Irish Clover Tattoo Design

Irish flag Tattoo Design

Celtic Clover Tattoo Design

Irish Tattoos and Tattoo Designs - Symbolism and Meaning

Thursday 29th of January 2009 01:28:52 PM [Add To This Article]

Irish Tattoo Designs:
Body Art Inspired By the Emerald Isle

"34 million residents of the United States claim Irish ancestry, a number nearly nine times greater than the population of Ireland itself."
US Census Bureau

The country of Ireland has been an inspiration to the arts, music and legends of the entire world. It captivates the imagination and leads us into a world of magic, of Arthurian legends and the Mists of Avalon. So to, has it inspired artists of another sort, the tattoo artist. Perhaps one of the most popular of all types of tattoo designs are the Irish tattoo designs.

The land of Ireland has born many names. It has been known as The Island of Woods, because at one time, the country was heavily wooded with oaks and other trees. Other titles include The Land at the Limit of the World, the Noble Island, Eire (from the name of the queen of the Tuatha de Danaan), Inis Fail (which translates to Island of Stone", the Isle of Mists, Scotia, Hibernia, and Irlanda. The Greeks referred to this magical isle as Ogygia, meaning "the most ancient land". Its names alone allude to the magical, mythical nature of its land, people and mythological heritage.

It is rumored that the lands first inhabitants were a band of people, mostly women, who arrived at the island just prior to the Great Flood. After the floods coming, there was only one survivor, Fintan, who escaped death by shape-shifting into either a fish or a bird. It is Fintan who is known as the patron of Ireland's traditional lore and storytelling.

It is an indomitable land, who, despite successive waves of foreign invaders and settlers, managed to maintain their own culture, while at the same time absorbing the outsiders' knowledge and legends into their own human ecology. This has created a rich, resilient gene pool, of which the Indo-European Celts have predominated.

Much later, in the 5th Century A.D., Christianity arrived on the island, brought there by St. Patrick (who is also given the honor of being the man who abolished snakes from this island.) Now, this doesn't mean that Christians hadn't already been living there - simply that Christianity didn't really begin to put down roots until after his arrival. It is roughly at this time that the 1st written documents emerged. Since then, the land of Ireland has contributed its own ancient lore, full of fairies and banshees and the wee folk to the Christian faith, creating a unique branch of the Christian religion not found in any other land.

Today in Ireland, the majority of the population, some 91.6%, are practicing Roman Catholics. In fact, it was back in the 1000's that the rosary was born, deep in the monastic culture of Ireland's abbeys and monasteries. As such, you'll discover that many Irish tattoo designs may carry with them a distinctly Catholic flavor, with crosses, crucifixes, rosaries and tribute to the Virgin Mary.

Other popular Irish tattoo designs include:

The Sinn Fein logo
Leprechauns (a legend most likely first inspired by the most important of their pagan gods, Lord Lugh pronounced Luck- who was the Sun God of Irish and Euro-Celtic people. He was also the patron of arts and crafts and the leader of the magical people, the Tuatha de Danaan) Leprechauns are often depicted along with green coat and pants, fancy buckled shoes (they were the shoemakers for the fairy folk), a pot of gold, rainbows, and/or pouches of coins, both silver and gold.
Celtic inspired crosses
Intricate knotted patterns and zoomorphic patterns
Shamrocks Shamrocks are also known as "trefoil" and "Seamroy", and was used by St. Patrick to symbolize and illustrate the holy cross and the blessed Trinity. It is also the shamrock which is attributed with the power to banish the snakes and serpents from the isle, and in truth, there are none there!
There are also many Irish tattoo designs inspired by and created for the firemen of the land.

In addition, some people may turn to the other, less widely known, mythological creatures and stories unique to this country. Legends like the banshee, a fairy woman, who, like the goddess Hecate, appears in three forms a lovely young woman, a stately matron or an old hag. The wailing and keening of these fairy women is a bad omen, foretelling the death of a member of the greater families. The patron saints of the different areas of the island are also highly venerated and honored with permanent body art designs. Holy wells, Dagad's Harp, the Fairy Kings, Human hounds and the Selkie are other legendary folk and tales that are often featured in modern Irish tattoo designs.

But, fortunately for us, nearly any "normal" tattoo design can be altered and changed to take on a more Irish appearance. Castles and creatures, crystals and chalices, all can become Irish with a little work and a little imagination.

So whether you are inspired by the wee folk, saints, or the native flora and fauna of the Emerald Isle, there will be no shortage to the tattoo designs available for you to proudly bear witness to your rich cultural heritage.

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