The Forge

Secular and ecclesiastic life depended on the works of the forge. In the making of agricultural tools, the warriors' swords and war harness', chalices and Annulars, great technological skills and arts were required and employed by the Celtic bronze, silver and goldsmith. The degree of skills and materials used allowed the Celtic artist to give reality to Her and His imagination's, and leave a legacy rich in visual challenges. The workshop/forge would have been a place of hard work, inspiration and a hub of activity in all seasons. Closely guarded skills and secret's in alloy mixing and dexterity of hand must have both delighted and enthralled the watching folk or children. I know my self as a child, standing at a blacksmith's forge in Co Down, back in 1967 and watching horseshoes being made. The wonder at the size of the great bellows, blowing the coals red hot and the sparkling metal taking form under the careful blows of the Smithies hammer.
It was Celts that forged the first civilisation north of the Alps. From workshops in the late Bronze and early Iron age to the early Christian Era a wealth of objects were produced that changed the course of history. Some of these include the first chainmail armour, seamless iron rims for wheels, they pioneered the iron plowshare, and they gave shape to chisels and saws, tin snips, and hammers, and they were the first to put Iron shoes on horse's. Mastery over metal was a hallmark of Celtic civilisation.

It is through my work in gold and silver and wax that I am endeavouring to share my enthusiasm for the works of these clever and industrious people. It is my strongly held belief, that the Black smiths/Gold smith forge and workshop was the powerhouse of ideas and talent that has marked the civilisation of the Celt. In this talk I shall be focusing on and drawing your attention to the works both secular and ecclesiastic of the 6th to 11th century.

Today we find alongside the monasteries and abbeys of Ireland the remains of workshops made distinct by the slagheaps, sand and clay moulds that are to be found as ancient refuse. Amid the ash are broken plaster moulds, carved bone, fragments of gold filigree and even the occasional forge eg. the Moynagh Lough Crannog, and the Lagore Crannog, both in Co. Meath.

Ireland emerged from the wreckage of the fall of The Roman Empire, stable, wealthy and secure, partly due to the fact that its society was unaltered by any direct or indirect Roman rule. Contact was made for profit, as the Irish/Scotti raided Roman settlements in Britain, or acted as mercenaries. And with the types and amounts of goods such as pottery and glass still to be found in Ireland of that period in history, certainly trade took place.

In the age of Celtic Christianity the greatest achievements in Irish metal work, both secular and ecclesiastic, took form. In a period of relative political stability, (and much of that can be attributed to a vernacular language and national laws), material requirements for the monastic life brought new challenges for the metalworker. Work such as platens, chalices, cross's, book shrines, even beautiful buckets, ladles and door handles, provided an outlet for the already competent skill of the artist. Contact with the Germanic tribes that were now sweeping across Britain brought new forms of artistic design in the form of zoomorphics such as birds and improved casting techniques to the Irish workshops. Expansion from Ulster into Scotland and south into Wales and Cornwall provided new avenues of wealth and security in the form of control of material such as tin and copper. Influences from North Africa have long had and effect on the Western Celt. Trade in wool, gold, slaves and Mercury was common, and it is from the Coptic monks and their hermetic life that Christianity arrived (wether from oppression or the search for God in the wilds). It is perhaps through this early contact (4AD-5AD?) that the knot work art form began its journey in to the Celtic imagination. There is to be found in early Ethiopian Christian texts, richly decorated knotwork, an art form that was to fire the imagination of the Picts, the Gaels and the Christianised Saxon of Northumberia. Germanic tribes and their art fused with the Gael in the early days of settlement, adding zoomorphics to the list of designs.

As Ireland developed as a major centre of learning so did the styles and wealth of its ruling classes. Much of the wealth was traditionally measured in cattle and land, though coin would have been given in trade or tribute, it was in the commissioning of fine metal work this wealth found an outlet.

Gold

In Ireland, during the Christian era, gold was quite scarce. Most of the alluvial gold had long been acquired and used in various forms. Examples such as the great Lunala relics, bracelets, ear ornaments, clasps, balls and Torcs. In fact there is something like 12 times the amount of worked gold found in Ireland as there is of all the Celtic gold in Britain, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. The Gaelic language is peppered with words referring either to gold or the working of it. But by the 6th centuries it was used sparingly. Much of the work was fire gilded and the only solid gold brooch of this period to have survived is the Loughan Brooch from Co Derry. Gold foils and gold filigree wire became popular in the 7th century. Examples of which are the Derrnaflan Paten Co Tipperary 8th century and stand. Detailed birds and toothed beasts are set in a border of hammered beading. Beautifully controlled, and with great delicacy the incredibly fine gold wire is twisted as a thin rope. Then the wire is woven into a detailed zoomorphic surrounded with a field of knotwork. Tiny spirals form nostrils, and top knots. Of the twenty four panels, four depict kneeling men back to back, ten show fantastic sharp fanged beasts, one eagle, two entertwining snakes and from all their bodies and mouths spring spirals and interlace. But its again, the astounding skills and attention to the detail that mirrors a real creature, and also the depth of skill required to solder the work to the back round, simply boggles the mind. Beautiful spirals and complex knotting are pressed out into gold and silver foil panels and are fitted to the sides, bordered in knitted silver and copper wire. The dies for these panels have probably been carved from bone or lead. This knitted wire alone is neat and uniform in construction. And once more the skill level is of the highest standard.
Spaced evenly around the top of the paten is 24 gold and polychrome glass and niello (metallic sulfide) studs rich in colour and patterns.
Why these craftsmen and women (it was by Breton law that if the male succession failed women were allowed to carry on the paternal profession. There for I must conclude that the hand of woman was active in the surviving arts of Early Ireland) worked in miniature and as in the case of manuscript work astounding miniatures, was that this labour was for the eyes of God, not us mortals. One other thing to that had a major bearing on the culture of Ireland the enabled such a rich culture to flourish, was a vernacular language. From the top to the bottom of the island they spoke the same tongue (rare in these times) and with the free movement of the bardic class, uniform laws.

Materials

Most resources needed for the smithy was available in Ireland. Copper, Silver, Iron, Gold, and in at times mercury, though on the whole that was imported form the Mediterrian

Glass

Milifori rods were extensively used as colour prior to the Vikings and imported. Although glass was extensively used in jewellery both as enamels and inlay there is no evidence of the manufacture of glass vessels in Ireland at this time.

Tin

Most certainly from Cornwall.

Design

These complicated patterns were often worked out on bone and slate. These pieces were prepared and quartered in grid just like graph paper today. Compasses were extensively used and not drawn freehand, examples of which survive on bones from the Ballinderry Crannog.

Casting

Investment casting of which much of the metalwork was formed. Lots of moulds have been found throughout Britain, Scotland, and Ireland. Heaps of sand and clay are commonly found in metalworking areas, as an example at Mote, Dumfries-shire and Dooey in Donagal . Most castings were made in 2 piece moulds. Lost wax casting, the method I employ:

Joining

Most Celtic metalwork is assembled from a number of pieces and craftsman were certainly aware of the various techniques such as soldering, riveting, cements and mechanical joints such as folding. Riveting seems to be the preferred method of joining, especially in major joints. Many of the chalices, especially the Ardagh and Derrynaflan are of complicated construction and utilise bolts and rivets whose heads are often decorated with ornate bosses. Examples of letters have been noted on the backs of panels that suggest detailed planning went into making of the great chalices. The crude nailing of work to wooden paneling is not unknown.

Filigree

The fantastic skills of the Goldsmith are there for all to see in the beautiful filigree work of the 8th century. Design work of astounding control have enhanced the brooch work and the chalice, to complement the manuscript. Dr Michael Ryans book, "Metal craftmanship in early Ireland", has detailed the techniques of Irish goldsmiths. He describes how "the design was sometimes stamped or traced in repousse, on a foil and the wires were then soldered to the ridges to give a three dimensional effect. The back round to the design might be cut away and an additional gold or sometimes silver backing-plate inserted".
He also points out that silver filigree work was unknown before the Viking impact in Ireland.

Bibliography

1. The Work of Angels. Edited by Susan Youngs
2. Metal Craftsmanship in Early Ireland. Dr Michael Ryan
3. The Celtic World. Edited by Miranda J Green
4. The Story of the Irish Race. By Seumas MacManus
5. The Art of the Celts. By Lloyd and Jennifer Laing
6. Archaeological Excavations at Moynagh Lough. By John Bradley
7. Celtic Mythology. By Proinsias MacCana

In the 5th century, Western Europe is wrecked with war, pestilence and disease. The might of Rome in this century collapses, with it goes art, culture and science. But in the far western Isles a few beacons of light still burn.

In the 6th-9th centuries the Celtic church and its secular societies managed through hard work, dedication and love to leave a legacy of great magnitude and value, such that the people of the 20th and 21th century can still find spiritual and artistic inspiration and fascination.

Here we visit an 8th century workshop attached to a monastery of the Celtic church, in which we find a young apprentice who sits carving spirals and animal motifs into the long bone of a cow. His task today is to practice the carving of a complex pattern laid out by a great master who has been with the Moynagh Lough  community for many years now. This young apprentice has already completed his tasks of raking out the ash from the forge and cleared away the now broken moulds from which they hade been making castings the previous day. These were numerous multi moulds, to create bar shaped mounts for harnesses of the local King 's horses.

This youngster is still remembering the incident in which he breaks for the last time, a baked clay crucible measuring 9.1 cms. He was still learning the proper way to hold the thongs while pouring the molten alloy. Unfortunately he griped it to hard and broke it.

Many and varied are the skills that a young apprentice will learn in the years ahead. He or she will be taught to plan the making of objects both secular and ecclesiastical, using a range of tools common to the smithing workshop, most of which are still in use today, and this young person will be literate, a necessary requirement for the reading of plans and codes, examples of which can still be found today on many components associated with chalices and platterns of the period, such as the Ardagh Chalice and the Derrynaflan Plattern.

Techniques in lost wax will be mastered in the making f larger and more complex pieces and perhaps an aptitude will be shown for highly skilled gold filigree wire work for which the expertise of the Irish goldsmiths was exceptional.

Skills in enameling, fire guilding, repousse, silver and gold soldering, chip faceting and die-stamping are only a few of the skills to be learnt. There will be the making of the iron tools needed for the forge. This could be a specialty all of its own. Though the few that remain are badly corroded they can still tell a tale, one of precision and practical use.

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