows of the later Bronze Age in Cork and Kerry. The results from four archaeological excavations conducted by the author are presented, along with a review of older investigations. Radiocarbon dates for cremation burial at three sites provide a new insight into the absolute dating of these monuments. The significance of those burials is discussed in respect of the use of stone rows as funerary sites. By the Middle Bronze Age worship of the sun was central to religious beliefs in south-west Ireland, with stone rows one of several monumental expressions of that cult.

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1992

This paper starts by outlining the history of stone axe studies in Ireland, from their antiquarian beginnings to 1990. It then offers a critical review of the current state of knowledge concerning the numbers, distribution, findspot contexts, morphology, size, associated finds, dating and raw materials of stone axes. Having proposed an agenda for future research, the paper ends by introducing the Irish Stone Axe Project—the major programme of database creation and petrological identification, funded by the National Heritage Council, currently being undertaken by GC and EG.