Isle Of Shamrocks
This boat model of SHAMROCK, is made from the original plans. Deck fitting parts in brass, custom made, slatted wooden deck. 4 layers of paint and 2 coats of varnish are applied. Numbered certificate of authenticity and warranty of 1 year. Secure packaging for shipping ( wooden box + pallet ): ready for display!
- The Isle of the shamrock by Johnson, Clifton, 1865-1940. Publication date 1901 Publisher New York, Macmillan; London, Macmillan Collection.
- Shamrock paint color SW 6454 by Sherwin-Williams. View interior and exterior paint colors and color palettes. Get design inspiration for painting projects.
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- Shamrock
Theshamrock plant is recognised the world over as the badge of Ireland.
As a brand design, it isprobably most frequently aimed at tourists - it can be found in the logos of both TourismNI and Failte Ireland (the official tourist boards of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland respectively) - but its proliferation in 'all things Irish' branding is not restricted to helpingvisitors part with their money.
You can find the emblem on everything from the wrought iron lamp posts of Dublin to cans of its famous dark stout. The airline Aer Lingus not only has the emblem on its tail fin and corporate logo, even it's airline call sign is SHAMROCK!
Mostvisitors, and even many locals, believe the weed is the official symbolof Ireland but that lofty status is actually held by the 12-stringed harp.
Even so,the symbol of the three-leaf clover does receive some legal protection. Underthe Trade Marks Act 1996, the emblem's use is restricted to goods orservices of Irish origin and only the Minister of Trade, Enterprise andInitiative can approve applications to use it.
The real,living shamrock plant is traditionally worn on the lapel on St Patrick's Day. Ican remember my grandparents excitedly attaching bushy sprigs to their clothingin the morning.
They worethe plant with pride and I spent my early years wondering why they were sohappy to wear something that looked increasingly limp and sad as the day woreon. Back then, my ignorance extended to the custom of Drowning the Shamrock.This is the practice of dunking the plant into the last drink of the night, andthrowing the leaves over the left shoulder before knocking back the dregs of'Patrick's Pot'.
These customs are dying out in Ireland.Strangely, and perhaps sadly, it is only as an emblem that the shamrock thrivesin its home nation; the tradition of wearing a lush green sprig on StPatrick's Day is fading fast in Ireland. Even the invention of a little lapelsachet - a clever device that keeps the shamrock plant fresh until the last ofSt Patrick's Pot is drunk - has not revived this tradition in Ireland. It has,however, bolstered exports of shamrock all around the world.
Young clover
The name of the plant is the anglicised word for 'seamair' meaning clover and 'og' meaning young or small.
It was first used in its English form in 1596 when the Irish herbalist John Gerard noted that 'meadow trefoils were called Shamrockes'.
Celts, St Patrick, the Rebels and the Shamrock
It wasthe Celtic druids who started the shamrock on its path to Irish glory! Theybelieved the number 3 to be a perfect number and, as such, to have inherentmystical powers. No one is quite sure why they believed this but it is possiblethe number signified totality ie past, present and future, or sky, earth andunderground.
Whateverthe reason, the Celts attached great significance to the number and this isclearly expressed in their artistic symbolism. Three-headed faces appear in artrelics, as do triskeles (three connected spirals) and triskelions (three-leggedsymbols such as that adopted by the once-Celtic Isle of Man).
Inaddition, Celtic society was organised around the sacred three, with threeclasses, three colours, and three principal gods.
In thisatmosphere, it is no wonder the humble shamrock plant, with its three leaves,was revered.
Young clover
The name of the plant is the anglicised word for 'seamair' meaning clover and 'og' meaning young or small.
It was first used in its English form in 1596 when the Irish herbalist John Gerard noted that 'meadow trefoils were called Shamrockes'.
St Patrick, when he set out to convert the Celtic inhabitants ofIreland, would have been fully aware of their predilection for the number threeand, according to legend, he used the plant to illustrate the Christian conceptof the Trinity ie to show how one God divided into three: God the Father, Godthe Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
It isworth mentioning that this story of how the 5th century saint explained theTrinity did not appear in any manuscripts until after the 18th century when avisiting Protestant minister noted that locals wore a small bunch of theplant's leaves on their hats on St Patrick's Day (17 March).
Isle Of Shamrocks Images
Whetheror not the story of St Patrick using the shamrock plant in his teachings istrue doesn't really matter because by the time it was reported as truth, theIrish had already chosen it as their symbol. It appears on medieval tombs andon old coins, and a written reference dating from 1681 describes it as a badgeworn on the lapel on St Patrick's Day.
By the1770s it had certainly been adopted as the emblem of the Irish Volunteers, amilitia with republican sympathies. This is where it came to be associated withrebellious, nationalistic views and led Queen Victoria's government to forbidall Irish regiments within the British Army to wear shamrock in the 19thcentury.
Thesedays, a member of the British Royal Family presents shamrock to the IrishGuards regiment, so it seems the dear shamrock plant has been rehabilitated!
Isle Of Shamrocks Pictures
Which is the true Irish shamrock plant?
There is nosingle plant identified as shamrock, but there is, at least, agreement that itis a small leaved trefoil.
In asurvey carried out thirty+ years ago by Charles Nelson, then working for theNational Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, north Dublin, Irish people were asked tocollect what they believed to be the true Irish shamrock plant and send them tohim.
Some 221people from 30 counties across the island responded.
Afterexamination it was found that the samples were made up of the following plants:
- White (or Dutch) clover, Trifolium reopens
- Red clover, Trifolium pratense
- Lesser yellow trefoil (or hop clover), Trifolium dubium
- Black Medic, Medicago lupulina
- Wood Sorrell, oxalis acetosella.
Themajority (46%) were Triolium dubium, closely followed (35%) by Trifoliumreopens. The remainder were split fairly evenly among the other threecategories.
All theseplants possess a compound leaf with three more-or-less heart-shaped leaflets.All are found throughout the world.
Related pages
► Legends of St Patrick
Related pages
► Legends of St Patrick