A chalice of gold and silver made in 1640 will be seen in public for the first time in almost 400 years at the end of this month. It will be the highlight of an exhibition at St Mary's Church of Ireland Famine Memorial Church Museum in Thurles, Co Tipperary.
"The cup is made of solid gold and the base of the chalice of silver and gold mixed," said Mr George Willoughby, director of the museum. The base of the chalice has five sorrowful mysteries of the rosary engraved on it.
Walter Butler, the 11th Earl of Ormonde, who had the chalice made, was the father of Thomas Butler, who married to Viscountess Elizabeth, Lady Thurles, an ancestor of both Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II. The viscountess is buried near the museum.
