Vintage Irish Shamrock Pin

This cool pin is unmarked, so I have no idea who made it, but it looks like a "tourist" pin purchased by someone who visited Ireland between the 1960s and 1980s.  It features a genuine stem of a shamrock plant encased in a plastic dome attached to a goldtone metal setting.  It is really quite neat and still very green! 

A shamrock is a 3-leaf clover native to Ireland which grows in the summer (it is actually a variety of weed!).  A 4-leaf clover is a shamrock with an extra leaf and is more rare and therefore considered "lucky" in Celtic tradition. Through the ages the shamrock has symbolized many things including Irish pride, the holy trinity in the Catholic tradition, the work of the gods and balance in nature in the Celtic faith, and of course luck.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.rubylane.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Life 123. Retrieved 6/16/2011 from http://www.life123.com/holidays/st-patricks-day/shamrocks/irish-shamrock.shtml