The Clonard Bucket

Pictures and information are reproduced courtesy of the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St. Dublin.

This ornamental bucket was found in 1839 during drainage works on the Kinnegad river. It is believed to be of 9^th century origin. The vessel is carved from a single block of yew with a separate disc of yew added to form the base. The rim is reinforced with an inverted U-shaped binding. The handle which is semi-circular in shape has a central expansion, which is U-shaped in section also.

The outside of the vessel is covered with a series of four sheets of metal. Three are decorated with poorly executed openwork patterns.

There are eight complete examples of similar buckets of Irish manufacture. This is a less elaborate version of a similar bucket found at Birka, Sweden, which is of Pictish or Northumbrian manufacture with plant and bird motifs. The Irish buckets seem to have engraved or openwork ribbon interlace and geometric patterns.

The small size of these vessels would suggest that they were used for serving liquid in small quantities-perhaps wine.