The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin - now a universal devotion in the Church - developed from practices common in the Middle Ages. It is mainly derived from the Psalter of Mary which was a devotion consisting of 150 Aves recited by those who had not the time required to say the Psalms chanted by the monks; so Aves took the place of Psalms. In the course of time the devotion was further influenced by the custom for liegemen to offer garland roses to their overlord as a token of their loyalty. The Psalter of Mary became a garland of prayers - symbols of the roses which the faithful wished to offer to Our Lady - and soon became known as the Rosary (Rosarius).

In Early Christian Ireland the Psalter was called na tri coicat - the Three Fifties. It was a Psalter of 150 Paters but after the thirteenth century included 50 Aves as well. The division of the Rosary as we know it today is derived from the original division of the Psalms in Ireland - na tri coicat. The actual arrangement of decades separated by Paters is traditionally ascribed to St Dominic and the meditation on the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries is attributed to another Dominican - Blessed Alan in 1470.

The actual custom of praying on beads can be traced back as early as the 4th century. We are told that the Hermit Paul threw away a pebble according as he recited each of his 300 daily prayers. (In times gone by pilgrims to some holy wells brought with them 15 pebbles, one of which they threw away for each of fifteen circuits.) Later the stones were replaced by beads or berries and were for convenience strung together. William of Malmesbury says that Godiva - who founded a religious house at Coventry in 1040 - left a string of jewels on which she had said her prayers, "that it might be hung on a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary". The word 'bead' itself is from an old word 'bede' - a prayer. William, in L'Histoire de Rosaire states that the Rosary was first developed in Ireland. At any rate it is an old and firmly established Irish devotion.

The materials from which rosaries were made ranged from wood, bone and fruit stones to horn, amber, coral, silver and even occasionally gold; examples of which can be seen in the collection. The makers of the beads were often called Paternosters and streets were sometimes named after them, for example Paternoster Row in London. Fruit stones and dried berries were commonly used and rosaries were often called 'fruit beads' in Ireland. There are three large examples of dried-berry rosaries on view.

An interesting and varied selection of rosaries with tubular crosses is shown. The crosses are made of hollow tubes through which a cord with green tasses was passed, the latter securing the string on which the beads were run. They are known as 'Galway Rosaries' and are thought ot be of Spanish origin especially as Galway traded chiefly with Spain during the sixteenth century. Many of them have the Madonna and Child at the back of the cross. Such rosaries are still common in Galway and the people there often refer to their rosaries as the fruit.

On display are some Seven Decade Rosaries, each decade representing one of the seven sufferings of Our Lady - the Seven Dolors. Also on display are Eleven Decade Rosaries and some other rosaries of unusual number but of which nothing is known about their significance.

Religious

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