7th century brooch found in Kerry has links to the early Greeks

Last year’s discovery of a seventh-century brooch with the Greek symbol for Christ has switched attention to the North Kerry area of the Shannon estuary.

The ancient relic is believed to be from a fascinating Christian community with possible links to the eastern Mediterranean, according to a recent paper written by an archaeologist with links to the National Museum.

Griffin Murphy, a graduate of University College Cork and the curator of Kerry County Museum, has recently reported some interesting finds as a result of his research on the brooch.

The brooch was discovered by a Kerry woman when she was cleaning out her turf range.
The turf had been cut from the family bog at Tullahennell North.

"The survival of the brooch through this process, not to mention being subsequently thrown into a Stanley Range, is remarkable," Murray wrote in the “North Munster Antiquarian Journal.”

"I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the area of North Kerry had specific links with the eastern Mediterranean, but it must have certainly benefited from its proximity to the estuary and so was probably open to a lot of influence through time."