The item I decided to write my blog post on for this week is a necklace my grandma purchased for me as a souvenir from her trip to Ireland. As I have mentioned in previous posts, although I feel a stronger connection to my Ecuadorian side, I am also Irish on my moms side of the family. I don’t see this side of my family as often as the other because they are located in different states around the country, compared to my dad’s side which all live relatively close in Queens. However, especially around St. Patrick’s Day, I am still proud of this background and culture and am excited to learn more, hopefully while completing this post. Aside from the history of the object itself, I also thought it would be interesting to discuss some of my family’s history as well. My grandma is very into genealogy. A few years ago she began a very intricate search into my family’s origins. She especially thought it would be interesting to find more about my grandpa’s family history, especially since he was adopted. Through her research she has learned more about our irish roots, as well as english. She found many connections we have to various celebrities, and even found a connection to a woman who was on trial in Salem during the witch trials that I just so happen to be related to.

However, just like my grandma has discovered and researched our family history and origins, I too looked into the history of my necklace she gave me a couple of years ago. To begin, it is a tiny pendant on a gold chain. The front is covered in this gold plating with the outline of a shamrock revealing a stone, that makes up most of the rest of the necklace. The back of the necklace really reveals this stone, and the front shows a glimpse of it in the open spaces of the shamrock outline. Around the circle golden pendant are sort of ridges on the outside in a decorative fashion that adds a little extra flare to the necklace itself. When I first received this necklace from Ireland I never took it off. I wore it all throughout high school and to every performance I ever participated in as sort of my “good luck charm.” Today, I don’t wear it as often and have found new objects to give me these same feelings; however, I still have it in my jewelry box and pull it out on special occasions.

The necklace is from a region called Connemara in the county Galway. The word Connemara derives from the Gaelic meaning, “Inlets for the Sea.” Found in this area is Connemara Marble, it is a rare form of marble that is typically greenish in color. It dates back over 600 million years and due to its limited supply is considered one of the rarest forms of marble in the world. This rare marble is formed when limestone is heated under pressure. It is primarily green in color, but there are often shades of grey and brown seen throughout.

The stone in the necklace my grandma purchased for me is from a quarry in Clifden, Galway. It was opened by the Joyce family in 1822 and named it the Streamstown Marble quarry. The Joyce name has become pretty synonymous with Connemara Marble and they have been a supplier of this marble to many world-famous buildings. This includes Galway Cathedral in the city of Galway, in which the floor is made up of this beautiful marble. This floor is one of the largest examples of the marble in the world. I found this to be such an interesting assignment. I knew the necklace came from Ireland and I thought just that fact was special to my family and I. However, researching and finding out more about the background of the stone that is the centerpiece of this necklace, especially with how rare it turns out to be, really made me appreciate my long time “good luck charm,” that much more.