IRISH JEWELRY 
rated with precious stones. For instance the bell 
of St. Patrick which was merely two crude pieces of 
iron rudely riveted together and resembling noth- 
ing so much as a home-made cowbell of the modern 
time, was enclosed in what was called a shrine or 
jewelled precious metal case that is extremely beau- 
tiful. Fortunately these bells with their shrines 
were assigned to the care of certain families who 
took a great deal of pride and had a deep sense of 
responsibility as regards the trust imposed on them. 
As a result of this a great many of these shrines have 
been preserved and the modern generation has a 
chance to see how wonderfully the Irish of the ninth 
and tenth centuries could do work in the precious 
metals. * 
The surprise is to find that these rude bells should 
have been so beautifully encased. It is a tribute to 
the loyalty and fidelity of the Irish people that these 
simple, homely objects that had become associated 
in their minds with the bringers to them of Chris- 
tianity should be shrined until they were marvelously 
beautiful. This was the way they felt about them 
for “Beautiful are the steps that walk in the way of 
x Miss Stokes says: ‘‘As we have shown in the case of St. Patrick’s 
Bell, the fate of many of these curious relics has been bound up with 
that of the family in the present century descended from the hereditary 
keeper of the bell in the old monastery. Thus, the MacBeolans in 
Galway remained, till a few years ago, custodians of the Black Bell of 
St. Patrick, now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy; the Mac- 
Guirks of Tyrone were hereditary keepers of the Bell of Termon Mac- 
Guirk, now in the Dungannon Museum, which descended from Columba, 
the founder of the church; the McEnhills kept the iron bell of Drum- 
raph, near Omagh; the Magoverans that of St. Mogue in Templeport, 
County Cavan; the O’Rorkes were keepers of the Bell of Fenagh, after- 
wards transported to Mohill; the Breslins, that of Conell of Iniscail, now 
in the British Museum; and the Keanes of the county of Clare were 
hereditary keepers of St. Senan’s Bell in Scattery Island, called the 
(loch Oir. or Golden Rell’? 
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