Day: June 29, 2014

My Claddagh Ring

Published on by HeliLeave a comment

IMG_5916

Half of a year ago I didn’t know anything about the Claddagh Ring and now I have one in my finger. It’s really beautiful, especially because of its meaning and of course mostly because of the very special person who gave it to me. That’s the main meaning of the Claddagh Ring, it has to come from the one who is really special for you and who thinks you to be as special to give you the ring. And that happened to me. Here it is, placed in a little green box, just as it came to me.

Inside the box, there was a short guide how to wear it. I am wearing it every day on my right hand with the heart pointing inward, towards my heart.
If you don’t know what the Claddagh Ring symbolizes, I will give a little overview – the heart in the Claddagh symbolizes the love that you want to share with your true love, the crown symbolizes loyalty and the hands symbolize friendship, which is, after all, the very foundation of love, with loyalty holding the two hands together. This is so true and all this simple truth is put into a small ring that has more than 500 years of history.
There is also a long legend connected with Claddagh village, Fisherman, Pirates and True Love which of course gives the story the Happy Ending and a special meaning to the Claddagh Ring . For those who love Fairy Tales, I put a link to this story on the right.
The Claddagh rings became popular as an engagement or a wedding rings. They took on even more significance when they began to be worn widely by women throughout Ireland. Everyone in Ireland knows how to wear the Claddagh ring – If the ring is worn on the right hand with the heart pointing out, it means that the wearer’s heart is uncommitted. On dance parties, it was the first thing that the boys glanced at. Worn on the same hand with the heart pointing inward, the Claddagh ring means that the wearer’s heart is taken. This is the way I wear mine. Worn on the left hand with the heart pointing inward, it means “Let Love and Friendship reign forever, never to be separated.”

Ballykissanger – the opening scene

Published on by HeliLeave a comment

Father Peter Clifford’s journey from England ends in his new parish, the small Irish town of Ballykissangel. It’s a change from his previous job in the centre of Manchester, but this rural Irish community is hardly the sleepy village he expected…

The village of Avoca in County Wicklow was the film set for Ballykissangel. Stephen Tompkinson as Father Peter Clifford captured my heart at once and I will pretty sure try to watch all these 6 seasons. Maybe I will find them in Dublin 🙂

You’ll be right at home in the Land of Saints and Scholars

Published on by HeliLeave a comment

That’s what the QUIZ “15 Things You Didn’t Know about Ireland” told me when I got 12 points out of 15. So I got to know 3 new things and it’s not bad at all.

Now I know that:

– the famous Irish musical group that was celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012 was The Chieftains, I must say that I don’t know the group, but I found it on YouTube and here is:

– the last port of call for the Titanic before its fateful voyage was Cobh, County Cork – I have to say that I had heard that before but wasn’t sure about the right town.  The RMS Titanic launched from Belfast harbor on April 8, 1912, for her first—and only—voyage, stopping at Southampton, England, and then at Cherbourg, France, to pick up more passengers. The last port of call before the steamship set out into the Atlantic Ocean was at Cobh (then known as Queenstown) in County Cork, where another 123 travelers came aboard.

– a steam-powered carousel is not a part of the famous Powerscourt Gardens in County Wicklow,but as I have never been to Wicklow County I couldn’t know it, but when I went through the Daily Trips from Dublin the Powerscourt Estate somehow caught my eye and I remembered that Wicklow was called the Garden of Ireland. How could I not expect Japanese Gardens there? With the same Wicklow County trip, the village of Avoca was also mentioned, the place where Ballykissangel was filmed. Why didn’t they ask a question about that?

BTW, the Quiz is found on the right menu bar.

 

 

Ha’penny Bridge

Published on by HeliLeave a comment

painting_2

This one is hanging on my living room wall. We haven’t met yet, but now when we have shared the living room for about a year I am quite sure that when we really meet, and this will take place the next week already, we will recognize each other pretty well.

The Ha’penny Bridge, known later for a time as the Penny Ha’penny Bridge, and officially the Liffey Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. That’s what Wikipedia tells about that. It also tells that it’s 43 m long.

I also chose my airport book, a month ago when I was travelling to Malta again just because of the annotation on the back cover – Christine Rose is crossing the  Ha’penny Bridge in Dublin late one night when she sees a stranger 🙂 ok, I know exactly that I am not going to look for any stranger on  Ha’penny Bridge but the name of the book “How to Fall in Love” somehow spoke to me, not to mention the Bridge that has hung on my wall for a year. The questions that begin with “How to ..” have been my topic for the past years and although I haven’t written them down anywhere, what of course could have been a great idea, I have struggled with them in my mind quite a lot and not always figured out the right answers. But nobody is perfect, but I am pretty close as my fridge magnet tells me every day and what’s a part of my personal positive thinking, even if it sounds too self-centered.  So the significant words  “Ha’penny Bridge” and “How to …” made me choose it and the proverb that suggests never to judge the book by it’s cover was a bit useless this time, because it was a fun reading for my Malta week and helped me to mix my responsibilities with my desire for relaxing. And it helped me to pass the time and to get nearer to my real  Ha’penny Bridge experience.