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| Old library in Trinity College, home of the Book of Kells |
More than a million people have been to visit the world famous Book of Kells in recent years. It's not just a book - it's a symbol of the treasures found in Irish and Celtic history. It's also proving to continue to be an enduring inspiration for jewelry.
Queues of tourists and locals stream in to Trinity College Dublin to see the world famous book and other famous manuscripts in the Old Library and enjoy the spectacular space of the Long Room. With around 520,000 visitors a year, the book is a huge inspiration on many levels.
One of Ireland's greatest treasures, the illuminated manuscript is one of the best copies worldwide of insular art.
So what does this mean? Insular is Latin for "island," and Insular style refers to the type of lettering in, and design of, handwritten manuscripts created in the British Isles during medieval times. Hibernia is an old name for Ireland.
Scholars have been able to reconstruct some of the book's origins and it's believed that the book was written by Columban monks located in Iona, an island monastery on the Hebrides, off the coast of northwest Scotland.
The beautiful Celtic knot is seen on many pages and illustrations in the Book of Kells. Celtic knots include a variety of different knots. They're stylized and used for decoration and used extensively in insular art. They were used for ornamentation in the Book of Kells and can also be seen decorating Christian monuments and manuscripts. They range from endless knots to basket weave knots.
The collection of Celtic jewelry at Rings from Ireland inspired by the Celtic knots in the Book of Kells, ranges from silver trinity knot pendants to the Celtic closed knot featured on a beautiful ring to a stunning Winter Solstice silver necklace.
The Celtic cross is also featured in the Book of Kells and is another big inspiration for jewelry. These crosses are unmistakeable and there are many dotted around Ireland. They can be distinguished by the nimbus or ring shape which emerged in Ireland, Great Britain and France in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread when erected by Irish missionaries from the 9th to the 12th centuries. It's a Latin cross with a ring surrounding the arms and stem and it gained huge popularity during the Celtic revival of the 19th century.
A Celtic cross looks absolutely beautiful in jewelry and some of the highlights in the Rings from Ireland collection include the traditional Irish Celtic cross in gold, a History of Ireland silver cross necklace and a traditional Celtic Cross with four emerald set stones.