The Domnach Airgid is oblong shaped and is 23cm high, 16.7cm wide, and 9.8cm long. It contains three covers, each built during separate phases. The inner-most is made of
Yew-wood and dates to the early medieval period when the object was built to hold relics and portions of a Gospel. The middle cover dates from the 14th century and is made of
tinned copper-alloy plates lined with silver, while the 15th-century outer cover is formed from silver plated with gold.
Early medieval casket {{Quote box|border=1px|align=right|title= And the Saint then left Bishop Mac Carthainn there, at Clogher, and bestowed the Domhnach Airgid upon him, which had been given to Patrick from heaven, when he was on the sea, coming to Erin. The original early medieval casket was built to hold
relics, and is dated to either the late eighth or early ninth century. It consisted of a single
yew-wood chamber with a sliding door, and was covered with tinned bronze plates decorated with
interlace. The original plates on the sides of the shrine are still visible. It is traditionally associated with Patrick and believed to have been in his possession and sanctified by him before he presented or gave it to
St Macartan (454—506), the first
Bishop of Clogher diocese in southwest Ulster. This story is first mentioned in a 7th-century vita of St. Patrick, in which the shrine is named as the Domnach Airgid. The original casket may have been referred to in the 10th century "Tripartite Life of St Patrick", which mentions gifts made to him, including relics of the Apostles, portions of the
True Cross, and tufts of
Mary's hair, or the
Holy Sepulchre.
14 and 15th century plates The shrine was significantly remodelled around 1350 under the commission of John O’Carbri,
abbot of Clones,
County Monaghan. The work was completed by the Clones craftsman and goldsmith John (Eoin) Ó'Bárdáin, whose signature (
IOHANES: O BARRDAN: FABRICAVIT) is engraved on the shrine. and modernised its appearance in the contemporary
International Gothic style, including the covering of the earlier wood shrine with tin-lined bronze panels decorated with interlace knots. The four panels around Jesus contain eleven smaller, ornately and delicately figures carved in low-relief (
basso-rilievo), They depict saints and clerics dressed in clothes that draw from both early medieval Irish and European
gothic styles. Above Jesus's head is a squared shaped hollow space intended as a holding space, which historians such as Rachel Moss view as possibly intended to hold a "passion relic" of the True Cross. Above that again is an enameled
heraldic shield, decorated with a
rock crystal, The lower short side contains three plates also adorned with figures of saints. A number of other figures, including running animals and
zoomorphic grotesques, some with large jaws and bulbous eyes, are placed on small mounts at the borders and corners of the front cover. The dove hovering above Christ's head was also added during this rework. and inscribed with
Irish majuscule script. The book is severely damaged, with just 39 extant leaves intact, of which some have become detached from their casing. ==Provenance==