A concept by SekimoraHalloran is a fictional house
HALLORANGoldsmiths · Dublin

Your name, written in stone

Long before Ireland had paper, people cut names into standing stones so they would be remembered. Some names are worth keeping closer.

Ogham /ˈɒɡəm/ is the oldest writing in Ireland, cut into the edges of standing stones from around the fourth century. It's read from the bottom up, and most of its letters are named after trees.

Letter by letter

    Not just inspired by heritage. Inscribed in it.

    An ancient Irish script. Your name. Precious metal.

    Halloran brings Ireland's Ogham tradition into fine jewellery, turning a form of writing that's sixteen hundred years old into something personal.

    A connection to the people who came before you, and to where you come from.

    A tall weathered standing stone on a grassy headland, with the sea behind itClose up of a standing stone with a row of slanting strokes cut over its cornerClose up of a lichen-spotted standing stone with two groups of short notches cut into its edge
    Coumeenoole, Kilcoolaght East and Dunloe, all in County Kerry. Over three hundred Ogham stones survive in Ireland, more than a third of them in Kerry.
    A hand in a cream wool sleeve holds a bunch of wild grass, a thin gold band on the ring finger, with a lichen-covered standing stone and the sea out of focus behind

    Rooted in history. Made to go with you.

    Taken from the Ogham stones of Ireland, your name is engraved by hand into gold. Something quiet, made to be worn every day.

    Inside a ring

    Only the wearer knows it's there

    Engraved inside a band, the letters run along the metal, left to right.

    Begin a commission with it

    Or on the outside

    A form that will endure into the ages

    The same letters can go on the outside too, cut into the gold with a small stone set into the line.

    A thin yellow gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small sapphire set into the line
    Yellow gold, thin, sapphire
    A medium white gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small green tourmaline set into the line
    White gold, medium, green tourmaline
    A thin rose gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small sapphire set into the line
    Rose gold, thin, sapphire
    A thick yellow gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small green tourmaline set into the line
    Yellow gold, thick, green tourmaline
    A very thin white gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small sapphire set into the line
    White gold, very thin, sapphire
    A medium yellow gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small green tourmaline set into the line
    Yellow gold, medium, green tourmaline
    A medium rose gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small sapphire set into the line
    Rose gold, medium, sapphire
    A thick white gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small green tourmaline set into the line
    White gold, thick, green tourmaline
    A very thin yellow gold band with a name cut in Ogham along the outside and a small sapphire set into the line
    Yellow gold, very thin, sapphire

    The letter names and their trees come from medieval Irish manuscripts, and scholars still argue about a few of them. Ogham has no k, v, w, j, y, p or x, so those are written with the nearest letters it has. The photographs of the stones are by Irina Guerin and Ridiculopathy (both CC BY-SA 4.0) and from Wikimedia Commons, cropped and with the colour adjusted.