Celtic Countries: Our Stolen Treasures

News From The Celtic League:

I wrote yesterday about the Chronicles of Man and that provoked several queries from Celtic League followers in Wales, Ireland and Scotland seeking more details.

The question of Celtic artefacts held in institutions primarily in the South East of England (London) area has long been contentious. To add insult to injury often these artefacts whose provenance to the institutions in question is questionable are loaned back to the countries from which they were removed.

The issue is part of a global problem related to looted antiquities and art.

In recent years there have been examples of exhibits and artefacts whose stewardship has been held outside their countries of origin being returned. For example some years ago several thousand artefacts were the subject of such a transfer from the United States to Latin America.

The retention of artefacts taken from the Celtic countries in institutions in London is I feel sure you will agree inappropriate in this day and age particularly when their insignificance as part of some conglomerate of looted treasures from the colonial period would be outweighed by their significance as a prime exhibit of great value in their countries of origin.

The Celtic League has long pursued a policy to seek the return of a number of such artefacts and items of cultural significance to their countries of origin.

Information on the Chronicles and the other artefacts which the Celtic League campaign on, including the Lewis Chessmen (Alba), Por Aorelian (Breizh) and the Gold Cape of Mold (Cymru) go to our website at:

http://celticartefacts.yolasite.com/éire-ireland.php

There are also a fair number of posts on CELTIC NEWS about all of these campaigns so just enter any of the above on the search engine on the site and you will get a string of links.

https://www.celticleague.net/

I hope in cooperation with the General Secretary and new Director of Information to see an updating of the ‘Celtic Treasures’ site and a new impetus to our campaign work in the near future.

Image: The beautiful Gold Cape of Mold found in Flintshire. The Cape was loaned back by the British Museum to the National Museum of Wales and also the Borough Museum at Wrexham near where it was discovered in 1833.

Related links:

BERNARD MOFFATT
Public Relations Officer Mannin Branch

Issued by: The Manx branch of the Celtic League

TEL: 01624 877918 or 07624 491609

30/05/16

THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Celtic League established in 1961 has branches in the six Celtic Countries including our own Mannin branch. It promotes cooperation between the countries and campaigns on a range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, military activity and socio-economic issues

The link for the main web pages is below:

http://celticleague.net