The Golden Age of Irish Art 600 - 900 AD was an integral part of Insular art which arose in the northern parts of the British Isles - Northumbria, Scotland and Ireland. Ireland was never Romanised and was the first to be converted to Christianity, thus inheriting literacy and the traditions of the Mediterranean, while keeping intact its Celtic art forms. During the Dark Ages it kept the 'lamp of learning burning in the west' and many Anglo-Saxons went to study there. The pooling of traditions and expertise was particularly expressed in manuscripts (Durrow, Kells Lindisfarne Gospels), metalwork ("the work of angels") as seen in the Ardagh chalice and carved stone monuments (Irish high crosses) such as Monasterboice and Kells itself. The course will identify links to other Insular masterpieces and how together they formed a new tradition of Insular art - an important influence in Western European culture.