The research..Finally

Its been a hairy couple weeks trying to get any research work done..especially without a reliable internet connection.

So let's go back to the beginning, shall we?

I flew into the Shannon airport and checked in to my accommodations in Limerick where I fought to stay awake until a reasonable hour as to not mess up my sleeping schedule. It was hard. I couldn't sleep on the planes and the Boston airport which I was stuck in for 12 hours wasn't really designed for comfort. And so I found myself pushing 40 hours without sleep.

The next morning I hiked across Limerick to the Hunt Museum. It was a great little museum! The staff/volunteers were extremely friendly and helpful. One of their docents, Shea, helped me with photographing the Ballymoney brooch they had there on display. And then afterwards, since his tour hadn't shown up, would randomly pop out of nowhere to give me a mini synopsis of some artifact or the history of a certain piece as it related to the Hunt family.

I got loads of photos. More than anyone else who comes to photograph items there. Usually people come in, take a front shot, a back shot and call it good. I probably kept the poor guy in there for a good half hour while I got macro shots and moved the lamp around to highlight details and texture on the brooch.

The lighting was ideal, but I still got some good shots which really highlight the artist's hand on the metal. The main ring appears to have been cast and then the ends hammered out and then worked by hand. The marks are rough in many places as if done by either a lesser skilled craftsman or by someone newer to the trade. You can see in the image below how the edges and tops of the equal armed cross aren't even.
A good deal of the red enameling is still present on one of the terminals and patches on the other.

Now part of the reason to view this particular brooch is that it shares a similar design to that of the Ballylongford brooch (the one I'm basing my research around). Like the Ballylongford brooch, this one has an equal-armed cross that makes the Chi-Rho symbol via a curl on the upper flair. The cross is also encased in an oblong ring bearing a cross point and reference to a longer stem arching outward away from the terminal ends.


There will be more on the comparison later...but for now, some other photos.

Reask was just a two minute walk from my accommodations near Ballyferriter on the Dingle peninsula. Great little place called Tig Bhrics. It was also convenient as the iconography on the stones match up with much of that on the brooches.

Kiln

Walls from on of the stone huts

One of many subtley carved crosses. Many are so work that you can only see them in the right lighting. Others only have a fragment remaining visible as the rest has been worn away. Sad to think that eventually all evidence of the carving will be gone.