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oubted symbols of wealth and power, the croziers may have at times been used for solemnising treaties, swearing oaths, or even as battle talismans. The antiquarian George Petrie noted how, in Ireland, relics of saints "used to be carried to distant places on solemn occasions, in order that rival chieftains might be sworn upon them, so much that the word mionna, which means enshrined relics, came to denote both a relic and an oath." The annuals recounting the life of St. Finnchu of Brigown, County Cork mentions a battle against a king of Ulaid where the saint approaches the field with a crozier as a talisman. The earliest known Irish crozier dates to 596 AD and is entirely made of wood. It was found in a bog at Lemanaghan, County Offaly, and its hook contains a Greek cross inside a circle. Representations of croziers appear in multiple other Insular art formats, including manuscripts, high crosses and stone carvings. Characteristics River Laune (Inisfallen) Crozier Insular croziers were probably made in workshops specialising in metal inlay techniques. The art historian Griffin Murray believes that the master-craftsman behind the Clonmacnoise Crozier may also be responsible for two other extant examples. The croziers vary in size, material, and amount and quality of decoration. A typical length is 1 metre, with the Prosperous Crozier from County Kildare being the largest at 1.33 metres. Their major components are the shaft or staff and attached base, hook and knop. The staft is generally formed from a wooden core, usually of yew wood, sheeted with metal tubing, and often millefiori discs and inlaid glass bo