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National Museum of Ireland

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moss M
moss Dec 5, 2011 18:12:58
Replying to Rhiannon

Rhiannon wrote:
Speaking of museums, I had the good fortune to be able to visit the National Museum of Ireland archaeology department in Dublin the other weekend. Ooh but it's such a marvellous thing (free to enter I might add) - all those beautiful glowing gold artefacts, I didn't know what to look at next. I was with normal people, otherwise I might have stayed all day :) And they have far-from-home rock art and also Bog Bodies. It's just marvellous actually.

Also I spotted a whole caseful of these http://www.museum.ie/en/exhibition/gallery/irelands-gold-photo-gallery.aspx?image=9e09081e-117a-4821-ac42-cfd2418ea081
which was quite a surprise as virtually identical things have been found near to where I live in South West england (I thought of Moss in particular who might be interested). So I suppose they must have travelled from Ireland originally (or if not, certainly the style did) - I'm sure there are ways of testing the gold to see where it originates.

Superb, and I would urge anyone in the vicinity to go and visit, and indeed it makes a very good reason to go to Dublin full stop. (and you can go and see the poor thylacine in the natural history museum, which is also marvellous).

Interesting the small gold sun discs Rhiannon like the Monkton Farleigh ones and Jug's Grave. And the larger sun disc in the collection bears a passing resemblance to the Lansdown one. Did you see any 'celtic spoons'?

Poor creature was it stuffed or just bones now ;) tis a wicked world we live in making creatures extinct...

R Rhiannon
Rhiannon Dec 6, 2011 07:34:56
Replying to moss

exactly! I'd never known before and it was quite a surprise to see so many in one case. I don't properly remember any spoons but it's very likely there were some... so many things to look at and I felt a bit obliged to hurry.

(the poor thylacines, one was stuffed and looked a bit peculiar, and there was a skeleton and several skulls. The poor things. Some of the expressions on the other creatures, you had to laugh really, in fact I hadn't laughed so much in ages. I'm sure the taxidermists had done their best without the benefit of innumerable nature documentaries. And I'd probably look pretty moth-eaten after more than a century as well).