Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle and is a gorgeous country full of rural rolling farms, rugged coastline and the sophisticated city of Dublin. Several things in Ireland have turned into special Irish symbols that have gone into other cultures in a variety of forms such as artwork, jewelry and design. Some of those items would be the Celtic crosses which are the type of headstones or glass monuments in Irish cemeteries, the Celtic knot, the claddaugh and the shamrock.

The first popular symbol is the Celtic cross which was only used in cemeteries in mostly the southern island of Ireland where mostly Catholics reside . As a greater number of people from other countries went to Ireland and would often see or go to historic churches where they usually had a graveyard , people took a liking to the symbol and look of the Celtic Cross. Artists put the cross in a variety of medium whether it was sculptures, paintings, jewelry and other items for home decorations .

Another famous symbol seen in Ireland is the claddaugh symbol which was once only used as a wedding ring design for both men and women in Ireland . It has a pair of hands holding a heart with a crown on top of the heart. The heart stands for love, the hands stand for friendship and the crown means loyalty which is a lovely symbol to use starting a new marriage. This too , was soon turned into a variety of different items that were merchandised and sold. Several Americans of Irish decent wear the claddaugh ring to express their family heritage if they are single or married. It is said that if the point of the heart points to your heart then you are married and if the ring is flipped the other way, then they are single .

The Celtic knot may e in various shapes whether it looks like a circle, a square or even a heart shape. The common thread in all of these knots is that it is never ending line that connects and there is no beginning and no end. The Celtic knot symbolizes the eternity of life, the eternity of nature and the eternity of love and may be seen in artwork and Celtic crosses dating back thousands of years ago. As tattoos have become more popular, several people wishing to have a tattoo have requested Celtic knots of varying shapes because they just appreciated the design or the symbolism of it or are Irish and thought this was an unusual method to display that rather than a shamrock.

The shamrock is the most popular Irish symbol the represents the emerald green countryside of Ireland with the several shamrocks. It is a three leafed white clover and is the main symbol of Ireland . When many people see shamrocks they think of St. Patrick’s Day and all of the things that the shamrock is on to bring in that holiday. While Americans don neon green blinking shamrock buttons on St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish actually wear real shamrocks pinned on their lapel on the holiday .