The Tara Brooch (fibula) is a masterpiece of Celtic jewellery art, Ireland, c. 700 AD.It was found in 1850 on the eastern coast of Ireland, but not actually in Tara itself — the legendary residence of the High Kings of Ireland until the 12th century.
The discovery was so impressive that it became forever associated with this sacred site. Could it have been a royal fibula? Possibly, but it could just as easily have been worn by a high-ranking noble or one of the senior church hierarchs of Ireland.Its decoration is executed with such extraordinary precision that the tiniest details of the pattern can only be properly seen with a magnifying glass.
As one 19th-century author wrote, it “looks more like the work of fairies than of human hands.” Archaeologist Niamh Whitfield described it as “the most richly decorated and intricate object among all medieval jewellery pieces ever found in Ireland.” Museum descriptions characterise it as “the pinnacle of achievement by early medieval Irish metalworkers.”