Connemara Marble Necklace for a Pirate Queen

Connemara Marble Necklace by Janet Walker

With St Patrick’s Day just around the corner it’s so appropriate to work with Connemara Marble. A friend gave me the stones and said to put something together for her to wear to a wedding. “Faith and Begorra”, they’re lovely green stones, but were much more fun to work with after I researched them.

“Dating from the Pre-Cambrian era, Connemara marble is over 600 million years old. It is found only in a remote area in the West of Ireland. It is a metamorphic rock formed when limestone was heated under pressure, producing a hard granular rock. Its unique green color symbolizes Ireland and is caused by the presence of various elements. It is said to bring serenity to those who keep it close.” (1)

Carrickahowley Castle County Mayo

So I’m reading along and what do you know, this Marble is found in the homeland area of one of my heroines, “Granuaile, Gracie O’Malley-O’Flaherty, The Pirate Queen! She was a very unconventional woman in her day, the mid 1500’s, allowing neither social nor political convention to stand in the way of her ambitions. Her exploits as a pirate are well documented in history. It was on one of her voyages that she took a lover, divorced her husband and gave birth to a son at sea. She took over the role of head of the O’Flaherty family when her husband was murdered by a rival clan and ran the pirate business as well or better than any man. She was clan chief, queen of her people and considered herself Queen Elizabeth I’s equal. Gracie O’Malley was a very interesting woman!

Realizing the historical background of these beads inspired this necklace. When searching for the right spacer beads to place between the Connemara Marble, the Australian Paintbrush Jasper just jumped out and wanted to be used. Yashpheh, the term given the twelfth stone of the Breast plate of the High Priest of Solomon’s Temple, is translated as jasper. This represented the tribe of Benjamin, the twelfth son of Jacob/Israel. I thought it kind of appropriate to use the Jasper with the Connemarra Marble because Australia was settled by so many Irish prisoners in the famine days of Ireland.

Connemara Marble Necklace

Amber has the history of being one of the earliest gems used by mankind. Many people believe gemstones have healing and mystical properties. Amber has the reputation of bringing the energies of patience, protection, psychic shielding, romantic love, sensuality, purification, balance, healing and calmness to those who wear or carry it.
These three stones are all of ancient use and look beautiful together. Thank you, Claire, for letting me make this for you.

(1) Wikipedia, Connemara Marble, 2011