AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF EARLY 18TH CENTURY CATHOLIC...

AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF EARLY 18TH CENTURY CATHOLIC ALTAR PIECES OF THE KIRWAN FAMILY

***Adams are pleased to announce that Lot 130 the early 18th century Catholic Altar pieces including the Kirwan Chalice has been sold before auction to the National Museum of Ireland and will be displayed in due course in their Collins Barracks site.***

THE 'STEPHEN KIRWAN' CHALICE
An early 18th Century Galway silver chalice, c.1718, entitled the 'Stephen Kirwan' Chalice after the donor of the chalice, the tapered bowl with gilt interior, maker's mark of Bartholomew Fallon, stuck twice with additional marks*, possibly symbolising the town mark of origin above knopped stem, raised on domed octagonal base and stepped foot, the knop and four panels of the base engraved with naïve geometric patterns, the other four alternating panels with finer engraving, one depicting Christ on the Cross, two engraved with winged putti and foliate scroll, the fifth engraved with a crown, a flowerhead and scroll motif, the rim of the base inscribed 'Pray for ye Soule of Stephen Kirwan Who ordd ys Chalice To be made for ye use of his bro James Kirn & his wife Julian Davie & their Posterity 1718,' with further outer rim of egg and dart beading. 26cm high;
AN 18TH CENTURY SILVER PATEN, of plain circular form, struck twice with corresponding mark*, 13cm diameters;
A PENAL ALTAR STONE carefully preserved in a stitched canvas cover, a stone slap wrapped in parchment and a prayer book (4)
A MISSAL (for Rome) 16476, disbound and well-thumbed. Always associated with these items, this book speaks of the usage it had during very difficult times ;

*mark recorded in Jackson's under 'Unascribed Irish Provincial Marks', pg739 found on 'Chalice, dated 1682'

The Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society record this mark as the town mark of origin (pg55, Vol. 46 (1994). However, traditionally early Galway plate is signified with an anchor.

The chalice is recorded and illustrated in an article entitled 'Some Irish Altar Plate' in The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 7th Series, Vol.11 No.4 (Dec 31, 1941) pgs 141-142, by noted antiquary J.J. Buckley. Buckley acknowledges the chalice as 'The property of Mr. Denis Kirwan, Dalgin, Tuam, 1924. Lent per Dr. T. B. Costello, Tuam'

The bequest of a chalice during the 17th & 18th Centuries was undoubtedly a generous gift that would have been cherished by the beneficiary church both as a valuable item and for functional used in religious ceremonies. However, such a donation was not only seen to be of benefit to the church, but also to the wealthy patrons - it presented them with the opportunity to preserve their memory for generations. It is common therefore, to find memorial inscriptions on Galway silverware from this period.

The Kirwan tribe is the oldest of the fourteen Tribes of Galway. They were thought to have settled in Galway during the reign of Henry VI. Old Irish families such as the Kirwans, who managed to emerge from the Cromwellian regime and Penal Laws somewhat unscathed, possessed the wealth and the prestige to (discretely) count themselves amongst the Catholic gentry.
Similar symbols of the Passion have appeared on other post-Reformation chalices of this period such as the 'Murphy -FFargus Chalice' which is of similar design to this example. This rare and treasured survival from a dismal sectarian period is here offered for sale for the first time.