Nineteenth-century scholars, archeologists and cultural nationalists excavated the land for ancient objects to support their claim that Ireland was among the great ancient and medieval civilizations of Europe. This section presents medieval brooches, as well as a group of fine nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century electrotype replicas of major Celtic and early medieval objects-including the Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch. It demonstrates how such excavated artifacts, widely disseminated through replicas, supplied cultural nationalists with evidence that Ireland-no less than Greece-was a cradle of western civilization. This section also explores how George Petrie's paintings, recording medieval sites, contributed to this creation of an Irish historical identity, and demonstrated a continuity of Ireland's culture over the centuries.

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