Roscrea Brooch

The Roscrea brooch is a 9th-century Celtic brooch of the pseudo-penannular type, found at or near Roscrea, County Tipperary, Ireland, before 1829. It is made from cast silver, and decorated with zoomorphic patterns of open-jawed animals and gilded gold filigree, and is 9.5 cm (3.7 in) in height and 8.3 cm (3.3 in)wide. The silver is of an unusually high quality for Irish metalwork of the period, indicating that its craftsmen were both trading materials with settled Vikings, who invaded the island in the preceding century, and had absorbed elements of the Scandinavians' imagery and metalwork techniques.

It was rediscovered in the 1820s and was in the possession of the artist and antiquarian George Petrie in 1850, until acquired in 1867 by the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, following his death the previous year. Although not considered as innovative or significant as near-contemporary examples such as the Tara Brooch, it is formed from unusually high-quality material, including first-grade silver and linings of amber, which was very difficult to source in Ireland at the time.

Replicas of the brooch became popular during the mid-19th-century Celtic Revival, some of which are of very high quality. Despite the loss of some of its bosses, it is in overall good condition. The brooch is held in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.