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39-487: The Breac Maodhóg (English: Speckled Shrine of Saint Maedog ) is a relatively large Irish house-shaped reliquary , today in the National Museum of Ireland . It is thought to date from the second half of the 11th century, and while periods as early as the 9th century have been proposed, the later dating is thought more likely based on the style of its decoration. The shrine is made from large plates of bronze on

78-650: A certain date in mid-September. O’Toole believed they would result in a more hardline anti-Brexit parliamentary faction that would make a stronger case for a no-confidence vote in Johnson. The proposal was sharply criticised by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald , who claimed the existing anti-Brexit factions in Parliament were strong enough without the party making too many policy concessions. A 26 June 2018 column in The Irish Times by O'Toole examined how

117-487: A portion of what is thought to have been an important 9th house-shrine found in a drain near Clonard, County Meath in the late 19th century. Fintan O%27Toole Fintan O'Toole (born 16 February 1958) is an Irish journalist, literary editor , and drama critic for The Irish Times , for which he has written since 1988. O'Toole was drama critic for the New York Daily News from 1997 to 2001 and

156-415: A wooden base, on which are placed series of relief figures on bronze plaques. It is best regarded for the individuality of these figure, as well as other details that give insight into contemporary ecclesiastical and social practices. At a height of 190 mm and width of 92 mm, it is relatively large compared to similar objects of its type. It was for centuries kept in a small decorated leather satchel added in

195-430: A wooden core (usually from yew wood ) lined with metal plates of bronze or silver. The two long sides are typically decorated with relief metal work, while the narrow sides have pairs of decorative bosses . The high-pitched, usually sloped "roof"s are held together by ridge-poles and hinged lids secured by a sliding pin which when opened give access to the wooden core and its relic. Of the 8–9th century examples, only

234-549: Is Advising Editor and a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books . He is also an author, literary critic, historical writer and political commentator. In 2011, O'Toole was named by The Observer as one of "Britain's top 300 intellectuals", despite not being British nor living in the United Kingdom. In 2012 and 2013, O'Toole was a visiting lecturer in Irish letters at Princeton University and contributed to

273-409: Is a fairground wall of death in which the characters are being pushed outward by the centrifugal force of the action but held in place by the friction of the language. . . . We return to the tragedies not in search of behavioral education but because the wilder the terror Shakespeare unleashes, the deeper is the pity and the greater the wonder that, even in the howling tempest, we can still hear

312-646: Is an attack on the executive level of pay. There is double-standard of seeking more job cuts while paying these vast salaries. In June 2012, O'Toole compared the Irish Constitutional Convention to the American Citizens Union , a reformist political organisation that the New York City political machine Tammany Hall did not bother to suppress so long as it did not threaten its hegemony. In August 2019, after

351-763: Is in Scotland (the Monymusk Reliquary ), one is in Wales (the shrine of St. Gwenfrewi at Gwytherin), and two are in Italy. The earliest examples date from the late 7th century when the practice of the disinterment of the bodies of saints to recover relics for worship (or their supposed healing powers) first became popular in Ireland, although the cult of relics had become widespread on the European continent from

390-534: The Sunday Tribune on its relaunch by Vincent Browne in 1983, and worked as its drama critic, literary editor, arts editor, and feature writer. From 1986 to 1987 he edited Magill magazine. O'Toole joined The Irish Times as a columnist in 1988 and his columns have appeared twice-weekly ever since. He took a sabbatical in 1990–1991 to work as literary adviser to the Abbey Theatre . In 1994 he

429-606: The Donald Trump administration's policies and public-facing communications about immigration and asylum-seekers from Mexico might be deliberately calculated to bring elements of fascism to the U.S. An April 2020 column in The Irish Times asserted that Trump's destruction of the public image and reputation of the United States culminated with his bungling of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis , and that subsequently pity

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468-684: The Late Middle Ages ; a well known example is the Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral . These were probably intended to represent, or at least evoke, coffins or mausolea rather than houses or churches, and the ends are most often vertical rather than sloping. The shrines were built during the so-called "golden-age" of both Irish metalwork and, more broadly, Insular art. A small number bear autograph inscriptions by

507-744: The Pictish monastery at Portmahomack , and monasteries in Northumbria ; exchanges of styles and influences are evident in the examples from these areas, at a time when artisans across the British Isles where both exposed to multiple classical and complex mainland European influences. There are some thirty-five surviving medieval European examples, in various conditions, of which nine are Insular . The majority are hip-roofed, with some gable-ended. The best known Insular examples include Saint Manchan's Shrine, Ireland's largest surviving reliquary,

546-728: The kings of Leinster , St Maedoc of Ferns, records how the kings of Breifne sought that "the famous wonder-working Breac [was] carried thrice around them" during battle. House-shaped (sometimes known as "tomb-shaped") reliquaries date to at least the 8th century. The figures in the Breac Maodhóg are made from bronze, but so finely moulded that they resemble wood carvings . Mostly clerics , saints and apostles , they are placed in groupings, some of which are now lost or badly damaged. The surviving figures are given highly individualistic facial feature, expressions and poses. They wear elaborate hairstyles and are dressed in luxurious finery, and

585-485: The 10th and 11th centuries during cultural exchanges following the —disastrous for Ireland— Viking invasion of Ireland . According to Fintan O'Toole "there [was not a] single moment of conversion, and there was probably a considerable overlap between those [vikings] who had gone native and those who kept to the old religion. Conversion, as the historian Donnchadh Ó Corráin put it, "must have come gradually, as an effect of assimilation." Surviving Irish examples include

624-525: The 12th century. This was due to the volume of remaining available relics to already "in use", but in part also due to the development of devotional images, although some of these still contained cavities for holding relics. House-shaped reliquaries are constructed to resemble the roofs of early Christian churches. or those of a form similar to the intact 12th century Gallarus Oratory in County Kerry , Ireland, A number of scholars have suggested that

663-508: The 4th century. Most were at first placed in plain wooden reliquary, that were lavishly decorated and embellished over the following centuries. As well as relics, some Irish shrines were intended as receptacles for manuscripts, or perhaps as containers for the Eucharist . It is thought that most ironwork reliquaries were commissioned in part as status symbols, and primarily to be housed in their home monastery or church, perhaps in front of

702-583: The Emly shrine (found in County Limerick , dated to the late 7th–early 8th century, often considered the exemplary of the series), the two Lough Erne Shrines (9th century), Bologna Shrine (9th century), the Breac Maodhóg (11th century) and Saint Manchan's Shrine (12th century). Three fully intact examples have been found in Norway (the 'Copenhagen' or 'Ranvaik's Casket'), Melhus and Setnes shrines), one

741-719: The Fund for Irish Studies Series. O'Toole was born in Dublin in a working-class family. He was educated at Scoil Íosagáin and Coláiste Chaoimhín in Crumlin (both run by the Christian Brothers ) and at University College Dublin (UCD). He graduated from the university in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy. Soon after graduation, O'Toole became drama critic of In Dublin magazine in 1980. He joined

780-510: The Lough Erne Shrine has straight rather than sloped sides. A number of art historians, including Rachel Moss of Trinity College Dublin , classify them into three broad types: those with a wooden core encased by metal plates, those consisting of wooden boxes decorated with metal ornaments, and fully metal shrines. They typically have cross on the main face, surrounded by large rock crystal gems or other semi-precious stones, while

819-420: The altar. House-shaped shrine were built to be portable, and were often moved from their fixed church positions for local processions, to collect church dues, for oath swearing or other diplomatic occasions, or less frequently as battle standards to protected the home troops and ask God for victory. For this reason, the majority contain carrying hinges to which leather straps could be attached to be carried over

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858-560: The craftsmen, but apart from these etchings, little else is known about the individual artisans. However we do know that skilled metal workers were highly regarded and had high social status in medieval Ireland. As they were in high demand, they were probably itinerant, in a highly stratified society that only allowed a select few move between its petty kingdoms, in an era when Ireland was ruled by some 150 " Túath " ( people in English, meaning fiefdom in context). Contemporary Irish metalworkers had close ties with craftsmen in Scotland, including

897-427: The early 8th century Scottish Monymusk Reliquary , the 8th or 9th century Lough Kinale Book Shrine, and the 9th century Irish Breac Maodhóg . Although a great many more where likely produced, most lost during Viking rates, 12th century Norman wars , later internal battles, or were dismantled and smelted so the bronze and sliver could be sold off. In addition, there are dozens of surviving fragments, including

936-434: The folds of their flowing robes are highly detailed. The figures are deeply moulded against the copper plates, to an extent that gives the appearance that they have been carved from wood. The best-known figures are of two saints or clerics on the right-hand side of the middle register. The saint on the left has a melancholy expression and drooping eyes and holds his head in one hand as if sighing. The musician on one side of

975-419: The front plate is playing what is thought to be the oldest extant visual representation of a harp . The figures resemble the form of the evangelists in the earlier Soiscél Molaisse , although, according to art historian Patrick Wallace, those on the Breac Maodhóg are "invested with a deeper humanity, character and humour. The wool-clad, tuniced , and cloaked, bearded and long-haired figures seem to almost invite

1014-472: The late medieval period, which is slightly too small for the shrine and is thought to have been originally designed to hold a manuscript. The shrine was probably used as a battle standard, when, as with the Cathach of St. Columba ( Battler of Columba ), it would have been carried onto the battlefield by a cleric to protect the troops and perhaps bring victory. A medieval text on the life of the patron saint of

1053-805: The process that his "one terror is that [Heaney's] favourite communication mode was the fax, and faxes fade." In 2018, he was awarded the UCD Alumni Award in Arts & Humanities. O'Toole has criticised what he sees as negative attitudes toward immigration in Ireland, the state of Ireland's public services, growing inequality during Ireland's economic boom, the Iraq War , and the U.S. military's use of Shannon Airport , among many other issues. In 2006, he spent six months reporting for The Irish Times in China. O'Toole's former editor, Geraldine Kennedy ,

1092-544: The selection of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , O'Toole proposed to get Parliament to back an alternative Cabinet who would push back the October deadline for Brexit to allow a trade deal to be negotiated. The proposal required seven Sinn Féin MPs in northern Irish border constituencies to resign in favour of a pact between the four largest anti-Brexit parties in Ireland, thereby triggering by-elections at

1131-474: The shapes were inspired by early tomb-art (specifically Roman and early medieval sarcophagus ), rather than churches, also seen in their similarity to the caps-stones of some Insular high crosses . Some Scandinavian examples are lined with runic inscriptions, suggesting pagan or secular functions. The sides of an example found in a grave for a woman at Sunndal , Norway , are decorated with opposing pairs of birds heads. The shrines are typically built from

1170-513: The shoulder or around the neck. The straps for the Lough Erne shrine, found in 1891 by fishermen, is secured by separate cast escutcheons . The inner core of most have lids used to access or display their relic. Irish annals from the 8th and 9th centuries record shrines —later described as "reliquiae" or "martires" ( martyres )— containing the corporeal remains of saints being carried from town to town by clerics. Saint Manchan's shrine

1209-412: The similar, but a few centuries later, book-shaped shrines ( cumdachs ) and are mostly larger than the relics they were built to contain. The Lough Erne shrine is 16 cm high, 17.7 cm wide and has a depth of 7.8 cm, making it the largest known Irish reliquary casket. A modified version of the shape, more usually called a chasse , remained popular for reliquaries in mainland Europe until

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1248-406: The spaces between the arms of the cross contain more varied decorations, they show imagery associated with their saint. The gems are always light coloured; their transparency was intended to give the viewer the impression that they could "look-through" to the relic in the interior. The sides of most examples are decorated with interlace , and many contain animal ornamentation. They are larger than

1287-463: The viewer back to the early twelfth century." It was thought in the early modern period to have originated at Drumlane monastery, County Cavan , however its first mention, in a 15th-century "Life of the saint", describes its donation to the village of Rossinver , County Leitrim by the Bishop Máedóc of Ferns . Its provenance for many centuries is unclear; one account notes that the shrine

1326-762: Was "preserved for centuries in Drumlane, and was stolen in the present century from the Roman Catholic priest of that parish". When first rediscovered, its hereditary keepers were the O'Farrelly family. Due to its age, it is in very poor condition. House-shaped shrine The format appears to have originated in Ireland, and was adapted in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England, particularly Northumbria which had close artistic ties with Ireland. The format draws from Ancient Roman and contemporary continental influences, including for later examples, French Romanesque architecture . The type spread to Scandinavia during

1365-495: Was built to hold human remains, while the Tuscan Abbadia San Salvatore shrine, sealed in the 12th century, contained bones that were probably primary. A number of Scandinavian examples also contained bones, but many are considered to have been secondary (i.e. added after the shrine was first constructed). All but the example at Abbadia San Salvatore are now empty. The now badly damaged Breac Maodhóg

1404-621: Was one of the presenters for the last season of BBC TV's The Late Show . From 1997 to 2001 he was drama critic of the Daily News in New York. In 2011, he was appointed as literary editor of The Irish Times . He also has published articles regularly in the New York Review of Books , and The Guardian . In 2017, O'Toole was commissioned by Faber and Faber to write the official biography of Seamus Heaney . O'Toole said of

1443-546: Was paid more than the editor of the UK's top non-tabloid newspaper, The Daily Telegraph , which has a circulation about nine times that of The Irish Times . Later, O'Toole told a rival Irish paper, the Sunday Independent : We as a paper are not shy of preaching about corporate pay and fat cats but with this, there is a sense of excess. Some of the sums mentioned are disturbing. This is not an attack on Ms Kennedy, it

1482-461: Was probably used as a battle standard, when it would have been carried onto the battlefield by a cleric so as to offer protection to the troops and perhaps bring victory. A medieval text on the life of the patron saint of the kings of Leinster , St Maedoc of Ferns, records that the kings of Breifne sought that "the famous wonder-working Breac [was] carried thrice around them" during battle. The enshrinement of corporeal relics became less common during

1521-461: Was the only appropriate feeling for the American people, the majority of whom had not voted for him. In a 2024 New York Review of Books essay, O'Toole rejects the common interpretation of William Shakespeare 's tragedies in terms of protagonists' flaws leading to their own destruction. "So what does Shakespeare teach us?" he asks, and replies: "Nothing. His tragic theater is not a classroom. It

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