Ogham Plaque

'Here Lies A Gael'

Ogham Burial Marker

     The Ogham alphabet is thought to be named after the Irish god Ogma. One theory of its origins is that it evolved out of a system of tallies used for accounting. About 500 Ogham inscriptions have been found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and the Isle of Man dating from between the 4th and 7th centuries AD. There are inscriptions in ancient Irish and Pictish which have not been deciphered. A number of bilingual inscriptions in Ogham and Latin or Ogham and Old Norse written with the Runic alphabet have been found.
While all surviving traces of Ogham are inscriptions on stone, it was probably more commonly inscribed on sticks, stakes and trees. Inscriptions generally take the form of somebody's name and the name of a place and were probably used to mark boundaries.

Ogham Stones of Ireland

Valentia Slate

Valentia Slate Cremation Plaque

Valentia Island, also spelled Valencia Island, is one of Ireland's westernmost points, lying off the southwest coast of Kerry. Since it first opened in 1816, stone from the Valentia Slate Quarry has been sought after for its durability and its beautiful purple hue. Its high quality is of world-renown and it graces such historical places as the Houses of Parliament in Westminster and St Paul's Cathedral.

 

Valentia Island

 

Kilkenny Marble

Kilkenny Marble Memorial Plaque

Kilkenny City is known as the 'Marble City'  due to the glistening effect of the marble paving in its narrow streets. The Black Quarry has been in use since the 17th century and the large hewn blocks were transported by horse dray to the River Nore which facilitated their final journey to Milmount where the blocks were worked to their fine finish.

Among the recipients of this fine marble was Cobh Cathedral in Cork, a poignant site for the many thousands who emigrated to America from this port.

The marble has a rich dark black hue with white fossil flecks.

The Lonesome Boatman

The Stone Walls of Ireland

 Stone Walls West of Ireland

The typical stone walls iconicly associated with the West of Ireland are dry stone walls, no mortar or cement,  are made by carefully selecting stones that will balance and ‘sit’ into the wall as they are built. The reason for their existence is simple and practical. The land in many parts of Ireland is naturally very stony and in order to be farmed the stones had to be cleared. Since there was no method of getting rid of the stones and there was a need to create separate divisions of land, the obvious thing to do was to build walls, lots of them. The size of the fields is proportional to the stoniness (or poverty) of the land: more stones means more walls means smaller fields.

The walls are built ostensibly by placing smaller stones on larger from base  to top although given their nature there is an element of 'make it up as you go along' depending on the size and shapes of the stones to hand. The stone is primarilly limestone and granite. The walls are never built high and are in need of regular repair and attention. There are no tools or bonding material used, the stones are to 'sit' into the matrix as it evolves.

Their predominance in the west of Ireland derives generally from the gradual decline in farmland quality as one travels from east to west. Cromwell's infamous dictum during the Plantations 'To hell or to Connaught', when the indigenous Irish were driven from their land, graphically sums it up.

During The Great Famine public work schemes were introduced as alleviation measures wherein walls were built literally up the sides of mountains with no obvious divisions of lands. These became known as Famine Walls and can be seen to this day.

The so-called “Great Wall of Mourne” is often mistaken for a famine wall, but is much later, although the local employment it gave during construction was welcome. On average 1.5 meters high and about one meter thick and built from local granite it winds over 35 kilometres, crossing fifteen mountains. It took more than 18 years to complete, from1904 to 1922.

 

St Bridget's Cross

St Bridget's Cross

Irish Memorial Stones' bronze St Bridget Cross is unique in that each cross is cast from an individual cross woven in the traditional way from reeds. No two are the same.

St. Brigid was born in AD 450 in Faughart, near Dundalk in Co. Louth. Her father, Dubhthach, was a pagan chieftain of Leinster and her mother, Broicsech, was a Christian. She lived during the time of St.Patrick and was inspired by his preachings, converting to Christianity. Legend says that she prayed that her beauty would be taken away from her so no one would seek her hand in marriage thus enabling her to complete devotion to the spread of the Christian message.

Shen entered convent life receiving her veil from St Macaille. Thereafter Brigid founded many convents all over Ireland; the most famous one was in Co. Kildare. It is said that this convent was built beside an oak tree where the town of Kildare now stands. Around 470 she also founded a double monastery, for nuns and monks, in Kildare. As Abbess of this foundation she wielded considerable power, but was a very wise and prudent superior. The Abbey of Kildare became one of the most prestigious monasteries in Ireland, and was famous throughout Christian Europe.

St. Brigid also founded a school of art, including metal work and illumination, over which St. Conleth presided. In the scriptorium of the monastery, the famous illuminated manuscript the Book of Kildare was created.

The cross for which her name is synonymous is reputedly to have come form an encounter with a dying, pagan Cheiftain. At his deathbed she fashioned the cross from reeds spread on the floor; so moved was the Cheiftain by this that he converted to Christianity.

 St. Brigid died in AD 525 at the age of 75 and was buried in a tomb before the High Altar of her Abbey church. After some time, her remains were exhumed and transferred to Downpatrick to rest with the two other patron saints of Ireland, St. Patrick and St. Columcille. Her skull was extracted and brought to Lisbon, Portugal by two Irish noblemen, and it remains there to this day St. Brigid is the female patron saint of Ireland. She is also known as Muire na nGael or Mary of the Gael which means Our Lady of the Irish. Her feast day is the 1st of February which is the first day of Spring in Ireland.

Clonmacnoise Crucifixion Plaque

Clonmacnoise Crucifixion Plaque

Irish Memorial Stones offers a beautiful solid bronze rendition of the famous Clonmacnoise Crucifixion Plaque. The figure of Christ is shown with outstretched arms and feet turned outwards. Angels are perched on Christ's arms with the sponge-bearer Stephaton holding a cup and Longinus, the spear-bearer, positioned on either side.

52 Irish Round Towers

52 Round Towers in Ireland

     Click on the link above for a treasure throve of pictures and information on the most iconic round towers throughout Ireland.

A Cross to Bear

Penal Cross

• Under the Penal Laws the Irish Catholic was forbidden the exercise of their religion.  It.....
•   was forbidden to receive education.
•   was forbidden to enter a profession.
•   was forbidden to hold public office.
•   was forbidden to engage in trade or commerce.
•   was forbidden to live in a corporate town or within five miles thereof.
•   was forbidden to own a horse of greater value than five pounds.
•   was forbidden to own land.
•   was forbidden to lease land.
•   was forbidden to accept a mortgage on land in security for a loan.
•   was forbidden to vote.
•   was forbidden to keep any arms for his protection.
•   was forbidden to hold a life annuity.
•   was forbidden to buy land from a Protestant.
•   was forbidden to receive a gift of land from a Protestant.
•   was forbidden to inherit land from a Protestant.
•   was forbidden to inherit anything from a Protestant.
•   was forbidden to rent any land that was worth more than 30 shillings a year.
•   was forbidden to reap from his land any profit exceeding a third of the rent.
•   could not be guardian to a child.
•   could not, when dying, leave his infant children under Catholic guardianship.
•   could not attend Catholic worship.
•   was compelled by law to attend Protestant worship.
•   could not himself educate his child.
•   could not send his child to a Catholic teacher.
•   could not employ a Catholic teacher to come to his child.
•   could not send his child abroad to receive education. 

 

The Celtic Cross

The Celts were the ancient inhabitants of much of Europe. A spiritual people, their rich mythology and symbology later merged with the Christian beliefs they embraced to create a distinctive art seen especially in Ireland and Scotland. The Celtic Cross is known throughout the world as the emblem of Celtic Christianity and it can be considered the symbol of Celticness itself. Celtic Crosses began to appear during the fifth century AD.  Some say it's shape is derived from a pagan sun symbol, the sunwheel,which later became a symbol of the Christian Godhead.

The sunwheel was originally a cross surrounded by a circle with a center stone representing the sun and "mock suns" at the four quarters. The cross represents eternal life; it's horizontal axis being the earthly world and the vertical axis the heavenly world coming together as the union of heaven and earth.The oldest Celtic crosses were carved into large slabs of rock that lay flat on the ground. Later versions stand in an upright position, with rock carved away from the cross. Tenth-century Irish crosses were sometimes capped with a pitched roof. Celtic crosses were often decorated with interlaced knot work, spirals, key patterns, animal figures, foliage designs, and Biblical stories. Some crosses were memorials, inscribed with names of individuals; modern Celtic crosses are often used as tombstones in Irish churchyards.

 The Irish contribution to the development of Christianity, particularly in the early centuries after the crucifixion, provides a more than adequate basis on which to formulate any movement geared toward underpinning Christian faith in an era where that faith is under severe strain.

In a deeply rich symbolism, essential in the Celtic oral tradition, the fundamental tenets of Christian belief were beautifully rendered as powerful tools for conversion. At its heart was the Celtic Cross, with its distinctive circle adorning the top of the crucifix. Whilst the exact provenance of the meaning of the intertwined cross and circle is unclear it is now generally accepted that it represents a pagan evolution to Christian belief.

Irish Memorial Stones have fused the ancient designs of Celtic Crosses with native Irish stones and marbles to offer a unique and enduring memoriam plaques.

Poulnabrone Dolmen

Poulnabrone Dolmen (Poll na mBrón in Irish meaning "hole of the quern stones" (bró in Irish)") is a portal tomb in the Burren, County Clare, Ireland, dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC to 2900 BC. It is situated 8 km (5 miles) south of Ballyvaughan in the parish of Carran, 9.6 km (6 miles) north-west of Kilnaboy.