Stones: Connemara Marble

Over Christmas we took a trip to Ireland. I posted some pictures a few blog posts back (Doors of Dublin, Castles and Gathering Moss). I promised I'd be back with a design that was Ireland inspired. And so I am. This piece uses a focal stone called Connemara Marble. It is said to have 40 shades of green in it's wild pattern which perfectly represents the landscapes of the Emerald Isle. 

If any of you follow Karen over at Backstory Beads you will have seen her stunning design with this same focal I shared with her. It was amazingly designed and can be worn as a necklace or a pin. Seriously, it is very cool and you should click on over to her post. Liz from Bead Contagion also has one of these stones, so there is still one more stone to share with you all from Liz that will no doubt be a completely inspired design.

When I saw Karen's design I giggled to myself because I was half way done with my piece when she posted her's and I noticed that we had both looked at this stone and thought it needs fiber and knotted beads. Could not agree with you more Karen! Karen even went so far to include some beautiful macrame for her closure using a Sherri Stokey's technique.

I actually used a technique I saw in Erin and Lorelei's Bohemian Inspired Jewelry book (I never get tired of this book and come back to it again and again for inspiration). The knotting around the stone is called a lark's head knot. I included moss agate rounds to bring out all the shades of green in the focal. I added my own wire wrapped chain and then finished up with a bit of extra chain to make this a rather long necklace that slides over your head without a need for a closure.

Ok, and now for the history behind the stone. You know I can't resist a bit of that. Connemara Marble is over 900 million years old and is unique to Ireland. The name is tribal from Conmacne, a tribe with many branches from all over the Connacht region of Ireland which today is called Galway County. One branch of the tribe that lived on the Western coast was called the Conmacne Mara with mara meaning 'of the sea' in Gaelic.

The stone itself is a serpentine-rich rock, which has been used and traded since Neolithic period. Yeah, that's pretty old I'd say. During our trip we saw old ring forts that were from 6,000 years ago and weather-beaten stone huts that housed the people living along this wind-whipped part of the world. The rugged beauty is stunning as is their rich history. Absolutely a place worth visiting.

Ireland :: The Doors of Dublin

I've seen lots of images of the doors of Dublin over the years, but I admit that I was still surprised to find that the colored doors really are all over town. The color, knocker and their 'fan window' give each door its own distinction from its neighbor.

But why exactly did Dubliners start painting their doors? Apparently sometime around 1715 anti-catholic laws were relaxed and Dublin became a place where middle-class Catholics could establish themselves in trade. As the city grew, homes were built outside the original medieval town in new elegant Georgian style, in continuous rows around the many squares. To distinguish one house from the next; owners painted their doors. 

One of the better folk stories (likely not true - but fun anyway) was that two famous writers lived next door to each other; George Moore and Oliver St John Gogarty. Moore is said to have painted his door so the drunken Gogarty would not mistake his door for his own and wake him late at night with his knocking. Gogarty was said to then reciprocate by painting his door so the drunken Moore would not do the same.

What is always amazing to me when I visit the cities of Europe is their age. 


The Dublin Castle (c. 1204; above) has stood since the days of King John, the first lord of Ireland. And this gorgeous church (Christ Church Cathedral; upper right) dates further back to 1028, that's roughly 5x times older than the country I live in! 

I loved the covered walkway from the church to the rectory; it has such a medieval feel to it. The craftsmanship of the building, the stones, the doors ... are exquisite. Look at the old wood doors from the church. Total love for these doors!

Well that concludes my travel pictures from Ireland. I have some ideas for Irish-inspired jewelry, but those will come later. We loved Ireland and definitely recommend making the trip if you're so inclined.

Ireland :: Exploring Castles

What's a trip to Ireland without seeing a castle? You'll have to put up with my dark photography for this post as it was a bit tough to get the right lighting this time of year even with a few momentary spots of blue sky. The castle here is Bunratty (c. 1250), one of the better preserved examples of what it was like to live in a castle. The link will give you a little tour (if you're thinking about a trip to Ireland this was one to see).

We wondered around the grounds first. Through what was the local village surrounding the castle including a beautiful little church. I was surprised when we got to the castle and saw that the drawbridge was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be wider ... for horses, carts and the like. But we found this one to be the size of a normal door. Right above the door (within the castle) was a hole called the "murder hole" where enemies who ventured in during a raid would be doused with boiling hot oil. Ouch!

Once inside the castle we were amazed that the way to move around were tight spiral stairways that would open up to large rooms. I was even more lighting challenged inside! But managed to get a few pics of armor, carvings, tapestries and stain glass windows. Just for a bit of fun I was looking for history behind the castles and ran across an episode of haunted ones. It actually has some beautiful scenery across Ireland if you can get past all the silly ghost stories!

I didn't take pictures of the village. Apparently the castle is turned into Santa's Grotto during the holidays. So weird to see fake, felt snow on the thatch roofs with Snow White and her dwarfs out in the yard? I just have to ask ... what is it with people and their Christmas sweaters? We saw them everywhere, in their ridiculous glory. And what says Christmas better than a gigantic blow up sweater (the size of a house!)? Yes, right in the middle of Santa's Grotto.

Ireland :: Gathering Moss

While they say a rolling stone gathers no moss, I would say that in Ireland the wind blows too hard to stand still. I took a short video (at the end of this blog post) standing along the coast of the Dingle Peninsula, and as you can see I had quite a bit of difficulty trying to stand still (with 60-70 mph winds) for any length of time. We did find an abandoned bike seat walking around Dublin covered in moss. Given the rain, it probably didn't take that long to grow.

We started our trip to Ireland by renting a car and driving down to Dingle. I think driving in Ireland rates as one of the more adventurous things we've done. But we didn't realize it until we were there. Before our trip we checked with our car insurance, to see if we had coverage in Ireland. Nope. Huh, really? We've never had any issue before, so we were very curious as to why. We discovered why driving in Dingle. 

The road narrows like I've never seen before. There is no shoulder, and the gnarled shrubs are trimmed back just to the painted edge lines of the road. No joke. At one point they seem to have given up on a center line, so that on-coming traffic buzzed past you on the one-lane road, including around blind corners. Add to that the speed limit was 100 kilometers (that translates to roughly 60 mph). A 'white-knuckle' experience! When we returned our car I noticed a smashed rental that had exploded from a crash, and only the burnt shell of the car remained. Ok, now I understand why insurance is outrageous in Ireland. One of the Dublin cab drivers asked us where we had been so far in Ireland and when we said we'd been to the Dingle Peninsula and had driven ourselves, his only response to my husband was "brave man."

Focusing on Life :: Our Last Post

I've missed our last two posts, for a good reason. We've just returned from our family trip to Ireland for Christmas. I'll come back later and post about some of our trip later, but for now I'll give you a few pictures of the holidays. 

For us, this time of year is not just Christmas and New Years, but it is our anniversary and both of our daughter's birthdays. Suffice it to say that December is a crazy month typically for us. This year we spent Kate's birthday in Dublin, and she and Anne shared a local favorite from a cupcake shop to celebrate. So for my 'togetherness' prompt from Sally I have a birthday celebration in Ireland.

As for saying goodbye, I will say that I am not much for big goodbyes, or send offs. I'd rather think about it as a continuum and what comes next. So as we started the year with the holidays, we end this part of the journey with the holidays. This is a view from the top of a popular shopping center in the heart of Dublin. They really do this time of year in style! But I really don't feel like this is goodbye. We have been on a journey together for a year and I've met many new friends along the way that I hope to continue to blog with in the future. So to you I say Happy New year and see you soon!