Saint Manchan's Shrine

​Art and Devotion in Twelfth-century Ireland

The links below will provide an overview of the metalsmithing techniques used to create Saint Manchan's Shrine.

Lost Wax Casting

Fire Gilding

Enamelling

Chasing

Riveting

Die Forming

Nails

Assembly of Saint Manchan's Shrine

Illustration; Uto Hogerzeil

Before the conquest, there was no feeling that the craftsman as inferior to the intellectual: no patronising of the gifted of the hands by those endowed with the gifts of the intellect. All such talents derived from the same God….

C.R. Dodwell 1982 

Metalsmithing Techniques in Twelfth Century Ireland