The logo of the Society is the Gleninsheen gold collar or gorget. Made out of sheet gold and measuring 31 cms across this three-thousand-year-old object is one of the great treasures of the Irish Bronze Age dating to around 700 – 800 BC. It was found in 1932 in a fissure on the Burren limestone pavement in the townland of Gleninssheen near Ballyvaughan in Co. Clare.
Only eleven of these uniquely Irish objects are known and they are interpreted as neck ornaments. As they are found mainly in the Thomond area of North Munster it was chosen as a suitable symbol for the Society.
In 1973 it was decided to commission a small-scale replica of the collar to be worn by the President of the Society on formal occasions. Peter O’Donovan of the Kilkenny Design workshop executed the design in silver gilt and it was first worn at a special function in December 1973 by the first female President of the Society Dr Sarah O’Malley.
The Gleninsheen Collar
