Let's face it, much of the green-beer revelry and kiss-me-I'm-Irish plastic vulgarities that come out around the middle of March every year are hardly consistent with the sophistication of such great masterpieces of Celtic heritage as the Book of Kells or the Tara Brooch. This is the Celtic identity that I embraced.

In the late 1960s, when I first was exposed to the medieval tradition of interlaced and complex geometric abstractions that are known as Celtic art, it was special, rare and exotic. Those that I met who recognized and displayed Celtic art seemed to me to have more sophisticated expression of Irish heritage than the shamrock people. It was the same with Irish music. The popular toora-loora-loora songs and Vaudeville Irish ditties had become the stereotypes of the American Irish identity. I was far more impressed by traditionalist musicians such as The Chieftains.

Six years in art school had made me something of a snob. The shamrock motif seemed to me low brow. But there is obviously something to it. Maybe it was just overdone. My own use of interlaced designs, spirals and key patterns, though rarely encountered in mainstream culture before around 1990, have become far more common in recent years. The Celtic knot-work that was rare in modern decorative arts during my youth is now so mainstream that you will see it on the Saint Patrick's Day tee shirts on sale at Walmart. So much for my highbrow Celtic motifs!

Sterling Silver St. Patrick's Cross

In modern Ireland, shamrocks are rarely encountered as a banner at someone's home, as you so often see in America. Shamrocks in Ireland are usually facing the tourist's gaze, quite likely pandering to the appetite for symbols of Irish identity sought out by the Irish-American tourists. Look a little deeper and you will see many surviving shamrocks on monuments and decorating antiques from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This was the period of the largest emigration out of Ireland, and into America. Apparently, a century ago in Ireland, the shamrock was used in a popular way much more than today. As I realized this my prejudice against the shamrock as a kitsch began to lose confidence.

My adventures have taken me on frequent trips to Ireland where I have met and become friends with some excellent Celtic artists and craftsmen. Aidan Breen, a Dublin based silversmith, is held in high esteem by his countrymen. His reputation as one of the leading designer craftsmen working in the Celtic genre has landed his work in such high-status collections as the Company of Goldsmiths permanent exhibit at Dublin Castle and the National Museum of Ireland. Aidan Breen has made some exquisite shamrock themed jewelry. If shamrocks are good enough for him, why should I hold back?

Aidan told me, "It is a particular type that looks down on the Shamrock, probably because it's popular with the majority of ordinary people. Everyone I know wears the Shamrock on Saint Patrick's Day. It also adorns the jersey of both the Irish soccer and rugby teams. It is a symbol the crosses the sectarian divide."

Celtic Shamrock Cross with Gemstones

The History Behind the Symbol

Between visiting museums, reading, attending lectures and conferences, I have gained a better understanding and appreciation for how and why the shamrock has emerged as such a powerful symbol of Irish identity. A coin introduced in 1641 is the earliest surviving artistic illustration associating Saint Patrick using the three leafed shamrock. The Saint Patrick's copper illustrates the Ireland's patron saint explaining the Christian mystery of the Holy Trinity with a shamrock. The story was certainly already well known before this half penny coin was issued. The robed Patrick, with his bishop's crosier and miter, holds high a shamrock that is proportionally as large as his head. Patrick stands before a crowd receiving his teaching with Dublin coat of arms crowded into the tight composition.

St. Patrick's Copper Half Penny Coin, circa 1641

The shamrock, and the color green, emerged as symbols if Irishness in military regalia, both among Irish regiments fighting for the British Crown and among rebel movements. Irish soldiers serving in the British army organized a Saint Patrick's Day parade in New York in 1761. The rebel Society of United Irishmen, whose fight for independence failed in 1798, rallied under a green flag emblazoned with an Irish harp, they also used the shamrock among their symbols. The harsh treatment of the United Irishmen after their defeat was popularly recalled in the ballad, Wearing of the Green, which laments "they are hanging men and women for the wearing of the green."

From Famine to Symbol of Identity

Fast forward to the Potato Famine of the 1840s. Nationalism dominated Irish thought as the desire for independence increased. In the decades following the great tragedy of the famine the restoration of a sense of Irish national identity became something of a cult. In the applied arts several motifs became emblematic of Ireland: the harp, the wolfhound, round towers, the Celtic cross, and the shamrock.

Of the millions of Irish who left Ireland, some fled to avoid prosecution for their nationalist politics, while most were driven out by hunger. Regardless of their reasons for leaving, a patriotic sense of Irish identity was strong among the exiles and carried on through the generations of their descendants. The song, the Wearing of the Green continued to be popular, but in America no one was being hanged for it. Among the poor Irish immigrants and their offspring, the only green they might afford to wear on Saint Patrick's Day might be as simple as a green paper shamrock pinned to the lapel. The paper shamrocks that may seem today like trite, nostalgic cultural appropriations are in fact a survival in folk memory of an authentic and powerful emblem of heritage, a reminder of past suffering and a joyful celebration of belonging.

New design 2021 Shamrock Heart Knot Pendant

Original designs © Stephen Walker

I am pleased to announce an exhibit in Andover NY this September 21 to 29 will display locally produced Celtic art and design from the past fifty years. This special event honors the local tradition of Celtic art as lived by my teachers, students, my friends and apprentices.

Back to the work bench now after a two week tour of the British Isles. We started out in London, Sue and I, with our sons Donald and Stephen, daughter Maggie and her husband Eric. We had a lovely dinner with a medieval Celtic metalwork expert friend who invited us all to her home.

The Walker family from left to right: Sue, Maggie, Eric, Stephen, Steve, and Donald.

The boys spent Saturday at the Chelsea/Everton football match. A great Premier League game that ended in a draw. I spent the weekend at a conference on the Celtic Revival held at the British Museum while the ladies had a leisurely weekend on the town.

The conference was in conjunction with a feature exhibit at the British Museum called “Celts; art and identity," which was well attended by top scholars and researchers. It was a thrill to me that two of the speakers told me that they had read my book, “The Modern History of Celtic Jewellery”. On Monday we went to the British Museum as a family and saw the exhibit and spent most of the day seeing the many incredible displays that are there.

Steve and Sue Walker at The British Museum.

Later in the week we took the train North to Scotland. There had been some snow earlier in the week, so the Borders were especially picturesque. Getting into Glasgow we stayed with our friends the Caldwells.  Russell Caldwell is a fine Celtic jeweler, whose work was being sold at the British Museum during the Celts exhibit mentioned above.

Sue Walker with Russel Caldwell.

Thursday we all headed to Edinburgh for the day. I had an appointment with the curator at the national Museum of Scotland to examine an electrotype impression of an 8^th century Pictish brooch. This brooch was copied by the museum in 1888, but somehow the private owner managed to lose the original! The plan is to make a copy using the original technique of carving a mold in plaster and casting it in silver. This would serve as a demonstration of how these early Celtic smiths worked. The brooch is known as the Banchory Brooch, after the location it was found in the 19^th century. My great-grandfather George Watt was born in Banchory, which is in Aberdeenshire.

Steve Walker examining the Banchory Brooch.

While in Scotland we went to an excellent concert at the Celtic Connections festival. The concert was students and faculty of the Gaelic College on North Uist, Outer Hebrides, singing, playing pipes, fiddles and other instruments.

Maggie and the boys all headed back to the US on the weekend, but not until after we all went to another football match. We saw the Celtics play St. Johnston at Parkhead. (Celtics 3 – Saints 1). Sue and I stayed on for business. We went to a giftware show at the Glasgow SECC and placed a few orders for the shop.

Steve, Sue, Stephen, and Donald Walker at a Celtics game. 

The Caldwell’s served us a supper of haggis, neeps and tatties in honor of Rabbie Burns Day, which is an iconic occasion to be in Scotland. But business called and we had to take leave of their fine hospitality and head to Dublin for another trade show and museum visit. 

Steve Walker examining the Cross of Cong.

With only three days and two nights in Dublin we managed to shop for more interesting stock for the shop as well as give the 12^th century Cross of Cong a good look over, with a tentative plan to do some experimental reproduction work to discover how the openwork interlace panels might have been crafted. We were very pleased to meet some new craftsmen at the trade fair and also to catch up with old friends. We had a delightful dinner at Captain America with silversmith Aidan Breen and plotted a revival of the Modern History of Celtic Jewelry exhibit for Andover this coming March.

Aidan Breen and Sue Walker eating dinner at Captain America.

It was yet another exciting vacation for the family, as well as a successful trip for our business and scholarly pursuits.  It's always so nice to meet up with other Celtic scholars and craftsmen, and the whole family thanks the folks of the British Isles for the warm hospitality extended to us at every stop.  We're looking forward to our next trip abroad, but for now we're happy to be home and back to routine.