Fáinne Cáta, Sterling Silver Anam Cara Calligraphy Ring

Cáta is a word carrying the idea of holding someone in the highest esteem, it can also represent dignity.

Anam Cara, meaning Soul Mate or friend refers to a deep love we can feel for one other person, it can also refer to a deep abiding friendship. Cu Chulainn in one account is greatly grieved to see his oldest friend Ferdiad come out to do battle with him, he appeals to him as his friend and "heart companion" to refrain.

Each letter forming the words Anam Cara, comes from within the manuscript leaves. The letter A for example comes from folio 60v, a poem attributed to Colmcille. Columcille had secretly produced his own copy of a rare manuscript and the owner claimed the copy as it had been produced without permission, he banished himself to Iona as a result of the ensuing battle.

Irish scribes showed as much concern for recording local history and mythology as they did for copying ancient classics like Homer's Iliad. Ireland is the only country in the British Isles and Europe with a large body of both historical and mythological folklore dating to medieval times.

It is their insistence on the recording of local culture through poems, stories, even doodles that helped record for posterity the likes of Cu Chulainn, Finn McCumhail, and Oisín and Niamh.