MY JEWELLERY

Caomhnú (pronounced kway-av-new) is the Irish word for preservation, and forms both the material and method behind this collection. Using An Cló Gaelach, a traditional Irish typeface developed from medieval manuscript forms, I repeatedly layered the word Caomhnú before cropping and shaping its distinctive letterforms into abstract circular objects. These accumulated forms make visible the ongoing work required to keep a language alive: learning, practising, forgetting and relearning. Their layers reflect repetition, loss and, most importantly, endurance. This process responds to the history of Irish, whose use was legally restricted in official settings under British colonial rule, including the courts, before its decline was intensified by the Great Famine, emigration and the loss of speakers. Drawing on the Fáinne, meaning ring in Irish, historically worn to signal Irish-language fluency, the collection considers how symbols can both invite and restrict participation. It reimagines the Fáinne as a conversation starter rather than a badge of linguistic perfection: an invitation to ask, speak and engage with Irish at any level. Caomhnú proposes preservation through conversation. By transforming a traditional symbol of fluency into an accessible visual prompt, the work positions Irish not as something fixed, exclusive or already mastered, but as a living language, shared and continually remade through those who choose to use it.