Hereditary keepers (known as Deòradh in Scottish Gaelic)Márkus, Gilbert. "Dewars and relics in Scotland: some clarifications and questions". Innes Review, volume 60, issue 2. Retrieved 19 September 2025 were lay individuals or families tasked over generations with the long-term, usually multi-generational, guardianship of historically significant holy objects such as or relics or their reliquaries. Most of the artefacts dated from the early medieval period and include book shrines, Bell shrines, Celtic brooches, croziers and manuscripts.Ryan, Susan. "Ireland's ancient relics - what are they and how have they survived?". thejournal.ie, 18 August 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2025"Colmcille: Sacred objects of a Saint - 1500 years of devotion". National Museum of Ireland, 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2025

The practice was especially prevalent in Ireland from the 13th century through to the early modern period. It came about following the late 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland, when the Irish Church was suppressed and many objects were buried in fields or bogs, or hidden on church grounds to protect them from plunder or destruction.Overbey (2012), p.10

The tradition in Scotland had a key difference: deòradh were "officially charged" with the custody of a relic, and thus were given episcopal authority for various duties, most commonly in settling disputes or collecting fees.

Origins and practice

According to Raghnall Ó Floinn, former director of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), "There were families who were entrusted with relics from the Middle Ages and the time of the Reformation. Because there was no official Catholic Church in Ireland, many relics were damaged or destroyed at the time, while others hidden or entrusted to families were passed down from generation to generation. There are a couple we can trace back from the 19th century to the 12th century, such as St Patrick's Bell."

In Scotland, a deòradh was officially appointed and given the insignia of office. The individual hereditary family member thus had ecclesiastical authority and could practice duties such as settling disputes or enforcing laws, cursing or blessing, witnessing the swearing of oaths, protecting the dead or dying or even the collection of tributes or fees."The Quigrich or Crozier of St Fillan". Am Baile: Highland History and Culture. Retrieved 19 September 2025

Most significantly, reliquaries were often used as battle standards in medieval Ireland and Scotland, with expectation that they would boost troop morale or aid victory.Overbey (2012), p. 135Joynt (1917), p. 187Lucas (1986), p. 17 Typically the relics would carried onto the battlefield by a cleric, who would often be employed by the family as its hereditary custodian.Overbey (2012), pp. 171–172Lucas (1986), p. 20 The most well-known used for this purpose is the Cathach of St. Columba used as a battle talisman by the O'Donnell family.Lacey (1998), pp. 100–101

Decline The practice declined from the mid-19th century, in part because general impoverishment and major events such as the Great Famine forced families into selling their artefacts. At the same time antiquarians and museums sought out and acquired the objects for their own collections or for re-selling.Overbey (2012), p. 10 In Ireland, the Royal Irish Academy was very active in seeking out such objects to preserve them for the nation. The entire collection was transferred to the NMI on its foundation in 1890.

Notable objects held by hereditary keepers

St. Columba's Crozier, Irish 8th or 9th century, the Mac Geoghegan family until the mid-19th century.Murray, Griffin. "Colmcille 1500 Lecture Series: St Columba's crosier: power and devotion in medieval Ireland". National Museum of Ireland, 10 December 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2025 The Coigreach, Scottish 8th & 13th century, the Dewars of Glendochart. Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell, Irish c. 1100, the Ó Maellchallain family."Bell of St Patrick and its Shrine". National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 19 September 2025 Soiscél Molaisse, Irish, 11th century, the O'Meehan family for c. 500 years.Ó Floinn, Wallace (2002), p. 233 Shrine of Saint Lachtin's Arm, Irish c. 1120, the Healy family until before the 18th century.Moss (2014), p. 292 Shrine of St. Senan's Bell, Irish, the O'Keane family until 1730, then the MacCahan family until the late-19th centuryBourke (2020), pp. 97, 444 Breac Maodhóg, Irish, 11th century, held by the O’Reilly lords of East Bréifne."Medieval Ireland 1150-1550. National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 16 January 2026

References

Sources

Bourke, Cormac. The Early Medieval Handbells of Ireland and Britain. Dublin: Wordwell Press, 2020. Joynt, M. "The Cathach of St. Columba". The Irish Church Quarterly, volume 10, number 39, 1917. Lacey, Brian. Manus O'Donnell's 'Life of Colum Cille'''. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998. Lucas, Anthony. "The Social Role of Relics and Reliquaries in Ancient Ireland". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, volume 116, 1986. Moss, Rachell. Medieval c. 400—c. 1600: Art and Architecture of Ireland. London: Yale University Press, 2014. Ó Floinn, Raghnal; Wallace, Patrick. Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland: Irish Antiquities. Dublin: National Museum of Ireland, 2002. Overbey, Karen. Sacral Geographies: Saints, Shrines and Territory in Medieval Ireland''. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012.