Celts and Vikings and Normans Oh My!

Ireland was an island peopled by the Celts since 3000bc. Before Ireland became known for it's pubs it was known for it's monasteries. Monasteries back then were not only places of worship, they were used more or less as banks. Someone with something of value would give it to a monastery for safekeeping. Which is why they where being knocked over and pillaged by the local kings and chieftans! The vikings hearing wind of this probably felt jealous of them and decided to stop pounding on the french (Normandy) for a time and see what all this irish gold and precious stuff was all about. They came and went for a time and after a while they liked it so much they decided to stay and they chose Dubh Linn (black pool) as their chief settlement. Of course that place is modern Dublin. Oh and then the Normans came. 

Lots of history in a nutshell, all that to show a few pictures!!! 

 

 This guy is called "Strongbow" like the cider. Actually the cider was named after him. His real name is Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. He was a Cambro-Norman who took Ireland for England in the 1170's.

 

These are tent "poles". I like the horse design on them and thought that maybe I could carve something like it one day, so I took a picture as reference.

 

 These are combs made of bone and wood. I find the worksmanship remarkable given that these are over 800 years old.

 

A brooch in the Celtic pattern, which I love. Most of these pictures are not all they could be. There is a reason for that: I'm not familiar enough yet with my new camera and we were not supposed to take pictures so I took them at chest height without flash.

 

Finally a cross. Crosses were allways important to the Celts and later the Christians. This peculiar one is Christian in design but nicely executed, I thought.