The impressions of Ireland jewelry (jewellery) depicts Irish history and culture through famous Irish symbols including Celtic High Cross, the Harp, Salmon (Fionn MacCumhaill), Saint Patrick, Dolmen (pre-historic grave monuments are found throughout Ireland) among others.
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Castle
Wherever they went in Europe, the Normans built castles and Ireland
was no exception. They also built abbeys, churches and friaries. All
over Ireland Norman castles and keeps are found, some in ruins but
some still in use at the present day. |
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Celtic
High Cross
An even more distinctive feature of the Irish countryside and dating
from an earlier century are the magnificent High Crosses of Ireland.
Intricately carved with animals, birds, celtic designs and detailed
scenes from the scriptures most of them have the stone circle which,
like the Roman laurel wreath, is a sign of victory, Christ's victory
over sin and death. |
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Dolmen
Many such pre-historic grave monuments are found throughout Ireland.
Burial deposits have been excavated at some of these and suggest that
the dolmens may be as much as six thousand years old. |
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Gaeilge
The gaelic language is one of the two Official Languages of Ireland
and is recognised as such by EU. It was probably brought to Ireland
by the invading Celts from Europe and developed its own distinctive
form. It is currently having a revival as a spoken language among
Irish people abroad. |
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Harp
The Irish harp is a beautiful instrument and is an official symbol
of Ireland appearing on Government papers. For the early monks it
symbolised David the author of the psalms while the great Gaelic harpists
carried our Irish traditions on through troubled times. Ireland's
musical heritage is renowned worldwide in terms of music, lyrics and
dance. |
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Ireland
The map of Ireland is dear to all Irish people. The first known "map"
of Ireland is part of a larger map printed in 1482 now in the Congress
library in Washington. It was constructed from the latitudes and longitudes
given by Ptolomy in his work "Geography". Ptolomy was a
Greek mathematician, traveller and geographer who lived from 90 AD
to 168 AD. He gave excellent accounts of Ireland in his work and his
map is very recognisable today. |
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King Sitric
Sitric "silkbeard" was the Norse King of Dublin who issued
the first Irish coins - silver pennies about 995AD. He had an Irish
mother and he married a daughter of Brian Boru. He founded Christ
Church in Dublin. |
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L for
Literature
From the early myths of spoken literature, the medieval manuscripts,
the poems and songs of the Irish bards, right up to our own times
with Joyce, Yeats, Beckett, O'Riordan, O'Cadhain, Heaney and many
others, the Irish have excelled in Literature in Latin, in Irish and
in English |
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Newgrange
This is the famous engraving in the chamber at Newgrange, Ireland.
Newgrange is the oldest megalithic structure in Europe which is known
for certain to have had an astronomical function. It is aligned with
the Winter Solstice, as it would have occurred more than 5,000 years
ago. |
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Ogham
Stones
These standing stones are found all over the South and West of Ireland.
The inscriptions are cut into the edge of the stone using the ancient
Ogham alphabet. They date from about 300 to 500AD, but it is thought
that the alphabet may actually have been used much earlier, being
carved on pieces of yew-wood and that it was a sacred alphabet used
by the druids. |
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Salmon
In Irish folklore the salmon represents wisdom. The salmon appears
on our coinage and Irish Salmon is famous for its flavour and texture.
The legend of the Salmon of Knowledge tells the story of Fionn MacCumhaill
and symbolises Ireland's legendary heroes and our island heritage. |
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St.Patrick
For the Irish people St. Patrick has always been the focus of our
Christian faith which he did most to establish in Ireland. He is also
the author of our oldest surviving manuscript. St. Patrick used the
shamrock to explain the Christian Trinity. Legend also has it that
he banished snakes from Ireland. |
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Horse
The central plains of Ireland are ideal for rearing horses. The open
grazing gives them strong bones. The Irish have always excelled as
breeders and trainers and Irish horses are sought throughout the world
for show-jumping and racing. Irish sports stars have performed with
great honour in our national sports and international sporting events. |