The  Domnach  Airgid,  or  '  Silver  Shrine,'  which  is  in  the
National  Museum,  Dublin,  is  a  box  containing  a  Latin
copy  of  the  Gospels  written  on  vellum.  "  This  box,"  says
Dr.  Petrie,  "  is  composed  of  three  distinct  covers,  of  which
"  the  first  or  inner  one  is  of  wood — apparently  yew ;  the
"  second  or  middle  one  of  copper  plated  with  silver  ;  and
"  the  third  or  outer  one  of  silver  plated  with  gold.  In
"  the  comparative  ages  of  these  several  covers  there  is
"  obviously  a  great  difference.  The  first  may  probably  be
"  coeval  with  the  manuscript  which  it  was  intended  to
"  preserve  ;  the  second,  in  the  style  of  its  scroll  or  inter-
"  laced  ornaments,  indicates  a  period  between  the  sixth

500


CHAP.  XIII]  ECCLESIASTICAL  WRITINGS  501

"  and  the  twelfth  centuries  ;  while  the  figures  in  relief,  the
"  ornaments,  and  the  letters,  in  the  third,  leave  no  doubt
"  of  its  being  the  work  of  the  fourteenth  century."*  The
Domnach  Airgid  was  until  lately  preserved  near  Clones
in  Monaghan.  It  was  once  thought  that  the  enclosed
book  was  the  identical  copy  of  the  Gospels  presented  by
St.  Patrick  to  his  disciple  St.  Mac  Carthenn,  the  founder  of
the  see  of  Clogher  ;  but  recent  investigations  go  to  show
that  it  is  not  so  old  as  the  time  of  the  great  apostle. f

The  Book  of  Kells  is  the  most  remarkable  book  of  this
class,  though  not  the  oldest.  At  the  present  day  this  is
the  best  known  of  all  the  old  Irish  books,  on  account  of
its  elaborate  and  beautiful  ornamentation.  A  descrip-
tion of  it  will  be  found  farther  on,  in  the  chapter  on  Irish
Art  (p.  546).
