Ogham Wish Gifts
Ogham is Ireland’s ancient script. The Ogham alphabet is often found inscribed on standing stones and in sacred places throughout Ireland’s rural landscape. Ethel Kelly’s award-winning range of hand painted Ogham gifts continues to enchant and delight. At her traditional workshop in County Roscommon, each Ogham gift is individually hand painted on hand made paper and beautifully framed in a contemporary black wooden frame.
It is truly an authentic Irish gift for the home. You can learn how to read Ogham with the English translation under each piece.
Each piece of Ogham artwork is accompanied by an explanatory text outlining the history of Ogham writing with the Gaelic and English translations. Ogham Wishes artistically celebrates Ireland’s ancient culture and heritage, making them the perfect Irish heritage gift for any occasion. They are very often popular personalized gifts for Irish wedding gifts, for celebrating new homes and other occasions of choice. We are delighted to have Ogham Wish as one of our makers on Gifts of Ireland and they are an integral part of our framed gifts collection.
Ogham (pronounced 'ohm') was the earliest form of writing in Ireland, existing from the 4th-9th centuries AD. Typically etched into stone or wood, it consists of a series of strokes along a line, where the strokes' quantity, length, and direction determine the letter. Most of the letters correspond to the Roman alphabet, with a few local additions, so in fact it's a translatable cypher rather than a language, read from the bottom-left upwards.
Some historians believe it may have been used as a secret alphabet that Roman Britain wouldn't be able to understand, while others suggest it may have been developed by early Christian communities as a form of shorthand. Most surviving examples are found on stone monuments in southern Ireland, though there are also some inscriptions in the west of Britain too, particularly in Wales. Find out more about our ancient Irish language at our blog.
