About Us

    From the first megalith-builders who raised the spiral-adorned stones of Newgrange around the winter solstice sunrise, the history of Irish and Celtic culture is a treasure-trove of artistic beauty. The magnificent torcs and arm-rings of the Bronze and Iron Ages…the intricate knotwork of the Book of Kells…the stunning art of the Celtic Twilight revival…wondrously wrought in stone or precious metal or ink, the Celtic soul shone forth in every age through the skill of its craftsmen, inspired by a deep spiritual understanding and the rich beauties of nature in the Celtic lands. 

    But when we looked around us for glimmers of Ireland’s great store of treasures, we could only say with Yeats, “Was it for this the wild geese spread / The grey wing upon every tide?…Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone / It’s with O’Leary in his grave” (“September 1913”). We saw commercial pieces stamped out in China, rhinestone-glittering pseudo-penannulars with fixed pins and modern fittings at the back, and many similar things – but there seemed to be no makers who cared to reach for the real wonders of the Celtic past. And we said to ourselves, “We can do better than this.”

    So we started Oró Jewelers. Our goal is to revive the treasure of Celtic art in its full range of magnificence, from the Stone Age to the Celtic Twilight, following our millennia-long tradition of fine craftsmanship.We understand the love of the children of emigrants for the ancient homelands. Through our silver and gold art, and the historical information we supply with each piece, we offer the chance to personally take part in the great stream of Celtic heritage.

       Each piece we produce is made by our own hands in the heart of Ireland, surrounded by the world that inspired our forebears. When we step outside our door, we see many of the holiest trees of the Druids – oak, ash, rowan, hawthorn; when we go to do our shopping in Roscrea, we pass by the twelfth-century St. Cronan’s Cross.  Our workshop, where we do all our designing, casting, and finishing is in the middle of County Offaly, only a short drive from such notable historical sites as the monastery at Clonmacnoise.

Stephan Grundy (partner and designer) learned to make jewelry at Arts Magnet High School in Dallas, and continued to sell for some years, chiefly doing commissioned pieces for local art and metaphysical stores, before his studies took him to St. Andrew’s, Cambridge, and Sweden. Stephan holds a Ph.D. from the Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic department of Cambridge University.  He has also written several historical/legendary novels, of which the best-known is probably Rhinegold (based on the story of Siegfried the Dragon-Slayer), and is currently working on a retelling of the Cattle-Raid of Cooley from Queen Maeve’s perspective.

John Prendergast (partner and manager), a native of Clonmel (Co. Tipperary), has studied Celtic art since his teens. Many of our designs come from his student research and sketches at the National Museum in Dublin. He has taught courses on Celtic and mediaeval calligraphy and illumination, and has often been requested to display examples of his work at cultural fairs around the country.

Melodi Lammond-Grundy (sales manager) is a Celtic harpist and folksinger, who was active on the Highland Games circuit for a number of years. She is also a hand-spinner, knitter, and weaver, whose Norse tablet-woven trim was recently comissioned for the television docudrama 1066 (look for the Viking berserker on Stamford Bridge!).