Jewelry and Status Symbols in Irish Culture
Explores the ornaments and jewelry worn in historic Ireland.
Location: Ireland
Jewelry in Bronze and Iron Age Ireland
The Celtic cultures who brought metallurgy to Ireland were skilled workers of gold, copper, and bronze. They displayed their wealth in golden jewelry, including gold crescent collars, heavy torcs, armbands, and even plug earrings.[1][2] Gold found along the rivers of County Wicklow was likely supplemented by regular trade with the outside world. Glass beads, Scandinavian amber, and jet have all been recovered from Bronze Age graves and hoards.[3][4]
Ornamentation in Medieval Ireland
Just before the Middle Ages, Roman-style penannular brooches came into fashion among the Irish nobility. Plain pins securing cloaks and mantles evolved into elaborate brooches made of cast copper, silver, gold filigree, glass, and amber.[5] In addition to these pins, the Irish upper classes wore open-ended rings and armbands called failgib. Wealthy ladies bestowed gold armbands on favorite musicians and poets. Certain warriors were said to wear a failgib ring for every king they killed in battle.[6]
Jewelry was not the only indicator of status in medieval Ireland. The colors and materials used in clothing were regulated by law. This also applied to the value of jewelry, hurling sticks, and ceremonial swords. A king could wear seven colors in his outfit and a brooch worth 30 milk-cows. A common farmer, on the other hand, wore only one color and a pin worth three.[7] These customs survived in Gaelic Ireland until the Tudor era.
Irish Jewelry in the Modern Era
During the 19th century, nostalgia abroad and nationalism at home created a new market for Irish jewelry. Pieces from this time featured romantic symbols of Ireland, including interlace, shamrocks, Celtic crosses, and other Christian imagery. Bog oak jewelry, made from the dark wood preserved in peat bogs, was sold as a souvenir to Victorian-era tourists. Modern Irish jewelry is especially popular in the wedding industry. Claddagh rings representing the joining of hands in love are still commonly used as engagement or wedding rings.[8][9]
Bibliography
G. Frank Mitchell, "Introduction" in Treasures of Early Irish Art: 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D. Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977), 10-15.
Susan La Niece, Gold (Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press, 2009), 84.
George Coffey, The Origins of Prehistoric Ornament in Ireland (Dublin: University Press, 1897), 55-70.
Michael J. O'Kelly, Early Ireland: An Introduction to Irish Prehistory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 280.
T.W. Moody et al., A New History of Ireland: Prehistoric and Early Ireland (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 283-295.
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin: Printed by M.H. Gillh, 1870), 197.
Joseph C. Walker, An Historical Essay on the Dress of the Ancient and Modern Irish (Dublin: Printed for the author by George Grierson, 1788), 6-19.
C. Jeanenne Bell, Answers to Questions About Old Jewelry, 1840-1950 (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2009).
Malachy McCourt, The Claddagh Ring (Philadelphia, PA: Running Press, 2003).
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