cumdach

/ˈkuːdəx/

Etymology

From Middle Irish cumdach, from Old Irish cumtach.

noun

  1. An elaborate ornamented metal reliquary box or case used to hold Early Medieval Irish manuscripts or relics.“The following is a list of the Irish cumdachs of which anything is known, from which it is evident that the custom of making these cumdachs prevailed in Ireland from the ninth to the sixteenth century.”