The Tara Brooch is a Celtic brooch dating to circa AD 700 and perhaps the most impressive of the over fifty elaborate ancient Irish brooches yet found. It was discovered in 1850 and rapidly recognised as one of the most important works of early Christian Irish Insular art; it is now displayed in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.

Rear view of the Tara Brooch. The seven-inch long pseudo-penannular brooch is composed primarily of silver-gilt and is embellished with intricate abstract decoration including interlace on both front and back. It was made in many pieces, with much of the decoration on small “trays” or panels which were then fixed into place. When it was found only one panel of decoration was missing, but several more have now disappeared, apparently before 1872, when it entered the collection of the Royal Irish Academy.