A CALL has been made for the return of the Ardagh Chalice to Limerick ahead of the Ryder Cup in 2027.
Mayor of Limerick John Moran put forward the idea during a press briefing just over two weeks ago when he announced his plans for Limerick under the National Development Plan (NDP).
And that has now been made concrete at a meeting of the full council, where councillors called for the artifact, found in Ardagh, to be returned to its home.
In a question from the Limerick Post, the Mayor was asked whether any proposals were put forward as part of his plan for the International Rugby Experience Building on O’Connell St.
The building which is owned by the JP McManus Benevolent Fund closed its doors in December, just over a year after it first opened.
Responding to the question, Mr. Moran said: “I’ve been looking for the Ardagh Chalice to be put in there because there are many things like that sitting up in Dublin that belong to Limerick.”
“The fact that it’s (the building) now empty opens up a lot of different options, I wouldn’t be surprised with a Ryder Cup coming into town in the next two years, that we find a temporary use for it.”
“It could form the basis of a new visitor attraction here in Limerick. Whether JP McManus has other plans for it, that’s for him to decide as it’s his building”, the Mayor added.
Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) have since been urged to request that the Ardagh Chalice to be loaned from the National Museum of Ireland to be put on display for the much-anticipated sporting event in Adare.
A motion was put forward at yesterday’s full meeting of Limerick City and County Council by Social Democrats Councillor Elisa O’Donovan to request that the Ardagh Chalice be loaned from the National Museum of Ireland to Limerick to be put on display as an attraction for the duration of the Ryder Cup.
Councillor O’Donovan said she believes that the golf tournament gives us an opportunity to showcase the “best of Limerick.”
“I think that it would be very culturally and significantly important for us to have the Ardagh Chalice back home in Limerick and to be put on display for the thousands of people that are going to be coming through Limerick,” said Cllr O’Donovan.
“I think it’s very important that we have such a significant emblem, which is so historically significant for the whole of Ireland, back home in Limerick,” she added.
The motion was seconded by Fine Gael Councillor Sarah Kiely, who asked the Mayor for more detail about his suggestion to house the Ardagh Chalice in the International Rugby Experience building.
Mayor of Limerick, John Moran said that he believes that this motion raises a much bigger question.
“I see no reason why institutions like the National Museum of Ireland and the National Museum of Modern Art, shouldn’t actually have annexes right across the country. Of course, these items should remain in the custody of an institution capable of minding them. But now that Dublin aren’t winning any All-Irelands anymore, maybe they might give us the one the Sam McGuire was based on, and lose them both,” Mayor Moran commented.
He continued: “I wouldn’t be so modest as to think it should just be for the Ryder Cup, but if that was the beginning of the change as we go to a more permanent collection, distributed across the country, I would hugely support it.”
The Mayor also thanked Cllr Kiely for what he perceived to be her recommendation to which she quickly refuted: “The suggestion came from you at your press conference that The International Rugby experience could probably host the Ardagh Chalice. So have there been exploratory talks and was that on record? I believe some journalists have not reported it yet, but possibly will.”
“No, there’s no specific conversations going on about it. We’re all trying to find ideas to use the museum”, the Mayor replied.
The motion received cross-party support with Independent councillor Jerome Scanlan told council members that he has been very aware of the value and the heritage of the Ardagh Chalice from a young age growing up in the late 1950s.
”I used to see the Ardagh Chalice on the bottle wrap every morning out in West Limerick, where we supplied milk for the making of butter,” he recalled.
Fine Gael councillor Adam Teskey suggested that the Ardagh Chalice be returned back to its home area in County Limerick. Cllr Teskey urged the local authority to do everything in its power to make this happen.
Cllr Tom Ruddle (FG) reminded council members that during the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Ardagh Chalice in 2018, security was a huge issue around talks to bring the historical artefact back home.
Cllr Liam Galvin (FG) proposed a solution to this issue. “Maybe we could write to the Superintendent and ask would it be appropriate to store the Ardagh Chalice in the Garda station in Adare?
“We should work around it and get the manpower in there to try and make sure there’s a Garda sitting down behind the counter while he does his operations. This is very achievable, but we need to pull out all the stops,” Cllr Galvin insisted.
