International studio (82.1925)

inteRDACionAL

Ring Brooches of Medieval Ireland

A merica smiled curiously AnCLent Gaelic ornaments ing the plaid is derived from
(2\ several years ago when which are Splendid examples the medieval Irish, to whom
one of our large cities Qr ^ nM ^ tweLftn cen. is due the honor of having
enacted legislation aimed at , • I ' j. developed to its highest ar-

keeping within its rightful _ tunes jewelers art tistic possibilities the fibula;

bounds its ubiquitous hat- EILEEN 'BUGKLEY known as the penannular or
pin of fashionable women. divided ring brooch.

At the time, however, it is doubtful if the modern This type of pin may be considered a modifi-
city fathers were aware that their zeal in pro- cation of a buckle and usually featured a hoop
tecting a defenseless public had a parallel in forming an incomplete ring. The loop at the head
medieval Ireland, where, in accordance with the of the pin ran freely on the hoop, while the gap in
code of the quaint old Brehon laws, it was decreed the ring permitted it to pass through. After the
that men were "guiltless of brooches" if they did garment had been pierced the hoop was given a
not project too far beyond their shoulders. slight twist, to bring one end under the pin, the

Sometimes adroitly concealed beneath folds of attachment being thoroughly secured by a deft
cloth, again prominently displayed as personal touch of the cloth. In medieval Ireland these pins
ornaments, brooches were employed by different were exceedingly popular with both sexes, gener-
European races as early as the first century of the ally appearing on the shoulder of a man, at the
Christian Era, and prior to that period secured bosom of a woman. Compared with modern
the draperies of Greek and Egyptian. As mere brooches, the Irish specimens are enormous, the
utilities fibulae still appear in parts of Northern hoops often ranging from five to six inches in
Africa, lingering yet in the Himalayan hills, where diameter, while the pins, which extended far
they fasten the blankets serving as the chief gar- beyond the ring, measured from seven to nine
ment of both men and women. Surviving as a inches or more in length.

tradition today, they combine the practical with Of all Gaelic antiquities the finest and most
the decorative when gleaming at the shoulder of interesting are these brooches, the most famous
the Scottish Highlander. This manner of attach- being the so-called Tara Brooch. Properly it

OBVERSE AND REVERSE OF THE TARA BROOCH In the National Museum, Dublin

fifty-six

OCTOBER I925