Beautiful Celtic Cross Pendant handmade in sterling silver faithfully captures all authentic detail of the original Celtic cross found at the monastery of Duleek.
- Handcrafted in Sterling silver
- Height: 0.43 inches
- Width: 0.75 inches
- Pendant is available with an 18-inch chain or with a 22-inch chain
- Handmade and hallmarked in Ireland
History of the piece
Duleek was an important ecclesiastical centre in the early Christian centuries and its Cross is unusual and very interesting. It was founded by St.Ciaran (or Kennean) who was himself baptized by St.Patrick in 472A.D. Here he built the first stone church recorded in Ireland. The name of the town comes from the Irish daimh liag, a house of stones. The center grew and flourished for more than 700 years and aerial photographs of the town show how the ecclesiastical boundaries still impose themselves on the street plan today.
Duleek became as important as Armagh, or Clonard or Clonmacnoise and included hospitals, alm houses and sanctuaries. It was a resting place for the bodies of Brian Boru and his son – in law where they lay in state on their way to burial in Armagh in 1014 after the battle of Clontarf. later an Augustinian priory was set up there by the O’Kelly family. When the Norman, Hugh de Lacy built himself a castle nearby, he granted the Church of St. Ciaran to the Augustinians of Gloucestershire in 1180. The Normans had themselves pillaged the Priory a few years earlier.
