Archaeology

This lecture marks the 900th anniversary of the creation of the Cross of Cong, one of Ireland's most iconic treasures. It was commissioned in 1123 by the high king of Ireland, Turlough O'Connor, to enshrine a relic of the True Cross. One of the most important reliquaries in medieval Ireland, it was made in Roscommon, probably for Tuam, and was later preserved at the abbey of Cong, Co. Mayo. This lecture will explore the origins of the cross, its art and archaeology in the context of what was happening in Ireland nine centuries ago.

Dr Griffin Murray is a Lecturer in Archaeology and Museum Studies at University College Cork and is a specialist in Irish medieval church metalwork. He is the author of The Cross of Cong: A Masterpiece of Medieval Irish Art (2014) and of St Manchan's shrine: Art and Devotion in Twelfth-Century Ireland (with K. O'Dwyer, 2022). 

This lecture was broadcast as a live event on Wednesday 4th October 2023.