Ireland

Shamrock sales on the decline: ‘No one seems to want to wear the emblem of St Patrick’s Day’

Co Louth grower Gearóid O’Neill fears a long-standing Irish tradition could wither and die entirely

Shamrock grower Gearóid O'Neill in Cooley, Co Louth

Louise Walsh
Fri Mar 15 2024 - 14:45

A Co Louth shamrock grower has said few people seem “to want to wear the emblem of St Patrick’s Day any more” and is calling for a revival of the clover after sales fell sharply in recent years.

Gearóid O’Neill fears the tradition could die out and has called on GAA clubs and other organisations to encourage younger generations to wear some shamrock, which is said to have been used by St Patrick to illustrate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity in the fifth century.

He said O’Neills Flowers in Carlingford, which has been in the business since the 1970s, produced 110,000 pots of shamrock in 2015. It has seen demand fall to around 50,000 pots since, with the decline particularly noticeable during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The numbers of people going to Mass on St Patrick’s Day have dropped off and it is usually the older generation that still wear the shamrock attached to their lapels on the day,” he said.

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“If you go to Dublin’s James’s Gate and ask for a Guinness, it will be emblazoned with a shamrock in the cream. But no one seems to want to wear the emblem of St Patrick’s Day any more.”

A shamrock on a pint of Guinness in the Palace Bar, Dublin. Photograph: Cyril Byrne

A very wet year has not done growers “any favours”, Mr O’Neill said. He grows shamrock on a half-acre area in greenhouses, so it is protected from the wind and the rain, but the absence of bright days is an issue.

With four commercial growers in the Republic and one in Northern Ireland, some of whom are considering retirement, he is concerned that shamrock might be a dying tradition given a lack of interest among younger people.

“You would rarely see the younger generation sporting the shamrock and unless you are watching the politicians on the TV, I’d say you could count on one hand those you meet on St Patrick’s Day with shamrock,” Mr O’Neill said, adding that Brexit has negatively impacted exports of the plant as “there is too much paperwork now”.

US president Joe Biden receives a bowl of shamrock from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during his visit to the White House last year. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg

“We did send over shamrock in the past to US president Joe Biden when our neighbour and former Irish rugby player Rob Kearney was visiting the White House as he is a relation [of Mr Biden]. The Office of Public Works would also ring asking for some for our own President Michael D Higgins.”

Mr O’Neill appealed to GAA and other sporting clubs to introduce the shamrock to their younger players “telling them of its importance and setting a trend again in wearing it”.

“It might even make a TikTok craze,” he said.

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