Favorite Thing You Bought in Ireland
 

There is another thread like this for favorite things to shop for and buy in Europe but I want to narrow it down to Ireland. What is your favorite things you have bought while in Ireland.

a Guiness and a nagen

There was one a few months ago about what to bring back from Ireland. It was pretty extensive.

I agree with the Guinness!!! ((b))

Aside from the Guiness, I really like the wool jacket I bought at the Avoca factory. I also bought several beautiful wool throws/blankets for my family.

We also bought a beautiful hand-hammered silver piece at a small shop in the Design Center in Kilkenny.

It is my Irish fisherman sweater. I live in Minnesota, and although it has been a relatively mild winter here there were a few days where the sweater was just what I needed to stay warm(er). I had a lot of complements on it, too.

Crystal bought in Kinsale and a very soft blanket made of mohair and wool, also bought in Kinsale!

A 9kt gold Celtic Cross w/ a Claddagh symbol in the circular center: I bought it for my wife at Roche's jewelers in Ballina, Co. Mayo. We bought a 14K gold necklace to go with it here in Phila. She was and is delighted with it! I was on a solo trip then to visit some relatives on my Mother's side (incl. a 105-year old first cousin of my Mother). That was in May, 2003.

We went to Ireland in late Feb '04 & came across an 'across the board' 30% off sale at the ITB Shop in Lahinch, County Clare. We bought 5-Aran wool knit sweaters (Me, wife, son, Son-in-law and daughter). Each was 49 Euro less 30% (35 Euro) and we got VAT rebates of about 7 Euro on each. So, the net cost to us was 28 Euro each.

If you want to see what you can buy go to www.blarney.ie

My black skin bodhran from Dingle and Tullamore Dew Reserve Whiskey.

for the wife...hand knit sweater, gloves, and scarf

I can tell you more about the things we didn't buy and wish we had: the lovely warm wool coat in Dingle, the silver bracelet in Cobh, the bodhran in Roundstone, the sign we didn't have made in Boland's in Kinsale...

We always bring home Irish whiskey and Baileys' type liqueurs from duty free. We started collecting Galway crystal a few years back, have a really nice set of small rock glasses and decanter, among other pieces. We found a great shop in Dingle that sells inexpensive woolen scarves, and Lisbeth Mulcahey's shop, where the woolens are finer but more expensive. Linens (Quills is great), blankets (we like Avoca Handweavers), unusual jewelry designs.

A beautiful wool mohair throw. I'm using it right now. It's one of my favorite souvenirs from anywhere. Also, a trivet with the "Irish Blessing", a Waterford bud vase, and an Aran knit beret.

The first thing would have to be my Claddagh ring with bezel set Connemara marble in the heart...waited 20 years to buy my claddagh ring and so glad I waited to buy it in Ireland...it's a great reminder of the wonderful trip I had and my Irish ancestry.

Second is the 400+ photos I took while there, ok, so maybe it wasn't a purchase made in Ireland, but the picutes evoke such great memories!

And lastly, although I didn't bring this back with me I am able to re-create it here at home...Baby Guinness Shots...YUMMO...Tia Maria or Kahlua with Baileys layered on top in a tiny shot glass...probably had a few too many on a few occassions...but it sure was fun! :O

During trips to Ireland in 2003 and 2004 – a several pairs of earrings with a Celtic design, including a beautiful pair of silver earrings with green stones indigenous to Ireland, a mohair throw, and a variety of Christmas ornaments that remind me of Ireland each year. In 2004, we encountered some unexpected warm weather and I bought two blouses at the Kilkenny shop. I always get compliments on them.

My Claddagh ring and pair of hand-made mugs that I bought in a small pottery shop on the Dingle Peninsula. I'm still kicking myself for not buying a hand-knit sweater.
((c))

I suggest you try and buy some Irish Single Malt whisky from the boutique distillers. You won’t find any as old as the Scottish single malts, but they are apparently excellent, according to DH and friends. As matter of fact, a good friend of ours, who has been drinking expensive single malts for years maintains that the $30 Connemara single malt I bring back from the duty free at LHR tastes better to him than a $100 bottle of Scotch. I’ve heard the same from some of my German colleagues.

The Claddagh rings are really popular and I personally like the design.

Also, friends of mine like Belleek china (http://www.belleek.ie/) but don’t buy the stuff with shamrocks, check out the antique shops for the older, plain designs.

I love old photos which show an Ireland long gone, particularly ones of Dublin “in the rare ould times”.

Beautiful Irish coffee mugs, engraved for gifts, at Waterford. And a beautiful rainbow bowl, engraved with our names and "Ireland 2004"

Most of all a sweater hand knit to my size by a darling lady in a side street by the church in Dingle. Living in S Fla can only wear it a few days a year, but it makes me feel great.

Here's a thread that asked a similar question that may provide some helpful suggestions.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34683331 ((b))

One of kind jewelry from the West Coast Arts Center in Skibbereen. Sweaters in gorgeous colors from the Bebhinn Marten shop in Baltimore, West Cork.

Should read "West Cork Arts Center." Sorry.

Jerpoint Glass -- gorgeous!
It's offered in stores around the Republic but the studio is in Stonyford, Co. Kilkenny, and is worth the effort to find it.