In ancient Ireland bells were venerated as holy objects, but the Reformation meant that many were buried for safekeeping, writes Michael Collins

During an excavation last month at Drumadoon, near Ballycastle, archaeologist Brian Williams discovered a bell-shrine which was buried centuries ago. The bronze shrine dates from the late-12th century and, originally, it would have been made to house an even older bell.

The earliest records of bells date from ancient Babylon, China, India and Egypt. The Romans rang bronze bells to ward off thunder and avert storms. Bells were introduced to Ireland by St Patrick or his followers. A seventh-century "Life of Patrick" relates how the saint brought "fifty bells across the Shannon" among other ecclesiastical goods.

These first bells were made from rectangular sheets of iron that were folded in the middle and welded at the sides. The shape was slightly triangular and sometimes the bell was dipped in bronze. Later, a second type of bell was made of molten bronze, cast in specially-made clay moulds.

Originally, the bells were adopted for use in monasteries and were rung to call the monks to chapel for prayer. Since the early monasteries were agricultural, the monks travelled to nearby fields to work. The bell was rung to give them time to return to the church and also served to mark the time of day for local people.

By the ninth century, as the monastic territories expanded, wooden platforms were constructed from which to suspend the hand bells. These were usually between six and 12 inches tall and were quite heavy. Within a hundred years, monasteries began to build stone towers, called "cloc teach", or "bell house", that housed the bells.

The round towers are unique to Ireland, but were not always as resilient as the builders had hoped. In the ninth century we read that the towers acted as a hiding place during the Viking raids and in the 12th century, the Annals of the Four Masters relate how a storm destroyed the monastery of Armagh, "the bell- towers and all its bells". The bell came to be associated with the local abbot or bishop in a monastery. Along with the crosier, it was regarded as the symbol of office. In the Middle Ages, Irish Christians began to venerate the relics of the saints. Palladius, who may have first introduced Christianity into Ireland in the fifth century, brought relics of St Peter and St Paul from Rome, that were probably preserved in Kildare.

In time, the Irish saints also came to be venerated. Relics simply meant anything closely associated with the life of a holy person, and a seventh-century text from Armagh prohibits people insulting "the relics of Patrick", among which was the bell used by the saint. Between the eighth and 12th centuries, the monasteries composed "Lives of the Saints", usually those associated with the particular monastery to which the scribe belonged. Not biographies in today's sense, these compositions were designed to impress the listener by the power of their saint. They recounted events from the life of the founder of the monastery in question; we read of bells flying through the air, and landing where the wandering monk was to build his monastery, and sometimes an angel reaches down from heaven to donate a bell to a particularly worthy saint.

By the late Middle Ages, the bells were venerated as holy objects. Whereas the Vikings may have carried them off as curios, the Irish of the medieval period valued them almost as a talisman. It was not uncommon for people to ask for a blessing with these holy relics before going into battle, and one warrior even wore a saint's bell on his head. The bells had medicinal properties, and were used to cure ailments such as smallpox and deafness.

The bells, and other relics, were carried around to enforce law and levy taxes. The clergy of Armagh made regular forays south to collect taxes from the people, and on other occasions, the people sent for the monks to bring them the holy relics to ward off natural disasters, such as flooding, storms and plagues. The Welsh voyager, Gerald of Cambria, visited Ireland in the late-12th century. He reported with evident distaste the Irish obsession with superstitious objects such as crosiers, bells and other relics. William of Winchester says the High Kings of Ireland were baptised from the Bell of Fenagh, and as a mark of gratitude, the kings had to fill the bell three times with silver for the monks.

This was the heyday of Irish ecclesiastical art. The relics of the saints were encased in gold and silver and studded with gems as patrons vied with one another in their elaborate commissions. The shrine that encases the bell of St Patrick dates from this period and looks rather like a dalek in drag.

After St Malachy of Armagh reformed the Church in Ireland in the 12th century, the monasteries faded in importance. Malachy favoured the diocesan structure over the monastic, where a bishop ruled a cluster of parishes instead of an abbot. The arrival of the Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians shortly afterwards, weaned the people from regular attendance at the monasteries. Instead, they began to frequent the foundations of the newly-arrived friars.

This was to be the death-blow for a style of Celtic spirituality. The monks, with their stories of wonder-working saints, found it difficult to compete with the Gospel-quoting preachers. The Reformation in Ireland saw the wholesale destruction of the ancient Irish relics. In the 16th century, the Archbishop of Dublin burned the most revered of all the relics, the Bachall Iosa, the staff belonging to St Patrick. In the chattel lists for the monasteries closed by Henry's sheriffs, we read of bells being melted down for cannons and ammunition.

It seems that at this period a number of bells were buried for safe-keeping. Some were discovered in rivers, graveyards or ruins, and others were entrusted to families, who became known as "the keepers of the bell".

Families such as Mulholland and Geraghty preserved the bell in the family for generations. The wily guardians often made money from the transactions, hiring out the bells for the swearing of oaths.

In 1834, a farmer was robbed of £20. He applied to the keeper of the bell of St Senan, of Scattery Island, so that the villagers might swear they had not taken the money. A contemporary witness recounts: "It was [to be\] brought to his house after Mass, and the whole parish assemble to clear themselves from suspicion upon the bell. But on the Saturday night preceding the ordeal, he was woken with a great crash. On lighting a candle, he found to his great astonishment, that his twenty pounds, even in identical notes, tied with the same string, had been thrust through the broken pane and were on the floor." Antiquarians in the 19th century took a great interest in the bells. Many of the keepers disposed of them during the Famine, usually selling them to antiquarians, in order to buy their passage to America or Australia. The Royal Irish Academy received most of these in donation and have subsequently passed them to the National Museum.

The bell discovered in Ballycastle is the first to have been unearthed in recent times. The case is made of bronze, but the bell is missing. The front of the shrine is decorated with a crowned Christ with pale blue glass eyes and it is not known why or when it was buried.

Its discovery is a fascinating link with our past. There is no way of guessing how many more lie buried, waiting to be discovered by future generations.