LIMERICK City and County Council (LCCC) have been urged to request that the Ardagh Chalice be loaned from the National Museum of Ireland to be put on display for the much-anticipated Ryder Cup in Adare.
The Ardagh Chalice is one of the greatest treasures of the early Irish Church. It is part of a hoard of objects found in the 19th century by a young man digging for potatoes near Ardagh, County Limerick.
And with the Ryder Cup returning to Ireland in 2027 when Adare Manor, in County Limerick, hosts the biennial contest between Europe and the United States, the chalice’s return to West Limerick has now been sought. Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan took the view this week that the golf tournament gives us an opportunity to showcase the “best of Limerick”.
“I think that it would be very culturally and significantly important for us to have the Ardagh Chalice back home in Limerick and to be put on display for the thousands of people that are going to be coming through Limerick,” Cllr O’Donovan said at Monday’s full meeting of LCCC.
“I think it’s very important that we have such a significant emblem, which is so historically significant for the whole of Ireland, back home in Limerick,” she added.
Fianna Fáil councillor Bridie Collins pointed out to council members that a medieval brooch and other items were discovered during an archaeological dig in the works for the new Adare Bypass recently. She felt Cllr O’Donovan’s motion was timely and that these items should all be in display in the popular tourist hotspot of Adare.
Mayor of Limerick, John Moran said that he believes that this motion raises a much bigger question.
“I see no reason why institutions like the National Museum of Ireland and the National Museum of Modern Art, shouldn’t actually have annexes right across the country. Of course, these items should remain in the custody of an institution capable of minding them. But now that Dublin aren’t winning any All-Irelands anymore, maybe they might give us the one the Sam McGuire was based on, and lose them both,” Mayor Moran commented.
He continued: “I wouldn’t be so modest as to think it should just be for the Ryder Cup, but if that was the beginning of the change as we go to a more permanent collection, distributed across the country, I would hugely support it.”
Independent councillor Jerome Scanlan told council members that he has been very aware of the value and the heritage of the Ardagh Chalice from a young age growing up in the late 1950s.
”I used to see the Ardagh Chalice on the bottle wrap every morning out in West Limerick, where we supplied milk for the making of butter,” he recalled.
Fine Gael councillor Adam Teskey suggested that the Ardagh Chalice be returned back to its home area in County Limerick. Cllr Teskey urged the local authority to do everything in its power to make this happen.
Cllr Tom Ruddle (FG) reminded council members that during the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Ardagh Chalice in 2018, security was a huge issue around talks to bring the historical artefact back home.
Cllr Liam Galvin (FG) proposed a solution to this issue.
“Maybe we could write to the Superintendent and ask would it be appropriate to store the Ardagh Chalice in the Garda station in Adare?
“We should work around it and get the manpower in there to try and make sure there’s a Garda sitting down behind the counter while he do his operations. This is very achievable, but we need to pull out all the stops,” Cllr Galvin insisted.
