Today is the last full day of IGSI's whirl-wind tour of Ireland. Many of us catch flights back to the US tomorrow morning. This morning brought another trip highlight: a tour of the Waterford Medieval Museum with Director Eamon McEneaney. He led us from the 13th century choristers' hall to a 15th century wine vault and showed us many of the great treasures of medieval Ireland and Europe. Each exhibit was awe-inspiring, but the best (in my opinion) was saved for last. You see, one of my non-genealogy hobbies is quilting. I love fabric. So when I saw the "paintings in silk," I was blown away. The artistry involved in creating - and restoring - the items on display was superb. Italian silk from Florence and panels exquisitely embroidered in Bruges were used to show scenes from the Bible on three copes (large cloaks) and two T-shaped dalmatics and a chasuble. Here's a description from the museum's website: The Waterford set of cloth-of-gold vestments are now regarded as one of the great treasures of late medieval Europe. These vestments are a symbol of many things but essentially they represent the magnificence of the art that adorned the churches of late medieval Ireland. To the citizens of 15th century Waterford when the cathedral altar was bathed in candle light and the sunlight penetrating the stained glass windows, they must have been breathtaking, a glimpse of heaven in an otherwise rather dull world. They were indeed the heavens' embroidered cloths, a heaven that people yearned to go to without the pain of Purgatory. These vestments survived the 17th century wars of religion because they were buried in 1650 before the city fell to the army of the republican general, Oliver Cromwell. They were rediscovered 123 years later when the medieval cathedral was being demolished and were then gifted by the Church of Ireland bishop to his Catholic counterpart. The Medieval Museum opened in 2013 and has become the #1 visitor attraction in Waterford on tripadvisor.com.