Cathach of St. Columba (known as The Cathach or Battler of St. Columba), used as a battle talisman by the O'Donnell family. According to art historian Colum Hourihane, "not only did the shrine and its iconography have to instill fear into the enemy, but, more importantly, it had to instill confidence into the army of the O’Donnells following it". The objects were usually worn around the neck, and the tradition was that the holder would circle the area three times in a "sunwise" direction before the battle commenced. Other known to have been used in this way include the Shrine of Miosach and the Shrine of Caillín. Clerics were allowed non-combatant status reducing the likelihood that the reliquary would be captured. Younger clerics were usually selected, according to the historian Anthony Lucas, as a result of "prudent consideration that they stood a better chance than men of mature years of escaping with their precious burden by speed of foot should they find themselves in a tight corner in the melee." However, the holder was sometimes killed in battle; in 1497 The Cathach was captured after its keeper was slain by enemy forces. Similarly, the Book of Armagh is recorded as having been brought to battlefields, and was once recovered from underneath the dead body of its custodian. Surviving examples are particular to Ireland. There are eight known surviving Irish examples (in chronological order: the Lough Kinale Book-Shrine, Soiscél Molaisse, Stowe Missal, The Cathach, Shrine of Miosach, Book of Dimma, Shrine of the Book of Moling, and Shrine of Caillín of Fenagh) with a further two—of the nine extant—"house-shaped shrines", namely the 12th century St Manchan's shrine and the additions to the Domnach Airgid. All are protective enclosures intended to permanently seal off a manuscript or relic, and date from between the early 9th to the mid-16 centuries. Several of the earliest documented examples are now lost. The Book of Durrow had a metal casing dated to and the Book of Kells lost its when it was stolen in 1006. The Book of Armagh was given a cover in 937, which was perhaps lost when it was captured in battle and ransomed by the Norman John de Courcy in 1177. The earliest documented example was made to house and protect the Book of Durrow at the behest of the High King of Ireland Flann Sinna (877–916), by which point it was