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{{Short description|11th-century Irish crozier}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Featured article}} {{Infobox artifact|name=Clonmacnoise Crozier|image=Bastone pastorale di clonmacnoise, XI secolo 01.jpg|image_caption=Upper parts of the crozier|image_size=260px|material=Wood, copper alloy, silver, [[niello]], glass and [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]]|size={{ubl|Height: {{cvt|97|cm}}|Width (max): {{cvt|13.5|cm}}}}|created={{ubl|Late 11th century|Refurbished in the 14th or 15th centuries}}|discovered_place=[[Clonmacnoise]], [[County Offaly]], Ireland|discovered_date=Late 18th or early 19th century|location=[[National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology]], [[Kildare Street]], Dublin|id=R2988|map=}}

The '''Clonmacnoise Crozier''' is a late-11th-century [[Insular crozier]] that would have been used as a ceremonial staff for [[Bishop|bishops]] and mitred [[Abbot|abbots]]. Its origins and medieval [[provenance]] are unknown. It was likely discovered in the late 18th or early 19th century in the monastery of [[Clonmacnoise]] in [[County Offaly]], Ireland. The crozier has two main parts: a long [[Insular crozier#Shaft|shaft]] and a curved [[Insular crozier#Crook|crook]]. Its style reflects elements of [[Viking art]], especially the snake-like animals in [[Figure-eight knot|figure-of-eight]] patterns running on the sides of the body of the crook, and the ribbon of dog-like animals in [[openwork]] (ornamentation with openings or holes) that form the crest at its top. Apart from a shortening to the staff length and the loss of some inserted gems, it is largely intact and is one of the best-preserved surviving pieces of [[Insular art#Insular metalwork|Insular metalwork]].

The crozier may have been associated with [[Ciarán of Clonmacnoise|Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise]] (died {{circa|549}} CE), and was perhaps commissioned by [[Tigernach Ua Braín]] (died 1088), [[Abbot of Clonmacnoise]], but little is known of its origin or rediscovery. It was built in two phases: the original 11th-century structure received an addition sometime around the early 15th century.  The staff is made from a wooden core wrapped in [[copper-alloy]] ([[bronze]]) tubes, fixed in place by binding strips, and three barrel-shaped [[Insular crozier#Knops|knops]] (protruding decorative metal fittings). The hook was concurrently but separately constructed before it was placed on top of the staff. The crozier's decorative attachments include the crest and terminal (or "[[Insular crozier#Drop|drop]]") on the crook, and the knops and [[ferrule]] on the staff; these components are made from silver, [[niello]], glass and [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]]. The hook is further embellished with round blue glass studs and white and red [[millefiori]] (glassware) insets.

The [[antiquarian]] and collector [[Henry Charles Sirr (town major)|Henry Charles Sirr]], [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]], held the crozier until his collection was acquired by the [[Royal Irish Academy]] on his death in 1841. It was transferred to [[National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology|the archaeology branch]] of the [[National Museum of Ireland]] on [[Kildare Street]] on the branch's foundation in 1890. The archaeologist [[Griffin Murray]] has described the crozier as "one of [the] finest examples of early medieval metalwork from Ireland".<ref name="mr1">Murray (2021), p.1</ref>

== Function ==
Like all [[Insular crozier|Insular croziers]] produced between {{c.|800 and 1200}} CE, the Clonmacnoise crozier is in the shape of an open [[shepherd's crook]], a symbol of [[Jesus]] as the [[Good Shepherd]] leading his flock.<ref name="NMI201">Murray, Griffin. "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A36dWRfRIWw Colmcille 1500 Lecture Series: St Columba's crozier: power and devotion in medieval Ireland]". National Museum of Ireland, 10 December 2021. 4:50–6:07. Retrieved 29 December 2021</ref> [[Psalm 23]] mentions a "rod" and a "staff",<ref>{{bibleverse|Psalm|23:4}}</ref> and from the 3rd century onwards Christian art often shows the shepherd holding a staff, including the 4th-century Sarcophagus of the Three Shepherds in the [[Vatican Museums]] in Rome, and the 6th-century [[Throne of Maximian]] at the [[Archiepiscopal Museum, Ravenna]]. The distinctive shape of Irish croziers evokes the function of shepherds' crooks in restraining wayward sheep, and according to the art historian [[Rachel Moss (art historian)|Rachel Moss]] is similar to the crook-headed sticks used by [[Cherub|cherubs]] to grasp [[Vine|vine branches]] in [[Dionysus|Bacchic]] iconography.<ref name="m310">Moss (2014), p. 310</ref>

Croziers became symbols of status for bishops and abbots when [[Pope Celestine I]] linked them to the [[Bishop|episcopal]] office in a 431 letter to bishops in [[Gaul]]. By tradition, the first Irish example (lost since 1538)<ref name="r1219">Ronan (1943), pp. 121–129</ref> was the "[[Bachal Isu]]" (Staff of Jesus) given by [[God the Father|God]] to [[Saint Patrick]].<ref name="m310" /><ref name="m27">Murray (2004), p. 27</ref><ref name="l9">Lucas (1986), p. 9</ref> According to the archaeologist [[Anthony T. Lucas|A. T. Lucas]], the croziers thus acted as "the principal vehicle of [Patrick's] power, a kind of spiritual electrode through which he conveyed the holy energy by which he wrought the innumerable miracles attributed to him".<ref name="l29">Lucas (1986), p. 29</ref> In a 2004 survey, the Clonmacnoise Crozier was one of an estimated twenty (or fewer) largely intact Insular croziers<ref name="m310" /> in addition to some sixty fragments.<ref name="m24">Murray (2004), p. 24</ref><ref name="m82">Murray (2007), p. 82</ref>

== Origin and dating ==
The Irish antiquarian [[George Petrie (antiquarian)|George Petrie]] ({{abbr|d.|died}} 1866) was the first to write about the crozier's discovery, and based on his sources placed the find-spot as in the "Temple Ciarán", a now ruined [[Oratory (worship)|oratory]] on the grounds of [[Clonmacnoise|Clonmacnoise monastery]], [[County Offaly]]. The oratory is said to contain the tomb of the monastery's founder [[Ciarán of Clonmacnoise|Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise]] ({{abbr|d.|died}} {{c.|549}}), and he is recorded as having appeared centuries after his death "to smite a would-be raider with his crozier".<ref name="fot">[[Fintan O'Toole|O'Toole, Fintan]]. "[https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/a-history-of-ireland-in-100-objects-clonmacnoise-crozier-11th-century-1.10144 A history of Ireland in 100 objects Clonmacnoise crozier, 11th century]". ''[[The Irish Times]]'', 10 December 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2021</ref> Petrie recorded that it was found alongside a hoard including a silver [[chalice]] dated to 1647, a wine vessel and an arm-shrine or relic of Ciarán's hand, all now lost except for the chalice.{{refn|Arm-shrines are reliquaries made of wood and metal shaped as an outstretched forearm and open or clenched hand or fist; they were popular across Europe in the Early Medieval period, though few examples survive.<ref>Moss (2014), p. 291</ref>|group=n}}<ref name="m10">Murray (2021), p. 10</ref> The objects would have been deposited individually at the burial site during the centuries after Ciarán's death.<ref>Frazer (1891), pp.  206–214</ref> However there is no surviving documentary evidence to support Petrie's account of the find spot. The claim seems based on accounts from 1684 and 1739 which mention that a relic of Ciarán's hand had been found there,<ref name="f210">Frazer (1891), p. 210</ref><ref name="m10" />{{refn|For the 1739 account, see Harris, W. (ed.), ''The whole works of James Ware concerning Ireland'', revised and improved, volume 1. Dublin: E. Jones, 1739|group=n}} while the crozier's style and production technique closely resembles two other contemporary fragmentary croziers sometimes associated with Clonmacnoise; the very similar and so-called [[Frazer Crozier]]-head (catalogue number NMI 1899:28) and a crozier-[[Insular crozier#Knops|knop]] in the [[British Museum]].<ref name="hp18">Murray (2021), p. 18</ref> The antiquarian [[William Fraser (historian)|William Frazer]] wrote in 1891 that the Clonmacnoise Crozier was probably revered as holding a [[relic]] of Saint Ciarán.{{refn|Like all Irish Early Medieval relic containers, the crozier, including the inner wooden tube, dates from centuries after the saint's death.<ref>Murray (2021), p. 23</ref>|group=n}}<ref name="f210" />
[[File:984_Clonmacnoise,_County_Offaly.jpg|left|thumb|Temple Ciarán in Clonmacnoise monastery, the most likely find-spot for the crozier]]
Clonmacnoise monastery was founded in 544 by Saint Ciarán<ref name="m314">Moss (2014), p. 314</ref> in the territory of [[Uí Maine]] where an ancient major east–west land route and early medieval political division (the Slighe Mhor) met at the [[River Shannon]]. This strategic location helped it become a thriving centre of religion, learning, craftsmanship and trade by the 9th century, and many of the [[Kingship of Tara|high kings of Tara]] ({{lang|ga|[[High King of Ireland|Ard Rí]]}}) and of Connacht were buried here.<ref name="m126">Moss (2014), p. 126</ref> Clonmacnoise was largely abandoned by the end of the 13th century. Today the site includes nine ruined churches, a castle, two [[Round tower|round towers]] and many carved stone crosses.<ref name="m1267">Moss (2014), pp. 126–127</ref>

The crozier's late 11th-century dating is based in part on its stylistic resemblance to the [[Bell Shrine of St. Cuileáin]] and the early 12th-century [[Shrine of Saint Lachtin's Arm]],<ref name="l140">Lucas (1974), p. 140</ref> as well as the [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] elements sometimes found on [[Insular art]] of the period.<ref name="m88">Murray (2007), p. 88</ref> Lucas places it shortly after 1125.<ref name="l119">Lucas (1974), p. 119</ref>

Some historians suggest that the crozier was produced in Dublin,<ref>O'Meadhra (2015), p. 393</ref><ref>Graham-Campbell (2013), p. 154</ref> based on the so-called "[[Wood Quay#20th century excavations|Dublin school]]" Hiberno-[[Viking art#Ringerike Style|Ringerike]] patterns on the crook. It also has [[Animal style|zoomorphic]] designs similar those on the Dublin-manufactured [[Prosperous Crozier]],<ref name="m19">Murray (2021), p. 19</ref> on the shrine of the [[Cathach of St. Columba|Cathach of Saint Columba]], which also contains stylistic resemblances to Dublin metalwork, in particular with those found during excavations at [[High Street, Dublin]], during 1962 and 1963.<ref name="fot" /><ref>Ó Floinn (2001), p. 93</ref> None of these links are definitive nor widely accepted.<ref name="m314" /> A significant metal workshop is known to have been in operation at Clonmacnoise in the 11th century, and the crozier contains design elements and motifs unique to contemporary objects found on or near the monastery's grounds. These include the [[Confronted animals|confronted lions]] with intertwined legs on the collar below the top-most knop, which are also present on a [[high cross]] in Temple Ciarán.<ref name="m19" /><ref>Manning (1998), p. 66</ref>

== Description ==
The crozier is {{cvt|97|cm}} long (about the length of a walking stick) and the [[Insular crozier#Crook|crook]] {{cvt|13.5|cm}} wide.<ref name="m83">Murray (2007), p. 83</ref> It was probably once 20&nbsp;cm longer and had four knops, as with most other intact examples; the losses seem to result from its having been broken apart to make it easier to fold and thus hide from [[Viking activity in the British Isles|Viking]] and later [[Norman Conquest|Norman invaders]].<ref name="mr6">Murray (2021), p. 6</ref> The staff is formed from a wooden core overlaid by metal tubes, and comprises two main sections: the long shaft and the crook.<ref name="y214">Youngs (1989), p. 214</ref> The crook ends in a vertical section called the [[Insular crozier#Drop|drop]], with a drop-plate on the outward-facing side. The casing on the [[Insular crozier#Shaft|shaft]] is attached by binding strips connected to each other by three knops, while a protective copper alloy [[ferrule]] comprises the tip of the shaft's base.<ref name="m79">Murray (2007), p. 79</ref> The shaft and crook cores are made from separate pieces of timber but date from the same period.<ref name="h9">Henry (1959–63), p. 9</ref> The crook is fitted with an inner binding strip, [[Cresting (architecture)|crest]] and drop-plate, each of which was independently made and, having no structural function, are purely decorative.<ref name="y214" /><ref name="m79" /><ref name="m90">Murray (2007), p. 90</ref>

It was built in two phases: the early 11th-century structure was added to and refurbished in the 14th century, the later additions including the bishop and dragon in the drop-plate, and some of the ornamentation on the upper knop.<ref name="d185">De Paor (1977), p. 185</ref> The first phase is designed in the Insular style, and contains [[Animal style|animal ornament]], [[Interlace (art)|interlace]] and [[Celtic art]] patterns.<ref name="m310" /> Several of the decorations are influenced by the late 10th-century Ringerike and 11th-century [[Viking art#Urnes Style|Urnes]] styles of [[Viking art]], both of which are characterised by band-shaped animals (often snakes, dogs and birds), [[Acanthus (ornament)|acanthus-leaf]] foliage, crosses and spirals, and was adapted in Ireland via direct contact and contemporary [[Anglo-Saxon art]] from Southern England. Moss describes the crozier as among the finest of the Irish Ringerike-influenced objects, along with the [[Shrine of Miosach]] and the Cathach (both 11th-century {{lang|sga|[[cumdach|cumdaigh]]}}).<ref name="m44">Moss (2014), p. 44</ref><ref name="l186">Laing (2006), p. 186</ref>

Although it has suffered some losses, damage and detrimental repair work, it is in excellent condition overall. The original drop-plate was replaced in the late medieval period.<ref name="m3">Murray (2021), p. 3</ref><ref name="of">Ó Floinn (1983), p. 166</ref> The wood at the end of the crest is decayed, likely due to one of the rivets being exposed, which in turn led to further damage to the structure.<ref name="h10">Henry (1959–63), p. 10</ref>

=== Drop ===
[[File:Bastone_pastorale_di_clonmacnoise,_XI_secolo_02_(cropped).jpg|alt=Drop with animal and human figures|thumb|A bishop impaling a dragon with the base of his staff on the drop plate]]
The original drop was presumably as highly decorated as the knops,<ref name="m3" /> but is lost and was replaced sometime during the 14th or 15th centuries. The current plate, like the original, forms a hollow box-like extension that was fixed to the end of the crook. It is cast from copper alloy and consists of a cast figurative insert attached to a plain metal strip.<ref name="m3" /> At its top is a looming, grotesque human head in [[champlevé]] [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]].<ref name="of" /> Set into the cavity below is a figure added in the 14th or 15th century, who appears to be a bishop or cleric wearing a [[mitre]] (a type of bishop's headgear). He has one hand raised in [[blessing]] while the other holds a long crozier with a spiral crook, which he uses to [[Impalement|impale]] an animal, probably a dragon, at his feet.<ref name="m314" /> De Paor describes the cleric as a generic late-period Insular figure, with "[[Squint|pierced eyes]], small ears, a large nose, and [a] heavy mustache and beard".<ref name="d185" />

The positioning of the human figures is similar to the late 9th-century Prosperous Crozier.<ref name="t55">Thickpenny et al (2020), p. 55</ref> The only other surviving example of such a figure is in the drop of the [[River Laune Crozier]]; presumably other croziers once held similar figures but the components were damaged or removed.<ref name="m83" /> It seems likely that the cleric is intended to represent the commemorated saint, thus "making the body of the founder saint visible and active",<ref name="l12">Lucas (1986), p. 12</ref> and conferring the saint's authority to the crozier's current bearer.<ref name="h73">Hahn (2016), p. 73</ref> The copper plate underneath the drop contain enamel double-spiral designs rendered in blue, green and yellows.<ref name="m3" />

As the most visible portion of the crozier, the drops were the obvious focus point for [[Figure painting|figure art]], an element that is, apart from zoomorphism, otherwise almost entirely absent in Insular metalwork. This led to theories in the 19th century that the drops acted as containers for smaller relics of saints, while the metal casing held the saint's original wooden staffs; these claims have been in doubt since the mid-20th century, and there is no evidence to support the theories.<ref>Murray (2004), pp. 24, 26</ref> An exception is the [[Lismore Crozier]], where two small relics and a linen cloth were found inside the crook during a 1966 refurbishment.<ref name="m85">Murray (2007), pp. 85–86</ref>

=== Crook ===
[[File:Bastone_pastorale_di_clonmacnoise,_XI_secolo_01_(cropped).jpg|thumb|The row of dog-like [[Viking art#Oseberg Style|gripping beasts]] that form the crest]]
The crook is {{cvt|13.5|cm}} high, {{cvt|15.5|cm}} wide and has a maximum circumference of {{cvt|3.7|cm}}.<ref name="m3" /> It is composed of a single piece of wood, encased in copper alloy, with an inner binding and plates for the crest and drop.<ref name="m90" /><ref name="w220">Wallace (2002), p. 220</ref> Each side of the crook is decorated with four or five silver cast zoomorphic snake-like animals in rows of tightly bound [[Figure-eight knot|figure-eight knots]] and ribbon-shaped pale coloured bodies that intertwine and loop over each other.<ref>Ellis, Caitlin. "[https://theconversation.com/vikings-didnt-just-murder-monks-and-pillage-monasteries-they-helped-spread-christianity-too-128910 Vikings didn't just murder monks and pillage monasteries – they helped spread Christianity too]". ''[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]'', 23 December 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2021</ref> Designed in an Irish adaption of the Ringerike style,<ref name="b151">Bourke (1985), p. 151</ref> they are outlined with thin strips of [[niello]] that appear as [[Lappet|decorative flaps]] that, according to the archaeologist and art historian [[Griffin Murray]], "spring from their heads and bodies forming knotted vegetal-like designs around them"<ref name="m3" /> before terminating in spiral patterns.<ref name="d185" />

The crest is attached to the top of the crook by rivets and nails. Around half of it has broken away, but what remains consists of an openwork row of five crouching dog-like animals that extends from above the joining with the staff to just before the top of the crook – presumably the row once extended to the top of the drop, especially since the lead animal is the most badly damaged and missing its head, while those nearest are also damaged and have missing parts.<ref name="fot" /><ref name="mr6" /> The animals are forward-looking and positioned end-to-end, and rendered in the [[Viking art#Oseberg Style|Oseberg Style]] of Viking art. They each appear, in the words of the art historian [[Máire de Paor]], as "grasping with [their] jaws the buttocks of the preceding animal".<ref name="d185" /> Similarly, the Frazer Crozier-head contains dog-tooth patterns on the upper part of the crook, but these are thought to be 16th-century additions.<ref name="mr8">Murray (2021), p. 8</ref>

=== Shaft ===
[[File:Bastone_pastorale_di_clonmacnoise,_XI_secolo_03.jpg|thumb|Upper knop decorated with triangular plaques, blue glass studs and interlace]]
The shaft is formed from a wooden core plated with two copper alloy tubes and narrows after the lowest knop.<ref name="d186">De Paor (1977), p. 186</ref><ref name="l114">Lucas (1974), p. 118</ref> The tubing was originally sealed by two binding strips on the front which were probably of leather but are now lost, although a portion of a leather membrane between the wood and metal still exists.<ref name="m88" /><ref name="mr6" /> The shaft contains three large and ornately decorated barrel-shaped and individually [[Casting (metalworking)|cast]] knops, each of which fully wraps around the staff.<ref name="m88" /> They are positioned equally distant on the staff, separated by lengths of bare tubing. Each contains [[openwork]] patterns and [[Repoussé and chasing|chased or repoussé]] (i.e. [[relief]] hammered from the back) copper-alloy plates, a feature only otherwise found on the Prosperous Crozier.<ref name="t55" />

The largest and uppermost knop is {{cvt|7.5|cm}} high and has a diameter of {{cvt|4.8|cm}}.<ref name="mr6" /> It is centred by a horizontal band of interlace and champlevé enamelling containing geometric and foliage patterns. It is lined with inserted triangular and rectangular plaques (some of which are missing) between which are blue glass studs.<ref name="d186" /> The plaques are in copper and decorated with interlace and have borders lined with strips of twisted copper and silver wire. It contains a {{cvt|4.2|cm}} crest which has been trimmed to hold the base of the crook.<ref name="m310" /><ref name="mr6" /> The crest below the upper knop is made of copper alloy and contains two pairs of large cat-like animals facing or confronting each other.<ref name="m21">Murray (2021), p. 21</ref> The animals are rendered in relief and decorated with niello and inlaid silver. They have lion-like [[Lion#Description|manes]], upright ears, long necks and [[Claw#Birds|taloned]] tails. Their intertwined legs begin from spirals which develop or knot into [[triquetra]] arcs before merging with the corresponding animal on the opposite side.<ref name="d186" /> Although usually identified as lions, the figures also bear a resemblance to [[Griffin|griffins]] in an 8th-century Insular knop from Setnes in Norway.<ref name="m115/6">Murray (2015), pp. 115–116</ref>

The central knop is {{cvt|8.8|cm}} in height and less decorated than the other two, but has bands of open Ringerike-style interlace made of inlaid silver that form series of knotted patterns. The lower knop measures {{cvt|6.8|cm}} in height and, like the upper knop, is biconical (i.e. of two parts) and contains copper plaques separated by glass studs.<ref name="d186" />

After the lower knop the shaft passes through a free ring and tapers (narrows) into the spiked ferrule (a protective metal-cast foot, here of copper alloy) that forms the crozier's basal point.<ref name="d186" /> Unlike the other two Insular examples with surviving ferrules (Lismore and River Laune, both of which have more elaborate and complex endings), it is not cast into the lower knop but is a separate piece.<ref name="m88" />

== Modern provenance ==
[[File:Bastoni_pastorali_di_lismore_(sx,_1100),_di_clonmacnoise_(centro,_xi_sec.)_e_di_river_laune_(dx,_1090_ca.).jpg|thumb|On display with the Lismore (left) and River Laune (right) croziers]]
The location and year of the crozier's rediscovery is uncertain. Writing in 1821 in his ''Notes on the history of Clonmacnoise'', Petrie said that it had been found "some 30 years ago&nbsp;[...] [in] the tomb of St. Ciaran", placing its finding {{c.|1790}}.<ref name="h6">Henry (1959–63), p. 6</ref> He continued that other objects discovered in the tomb included a chalice and wine vessel which, according to Petrie "fell into ignorant hands, and were probably deemed unworthy of preservation",<ref name="mr14">Murray (2021), p. 14</ref> indicating that their precious metal was melted and sold for its intrinsic value. The "St Ciaran's tomb" referred to by Petrie is most likely Clonmacnoise's Temple Ciarán, a shrine-chapel on the site.<ref name="mr1" /><ref name="f210" />

The crozier was for a period in the collection of the [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]] and collector [[Henry Charles Sirr (town major)|Henry Charles Sirr]] (1764–1841), although the circumstances of his purchase are unknown.<ref name="hp11">Murray (2021), pp. 11, 18</ref> In 1970, the archaeologist [[Françoise Henry]] speculated that Sirr "might have obtained it directly or indirectly from the family of its hereditary keepers"<ref name="h101">Henry (1970), p. 101</ref> (a local family who would have looked after and protected the object over centuries), but there is no documentary evidence for this.<ref name="m12">Murray (2021), p. 12</ref> In 1826, a [[Lithography|lithograph]] representation appeared in ''Picturesque Views of the Antiquities of Ireland'', compiled in 1830 by the architect and draughtsman Robert O'Callaghan Newenham, where it was described as having been "dug up 100 years ago".<ref name="hp11" />

The crozier is described as an "ancient" and ornamental crozier, which once belonged to the Abbots of Clonmacnoise, in an 1841 catalogue for an exhibition of Sirr's collection at the [[Rotunda Hospital]] in Dublin, held shortly after his death.<ref name="m12" /> It was acquired at that exhibition by the [[Royal Irish Academy]],<ref name="l22">Lucas (1986), p. 22</ref> and transferred to the [[National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology|National Museum of Ireland]], [[Kildare Street]], Dublin, on its founding in 1890. Today it is on permanent display in the Treasury Room, next to the Lismore and River Laune Croziers, where it is catalogued as R 2988.<ref>"[https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1977-10-18/35/ Dáil Éireann debate: Tuesday, 18 Oct 1977]". [[Dáil Éireann|Houses of the Oireachtas]], 18 October 1977. Retrieved 19 September 2021</ref> An early 20th-century replica is in the [[The Cloisters|Met Cloisters]] in New York.<ref>"[https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/463147 Crozier of Clonmacnoise, early 20th century, Irish]". [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]. Retrieved 23 November 2021</ref> Widely considered the most lavish and ornate of the surviving early medieval croziers, it appeared in 2011 in ''[[The Irish Times]]'' and Royal Irish Academy's list of "[[A History of Ireland in 100 Objects]]".<ref name="fot" />

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Crozier_of_Clonmacnoise_Knope_detail.jpg|Detail of [[Confronted animals|confronted]] cat-eared animals (probably intended as lions) on the panel below the upper knop
File:The_Crozier_of_Clonmacnoise_shaft_detail2.jpg|Ringerike designs on the middle knop
File:Bastone_pastorale_di_clonmacnoise,_XI_secolo_08.jpg|Lower knop and ferrule with loose ring and tapering spike
</gallery>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{reflist|20em}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|30em}}

* Bourke, Cormac. "A Crozier and Bell from Inishmurray and Their Place in Ninth-Century Irish Archaeology". ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature''.  Dublin: [[Royal Irish Academy]], volume 85C, 1985. {{JSTOR|25506128}}
* [[Francis John Byrne|Byrne, Francis John]]. ''Irish Kings and High-Kings''. London: Batsford, 1973. {{ISBN|978-0-7134-5882-4}}
* [[Máire de Paor|De Paor, Máire]]. "The Viking Impact". In: ''[https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Treasures_of_Early_Irish_Art_1500_BC_to_1500_AD Treasures of early Irish art, 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D: From the collections of the National Museum of Ireland, Royal Irish Academy, Trinity College Dublin]''. NY: [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], 1977. {{ISBN|978-0-8709-9164-6}}
* Downham, Clare. ''Medieval Ireland''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. {{ISBN|978-1-1076-5165-4}}
* [[William Fraser (historian)|Frazer, William]]. "On an Irish Crozier, with Early Metal Crook, Probably the Missing Crozier of St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise". ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'', volume 1, 1889–1891. {{JSTOR|20503841}}
* Graham-Campbell, James. ''Viking Art (World of Art)''. London: Thames & Hudson, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-5002-0419-1}}
* Hahn, Cynthia. "The Reliquary Effect: Enshrining the Sacred Object". London: Reaktion Books, 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-7802-3655-1}}
* [[Françoise Henry|Henry, Françoise]]. ''Irish art in the Romanesque period (1020–1170 A.D.)''. London: Methuen, 1970. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-0526-6}}
* Henry, Françoise. ''Irish Art during the Viking Invasions (800–1020 A.D.)''. London: Methuen & Co, 1967
* Henry, Françoise. "[https://digital.ucd.ie/view/ivrla:14661 Research notes and sketches relating to the Clonmacnoise Crozier (Papers of Françoise Henry (d.1982))]". [[University College Dublin]], 1959–1963
* [[Rachel Moss (art historian)|Moss, Rachel]]. ''Medieval c. 400&nbsp;– c. 1600: Art and Architecture of Ireland''. London: Yale University Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-3001-7919-4}}
* [[Raghnall Ó Floinn|Ó Floinn, Raghnal]]. "Irish and Scandinavian art in the early medieval period". In: Larsen, Anne-Christine (ed.), ''The Vikings in Ireland''. Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum, 2001. {{ISBN|978-8-7851-8042-1}}
* Ó Floinn, Raghnal. "The Clonmacnoise crozier". In: Ryan, Michael (ed.), ''Treasures of Ireland: Irish art 3000 B.C.&nbsp;– 1500 A.D.''.  Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1983. {{ISBN|978-0-9017-1447-3}}
* O'Meadhra, Uaininn. "Copies or creations? Some shared elements in Hiberno-Norse and Scandinavian artwork". In: Clarke, Howard; Johnson, Ruth (eds.), ''The Vikings in Ireland and Beyond: Before and After the Battle of Clontarf''. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-8468-2495-1}}
* Laing, Lloyd. ''The Archaeology of Celtic Britain and Ireland: c. AD 400–1200''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-5218-3862-7}}
* [[Anthony T. Lucas|Lucas, A. T.]] "The Social Role of Relics and Reliquaries in Ancient Ireland". ''The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland'', volume 116, 1986. {{JSTOR|25508904}}
* Lucas, A. T. ''Treasures of Ireland; Irish pagan & early Christian art''. New York: Viking Press, 1974. {{ISBN|978-0-6707-2652-3}}
* Manning, Conleth. ''Clonmacnoise''. Dublin: Office of Public Works, 1998. {{ASIN|B01K2DGBMK}}
* [[Griffin Murray|Murray, Griffin]]. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3318/priac.2021.121.04 The history and provenance of two early medieval crosiers ascribed to Clonmacnoise]". Dublin: ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature'', February 2021
* Murray, Griffin. "[https://www.academia.edu/20803357/Insular_crosiers_from_Viking_age_Scandinavia Insular crosiers from Viking-age Scandinavia]". ''Acta Archaeologica'', 86(2), 2015. {{doi|10.1111/j.1600-0390.2015.12136.x}}
* Murray, Griffin. "[https://www.academia.edu/3329629/Insular_type_crosiers_their_construction_and_characteristics Insular-type crosiers: their construction and characteristics]". ''Making and Meaning in Insular Art: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Insular Art'', 2007
* Murray, Griffin. "The 'Hidden Power' of the Irish Crosier". ''Archaeology Ireland'', volume 18, no. 1, Spring 2004. {{JSTOR|20562731}}
* Ronan, Myles. "St. Patrick's Staff and Christ Church". ''Dublin Historical Record'', volume 5, no. 4, 1943. {{JSTOR|30080047}}
* Thickpenny, Cynthia; Forsyth, Katherine; Geddes, Jane (eds). "Peopling Insular Art: Practice, Performance, Perception". London: Oxbow Books, 2021. {{ISBN|978-1-7892-5457-0}}
* Wallace, Patrick. "Viking Age Ireland, AD 850–1150". In Ó Floinn, Raghnal; Wallace, Patrick (eds). ''Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland: Irish Antiquities''. Dublin: National Museum of Ireland, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-7171-2829-7}}
* Youngs, Susan. ''The Work of Angels: Masterpieces of Celtic Metalwork, 6th—9th centuries AD''. London: [[British Museum]] Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-7141-0554-3}}

{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Crozier of Clonmacnoise}}

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSOYUSnLJa0 Viking Ireland 5: Legacy of the Vikings in Ireland], National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology

{{Insular Croziers}} {{Insular art}}