BROOCHES

A brooch (also known in ancient times as a fibula, and not to be confused with broach) is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold but sometimes bronze or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gemstones and may be solely for ornament (as in the stomacher) or sometimes serve a practical function as a fastening, perhaps for a cloak.

They were usually made of bronze and sometimes of precious metals and infrequently had encrusted gem stones. Eagle fibula, often worn in pairs, commemorate the worship of the Sun, common among the pagan tribes.

Brooches and pins

Classical texts say that Iron Age people dressed themselves in a colourful and decorative style. Across much of Britain and mainland Europe there is evidence for this flamboyancy in the form of brooches, torcs, bracelets and even remnants of fabric. However, fewer such items of personal adornment are known from Iron Age Ireland. The most common form of dress-related object from this period is the brooch. From the position of brooches found in graves in other parts of Europe, it seems that they were mostly used to fasten cloaks or other clothing at the shoulder.

Brooches made in Ireland differed from the types made and worn in other parts of Europe. They include the rod-bow fibulae, and the leaf-bow fibulae. Both types are usually made of cast bronze, although there are a few examples which have been hammered into shape.

People in both Britain and Ireland also wore ring-headed pins. In their simplest form they comprise a single length of bronze cast with a round loop at one end. Some Irish examples of this pin are more ornate, using enamel studs and with the loops sometimes shaped like stylised birds