The Royal Irish Academy commissioned Veronica Roden, an Irish goldsmith working in Wicklow, to create pins to be worn exclusively by its members.
The inspiration for the design is a decorated initial letter ‘Q’, which occurs at the beginning of psalm 90 in the Cathach (f. 48r): Qui habitat in adiutorio altissimi…‘He that dwelleth in the aid of the most high…’. The Cathach, RIA MS 12 R 33, is a manuscript psalter and the oldest surviving Irish book. In it, each psalm is preceded by an interpretative rubric, followed by directions for liturgical use. It is traditionally ascribed to St Colum Cille (c. 521–97) as the copy, made at night in haste by a miraculous light, of a psalter lent to him by St Finnian of Druim Fhinn. A dispute arose about the ownership of the copy and ‘highking’ Diarmait Mac Cerbaill gave the judgement: Le gach boin a boinin agus le gach lebhur a leabrán ‘To every cow its calf, and to every book its copy’. It is possible to date the manuscript to the late 6th century from the script, the lack of abbreviations and other stylistic evidence. The script is Insular half-uncial and was considered by Lowe to be ‘the pure milk of Irish calligraphy’.
