Learn how to copy Irish calligraphy and manuscript design: from the Cathach to the Book of Kells
Venue: Aras Cholmcille, Long Tower Precinct, Derry
Craft: Write and embellish like a scribe. Under the guidance of an experienced calligrapher and artist, we invite you to create your own keepsake written in the elegant ancient Irish script perfected by Irish monks and scribes and admired throughout Medieval Europe.
Price: £25 per head including use of traditional materials, ink, pens, pigments.
Duration: 2 hours, including break for tea/coffee/home-made traybakes in Cloisters Café and our presentation on how to read the hidden codes and symbols in the Illuminated Manuscripts of Ireland.
Detail
The ancient Irish manuscripts from the 6th Century on, represent a fusion of art and text that dazzled the known world and secured their place among the greatest treasures of the Medieval era.
The monks who developed this uniquely Gaeilge script – a style of lettering recognised from the Foyle to the Danube – spread, shared and ultimately saved the Gospels during the Dark Ages.
Using iron oak gall ink, produced here in St Cholmcille’s sacred oak grove, we invite you to copy the font they so painstakingly perfected – known as Gaeilge Majuscule. Using a broad flat nib, participants will learn the basics of Irish insular calligraphy and design. You will return from this trip with a unique handcrafted artwork that will forever evoke the essence of Early Christian Ireland and the value it placed on the Word in all its literary, cultural and spiritual significance.
The scribes, scholars and saints who walked this holy ground, left an indelible mark on Western culture – proving the pen to be indeed, mightier than the sword.
Learning to read and appreciate the full complexity of Irish manuscript art is a profoundly rewarding experience. It is a learned skill, akin to opening a succession of doors leading you step by step into a rich and elaborate world of interior meanings. As well as creating your own unique inscription in decorated lettering, our guides lead you through the fascinating history of Irish manuscript art.
