The Irish Gifts & Jewelry Blog

This wonderfully charismatic Irish Wall Cross is one of our most popular Irish gifts. Made from hardy resin, ir can be used indoors or out.  Perfect for any Irish home, it is wonderfully detailed with an Irish cottage and an Irish Home Blessing.

Crafted with a rustic look and feel, this cross would be perfect for a Christmas gift or housewarming present.  Features lovely Celtic knotwork as well as vivid colors.

We’ve sent an email out to all our friends and customers a few days ago with this week’s special offers. Why not sign up and get offers like this every week delivered right to your inbox?

If you’d like to see what we sent out, please click here.

This wonderful handpainted Shamrock tea set is just the trick to add some Irish charm to your afternoon or morning cuppa. Would make a charming Irish gift!

Tea set includes a tea bag dispenser, sugar/sweetener holder, and two tea bag holders. The dispenser and sweetener holders feature an Irish cottage scene, and all pieces are adorned with Irish shamrocks.When you are looking for Irish gifts this season, be sure to keep this wonderful set in mind. I know it would be well-received by any tea lover!

It’s that time of year again where Christmas is fast approaching. Time also to think about Irish gifts for Christmas. To help you, we’ve recently added a Gift Finder on our front page that we believe will save you time when searching for that perfect Irish gift.

At the top of the Gift Finder, you’ll see three choices – “Shop By Recipient”, “Shop By Price”, or “Shop By Occasion”. Naturally, you can choose from any of these choices and choose the scenario that best suits your needs. When asked, we often recommend starting with the “Shop By Recipient” tab as you really want your Irish gifts to be personal and as applicable as possible to the recipient.

Under that tab, you’ll see the following selections:

For Him
Features great Irish gifts for men, including Guinness items, and men’s Irish jewelry.

For Her
In this section we’ve got Irish gifts suitable for women. You’ll find some wonderful pieces of Irish jewelry and beautiful gifts from Belleek.

For Kids
A great selection of Irish gifts - many of which are designed to teach children about their Irish heritage.

Baby / New Parents
A treasure trove of Irish baby gifts. Perfect for new arrivals, and Christenings.

Wedding / Engagement
Find the perfect Irish gift here for that couple who has become recently engaged. There’s also a great selection of items that are perfect as Irish wedding gifts.

Pets / Pet Lover
Treat your pets to their own Irish gifts. We have collars and bowls aimed at your favorite “Irish” pet!

Hopefully, you’ll be able to find some really great Irish gift ideas under each one of those selections. If not, you can always shop either by price, or by occasion. One way or another, we’re sure that you’ll find a wonderful range of Irish gifts – and more importantly, just the gift that you’re looking for!

Dear Julie,

My Dad grew up in Dublin, before moving to the US when he was 12. He has fought for this country, and proudly flies the American flag in his front yard every day. Even after all this time, I know that he is incredibly proud of his Irish heritage. He is an amazing person who refuses to retire and still goes to work in a suit and tie every day without fail.Dad turns 60 on December 12th, and I’d like to get him something very special this year. Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks,

Cindy in Ohio

60th Birthdays are always a special time. In many cases, it is an opportunity to reflect on life, your roots, accomplishments, how your priorities have changed, and the person that you have become. That person would not have been possible were it not for upbringing, guidance, and the luck and challenges that life presented.

I would definitely guide you towards a personalized piece of jewelry for your father. This would be a piece that proudly displayed his family coat of arms. Since you mentioned that your father wears both a shirt, and a tie, you could choose between cufflinks, or a tie-tack.  Your father should be overjoyed with an Irish gift such as this, especially since it will be handed down from one generation to another.

It is certainly the time of year to work in the garden. Warm temperatures, long evenings, and beautiful flowering plants. Why not consider adding some Irish charm to your garden this year?

Proudly display your Irish heritage to visitors with this “Welcome” Shamrock Garden Stake. Would also make an excellent Irish Gift. Features a lovely shamrock tile mounted on top of a long metal ground stake.

Wikipedia offers the following:

The shamrock, an unofficial symbol of Ireland, is a three-leafed old white clover, sometimes (rarely nowadays) Trifolium repens (white clover, known in Irish Gaelic as seamair bhán) but more usually today Trifolium dubium (lesser clover, Irish Gaelic: seamair bhuí). The diminutive version of the Gaelic word for “clover” (”seamair”) is “seamaróg”, which was anglicised as “shamrock”, representing a close approximation of the original Gaelic pronunciation. However, other three-leafed plants — such as black medic (Medicago lupulina), red clover (Trifolium pratense), and Common wood sorrel (genus Oxalis) — are sometimes designated as shamrocks. The shamrock was traditionally used for its medical properties and was a popular motif in Victorian times. It is also a common way to represent St. Patrick’s Day, a holiday celebrated on March 17. Shamrocks are said to bring good luck.

This stake is super-easy to assemble - if you can make a pot of tea, you can screw the pieces together. There is a dual prong at the base to ensure a firm footing. The shamrock tile is made from resin to ensure years of service. Measures almost 20″ in height.

One of the questions that we commonly receive around this time of year is what would make a perfect Father’s Day Irish Gift. A set of cufflinks would certainly fit the bill - adding a personalized touch to any business suit and a very elegant statement to a more formal occasion!

Wikipedia offers the following background on cufflinks:

A cufflink (also cuff link or cuff-link) is a decorative fastener worn by men or women to fasten the two sides of the cuff on a dress shirt or blouse.

Cufflinks are designed only for use with link cuffs (also known as French Cuffs), which have buttonholes on both sides but no buttons. These may be either single or double-length (”French”) cuffs, and may be worn either “kissing,” with the ends pinched together, or “barrel-style,” with one end overlapping the other. Kissing cuffs are usually preferred.

Cufflink designs vary widely. The simplest design, consists of a short post or chain connecting two disc-shaped parts. The part positioned on the most visible side, is usually larger; a variety of designs can connect the smaller piece: It may be small enough to fit through the button hole like a button would; it may be separated and attached from the other side; or it may have a portion that swivels on the central post, aligning with the post while the link is threaded through the button-hole and swiveling into a position at right angles to the post when worn.

The visible part of a cufflink is often monogrammed or decorated in some way. There are numerous styles including novelty cufflinks, traditional cufflinks, contemporary cufflinks, and humorous cufflinks.

One of our favorite cufflink sets is this set of Silver Celtic Warrior Cufflinks With 18K Gold Bead. Sure to bring a happy smile to any Irish Dad’s face.

So many of our Irish gifts are inspired by Guinness®. Many of you probably know what Guinness® is, but did you know the long history behind the company? I find this subject fascinating, so I’ll probably write more about it when I have a little more time.

The year 1759 is remembered as the year when Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease for an old disused brewery at St. James’s Gate, Dublin. For an initial cost of about $140 and an annual rent of $60, Arthur received a copper, a mill, a kieve, two malt houses, sufficient stabling for 12 horses, and a loft capable of holding 200 tons of hay.

Only seven years earlier, aged 23, Arthur had received his only inheritance of approximately $140. In 1769, Guinness® sent its first export shipment of six-and-a-half barrels of beer to England. In 1775, in a dispute with the Dublin Corporation, a committee was sent to cut off the water course that provided the brewery with fresh water. Arthur grabbed a pick axe from one of the crew and defended his right to access the water. The crew backed off, but it took another nine years for the dispute to be legally settled.

Over the years, Guinness® grew, both in popularity, and in size. In 1906, for example, almost one in 30 Dubliners depended on the Guinness® factory for their livelihood. Employees of Guinness enjoyed many perks almost unheard of in those days – high wages, vacations, medical care, housing, etc. Today, Guinness® is a world-renowned beer whose consumption exceeds 2 billion pints annually. It is not just a beer, it is a legacy.

Mullingar Pewter whiskey flasks make great Irish gifts!  They are traditional, masculine, and are hand-made in Ireland.  The origins of whiskey (often called whisky) itself seems somewhat unclear, but Wikipedia has the following background:

The first written record of whisky comes from 1405 in Ireland, it is also mentioned in Scotland in 1496. However it is thought that whisky had already been around for at least several hundred years prior. When or where whisky was first distilled is unknown and the localised, undocumented nature of beverage production during the period makes identification of the drink’s origin difficult. Additionally, it is possible that different groups discovered processes of distillation completely independently of one another.

However, one cannot deny that whiskey has been an integral part of the Irish lifestyle for hundreds of years. Some of the finest whiskey remains in production there today.

Of the variety of flasks that I’ve seen, one flask always seems to catch my eye. This Mullingar Pewter 6 oz. Tartan Whiskey Flask is stunning. The flask is beautifully decorated with dark tan leather and a vibrant tartan pattern. There is even a very nice oval space for engraving - if you choose.  What a great gift for Dad!

One of my favorite Irish gift items is this beautifully framed print of an old Irish blessing.  Some might say it is more of a curse!  Honestly, it makes me laugh every time I see it.  

The blessing reads:

May those who love us love us,
and those that don’t love us,
may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn’t turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles
so we’ll know them by their limping.

The blessing is printed using a beautiful calligraphic style.  Comes with a nicely detailed gold frame with marbled matting.  The frame is measures 14 1/2″ wide and 7 1/2″ high. �