Hand-bells were used in Ireland from the 5th century in monastic communities and churches and are the oldest continuously transmitted cultural objects of Ireland. These bells show great technical skill and multiple examples are examined in this talk. The uneven distributions within Ireland of iron and bronze bells are explored as are links with with Scotland and Wales. The lecture ends by looking at many modern reinterpretations of ancients bells including Bangor’s own ‘Fluctus Angelorum’ sculpture (inspired by the bronze Bangor Bell).

The first video link below will take you to the entire talk, including introduction and Question and Answers. The talk is structured in three sections with the first (16 minutes) giving a comprehensive overview of the bells and the other two going into more detail and then examining modern reinterpretations.

For convenience the 3 parts of the talk are also linked separately in the sections which follow.

Introducing the Bells
(16 minutes)

This introductory session gives an overview of the types of bells, the locations associated with them and the number and distribution of known bells in Ireland. It ends with a reflection on the unique place of Bells in Irish cultural history, how so many of them have been carefully handed down across the generations from ancient to modern times.

Bell Triples
(22 minutes)

This section contains a more detailed study of ancients bells arranged in groups of three to illustrate similarities and differences. It also gives insight into the processes of placing these bells in their historical context.

Re-imagining the Bells
(27 minutes)

Today, a thousand years after the last of these bells were made, they continue to influence our culture and art. The final section look at multiple examples of modern reinterpretations and reinventions of the early Irish bells including the modern sculpture adjacent to Bangor Abbey, ‘Fluctus Angelorum’.

Questions and Answers
(5 minutes)

• Could these bells be tuned?
• Is there a link between these bells and monastic round towers?