There is currently a silver gilt chalice on display in the museum. Made in the late 15th century, it was discovered in a cardboard box in a garden outbuilding in England - centuries after it was likely looted from an Irish church or monastery. Only a handful of chalices from its era still exist, suggesting it may have been hidden or buried after its removal from Ireland.
When King Henry VIII broke ties with the Catholic Church and founded the Church of England during his reign (1509-1547), he ordered a reform of religious life and institutions and the dissolution of monasteries in both England and Ireland. Despite this, Catholicism survived in Ireland.
Dr. Malgorzata Krasnodebska-D’Aughton, Senior Lecturer at the School of History in University College Cork has published on Irish illuminated manuscripts, and the cultural history of Irish mendicant orders. She and a team at the National Museum of Ireland are conducting scientific and Museum tests on the chalice and she will update us on their findings.