The Devotion of an Irish Glass Bead Maker
My name is Aibhilin inghean Ui Phaidin. I am a glass bead
maker from early medieval Northeastern Ireland who studies under the tutelage
of a master bead maker. I am passionately devoted not only to my art as a glass
bead maker but as an Irish bead maker making glass beads native to my homeland.
Though many know of bead makers in Anglo-Saxon England, Scandinavia and
Continental Europe, not many know about the beads we are making in Ireland. In
addition to bead makers in Northeastern Ireland, there are also bead makers in
other areas such as central, eastern and southern Ireland. Like many of my
fellow bead makers, I often make glass beads in shades of blue to represent the
water and sky of Ireland. We also sometimes use green to represent grass and
vegetation and use gray to represent the rocks and cliffs of Ireland. As an
Irish bead maker I believe it important to make beads that are known throughout
my homeland. I often make blue beads in different shapes such as round or
globular, annular, segmented and even a blue on blue spiral bead. I also create
beads with decorations such as the mulberry bead and the herringbone bead. As I
refine my skills at decorating beads I hope to learn to make a Meare spiral
bead.
It is my honor to create beads to be worn by fellow Irishmen
as well as Royalty. My beads are not only for adornment but they are also
functional. Beads I make may be used to decorate hair or as decoration on a pin
or brooch that is used to fasten a garment like a brat or cloak. I also
decorate the heads of pins with glass. My beads can be strung together and worn
as a necklace. Now that my fellow Irishmen are utilizing the burial traditions
of Christianity, my beads are not often buried with their owners as they were
prior to Christianity coming to Ireland. Irish bead makers like myself have
begun to create beads for ecclesiastical ornaments. There are also glass beads from
Anglo-Saxon England and Continental Europe that can be seen in different parts
of Ireland.
Today I have brought a display of some of my art including a
necklace of several blue beads, one white bead, and a herringbone bead that I
made for one of my neighbors in our settlement and a brass pin decorated with a
blue annular bead that I made for Royalty. Lastly, I have a collection of beads
that represent other types of beads that are often found in Ireland. This varied
display of my craft is a true reflection of my devotion not just as a bead
maker, but an Irish bead maker creating beads native to my homeland.
Research Notes
The beads, necklace, and pins made for this
project are reproductions of artifacts found in different excavations across
Ireland. British, Scandinavian and Europeans beads
have typically been found in sets or strings in grave sites, as it was the
custom to be buried with their finest. However, the Christian Irish utilized
unaccompanied burials. The Irish beads were typically found in settlement sites
instead of grave sites. These excavations generally did not yield large
assemblages of beads. In fact, some beads were originally thought to be lost or
strays. Without large assemblages from individual excavation sites, it made
researching beads in Ireland difficult and it was necessary to modify the
methodology for studying the beads. Irish Archaeologist, Mags Mannion,
created a unified classification system to compare beads found across
excavation sites in Ireland. Her standardized system classified beads by distinct classes of geometry, form and decoration.
The beads on the necklace were
reproduced based on an assemblage of beads found within the bedding in one of
the homestead structures at the Deer Park Farms ring fort in County Antrim and
have a radiocarbon dating of 660-780 A.D. Though there was no string present
archaeologist surmised that beads may have a necklace based on their promixty. The
brass pin with an annular blue bead was reproduced based on a bronze pin found
at the royal site Lagore Crannóg in County Meath. A similar find from Moynagh
Lough, County Meath has a radiocarbon dating of probably the 7th to
8th Century A.D. The glass topped pins are a much smaller version of
what was found at Deer Park Farms and are dated from mid-7th Century
to late-10th Century. The collection of beads are reproductions of
Irish beads found in a variety of excavation sites such as Lagore Crannóg, Deer
Park Farms, Clonmacnoise Ecclesiastical Centre, Garranes Ringfort, and
Garryduff 1 Ringfort. Irish beads are dated from 6th Century to 10th
Century A.D. with the Mulberry bead as late as the 12th Century A.D.
References:
Hencken, H. (1950, November). Lagore
Crannog: An Irish Royal Residence of the 7th to 10th Centuries A.D. [Abstract].
Proceeding of the Royal Irish Academy, 1-151.
Lynn, C., & McDowell, J. A.
(2011). Deer Park Farms: The excavation of a raised rath in the Glenarm
Valley, Co. Antrim. Norwich: Stationery Office.
Chapters 1, 18, 34 and 35
Mannion, M. (2015). Glass beads
from early medieval Ireland: Classification, dating, social performance.
Oxford: Archaeopress.
