162 14 The Makers of Church Metalwork in Early Medieval Ireland: Their Identity and Status Griffin Murray ObjectssuchastheArdaghChalice,theDerrynaflanPaten,theShrineofStPatrick’sBell andtheCrossofCongarecelebratedtodayfortheirartisticbeauty,aswellasthetechnical skillstheydisplay.TheydemonstratethatearlymedievalIrishsocietywasaculturallyrich andsophisticatedone.However,inthemodernscholarlyliteratureontheseobjectsthe craftsmenresponsibleforthesemarvelsofearlymedievalIrelandaregenerallyexcluded from the discussion. Indeed, early medieval metalwork is often written about in an abstractway,withoutanydiscussionofthepeoplewhowereresponsibleforanobject’s creationanduse.Thispaperconcentratesonasinglecategoryofpersoninvolvedinthe creationofthesetreasures,thecraftsmen,byexaminingtheiridentityandstatusinearly medievalIrishsociety. Someofthescholarswhohavebrieflymentionedcraftsmeninthecourseoftheir discussiononparticularobjectshavepresumedthattherewasadichotomybetweenthe design and manufacture of an object. Robert Organ made this presumption in his importanttechnicalpaperontheArdaghChalice.Forinstance,whenhewasdiscussing theconstructionofthefootofthechalicehecommentedthat:‘itseemslikelythatthe designer’sintentionshadbeenfrustratedbylackofskillonthepartoftheworker.’ 1 The implicationisthataneducated,talentedorinspiredindividualdesignedthechalice,while acraftsmanseparatelycarriedoutthework.Whilediscussingtheassemblymarksonthe Derrynaflan Paten, which includes a number of letters, Michelle Brown states that the marksarea‘clearindicationoftheinteractionofcraftsmanandliteratesupervisor,or patron’. 2 Whilediscussingthesameassemblymarks,MichaelRyancomments:‘Itseems that a literate scholarly individual, perhaps a cleric, played a part in the design of the piece—theuseofasequenceofletters,carefullyinscribed,asacodeforassemblingthe piece signals this clearly.’ 3 In their respective studies both Brown and Ryan link the evidence of literacy in the case of the Derrynaflan Paten with design rather than manufacture,eventhoughthefunctionofassemblymarksistoassistthecraftsmaninthe manufacturing process. 4 Ryan later comments that: ‘The impression given by the DerrynaflanPatenisthatmaterialswerenotfreelyavailable,andthetechnicalrangeof theartificerswasbeingstretchedtothelimittoachievetheambitionofthepatronor 1 Organ,1973:255 2 Brown,1993:164 3 Ryan,1983a:30 4 SubsequentlyRyanhasmodifiedhisviewsontheassemblymarks,seeRyan,1993a:7;1997: 547–48 Making4:Charles Holden Architect 24/1/14 12:08 Page 162