Lighting again!

Una Watters’ winning design of An Claidheamh Soluis (The Sword of Light) which became the official emblem of the 1966 Easter Rising commemorations has got a new lease of life thanks to Ballinasloe entrepreneur, Enda Creaven.

Creaven (below) has reproduced a limited edition of Una’s design in the form of a lapel pin which comes in both nickel-plated silver and gold and retails at E10.

Una’s design was chosen as the winner in a public competition run by the Arts Council in 1965. During the 1966 golden jubilee year, it appeared on badges, brooches and tie pins, it was stamped on all official publications, showed up in hallmark form on silverware struck by the Assay Office (see above), and perhaps most memorably, on blue and yellow wooden plaques pinned to the fronts of buses.

The Sword of Light has deep mythological and nationalist resonances – it was the weapon with magical properties used by King Nuada of the Tuatha de Danann to slay giants, according to Celtic mythology. Its image was later adopted by scholars of the 19th-century Gaelic revival to symbolise both armed rebellion and cultural renaissance, and in the early 20th century the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) called its weekly newspaper – edited by Patrick Pearse – An Claidheamh Soluis.

According to the 1966 Commemoration Committee, the winning Sword of Light motif was meant to represent “intuitive knowledge, education and progress”. In fact, the search for a new Rising logo was part of a government attempt to replace the Easter Lily emblem, which the republican movement, proscribed at the time, was selling door to door in order to raise funds. Ironically, Una Watters’ winning design – a sleek, stylised depiction of the Sword – subliminally references the pure, clean lines of the lily.

Winning the competition was a high point in Watters’ career, and a showcase for her refined design aesthetic. Unfortunately, she didn’t live to see the success of her design during the 50th anniversary year; she died unexpectedly in November 1965.

Enquiries about the new pins to: enda@theirday.com

Above clockwise: 1. The original gold lapel pin issued in 1966. 2. A wooden plaque which featured on buses. 3. Enda Creaven’s new lapel pins alongside a nickel brooch version that was issued in 1966.