New Arrivals: Ornate Celtic Jewelry & Galway Crystal

Spring is in the air at Blarney Woollen Mills with a range of new products available in our online store. The highlights being some elegant pieces of Celtic jewelry such a Celtic cross pendants, Celtic earrings, Celtic knot beads and celtic rings.

Show your true colours for St. Patrick's Day

In the Irish cultural calendar, March is a particularly significant month with the onset of the annual celebration of the country's patron saint. St. Patrick's Day represents a day when Irish-ness is celebrated not only at home on the Emerald Isle but also globally and when the colour of choice very much green!

At Blarney Woollen Mills, the importance of showing you're true colours is very much to the fore as the 17th March fast approaches with a wide range of traditional and novelty Irish gifts and clothing.

Irish gift ideas for Valentine's Day

The month of January has come and gone, and now for many couples across the globe attention has switched to Valentine's Day when they have the opportunity to celebrate and/or reinvigorate their relationships.

At Blarney Woollen Mills, we have a wide range of romantic Irish gifts which would make a thoughtful Valentine's Day gift for both that special man or woman in your life.

Black Friday Sale will set you up for Christmas

The dust is just settling on the Thanksgiving celebrations but now it's time to begin the countdown to Christmas with our Black Friday Sale which is offering 20% OFF EVERYTHING!

Whether you want to get something a little special for a loved one, family member or close friend; Blarney Woollen Mills is the perfect destination for a wide range of Irish gifts online.

Waterford Crystal: An elegant gift from Ireland

Irish crystal has always been a firm favourite for those seeking the perfect gift from Ireland for a special event or occasion. In particular, the elegance and stylish craftsmanship of Waterford Crystal has proven to be universally popular throughout the years whether it is being used as a special gift for a friend or family member or, perhaps, as a prize giving award for a sporting event.

The perfect Black Friday destination for Irish gifts

With the Thanksgiving turkey well and truly digested and the festivities of America's national celebratory holiday over for another year, attention turns towards the festive period ahead with less than a month until Christmas Day.

For many people, Thanksgiving signals the start 'official' start of Christmas and thoughts turn to which gifts to buy for friends and family. Like many online Irish gifts stores across the globe, Blarney Woollen Mills have a exclusive 20% discount on all products starting on Black Friday and lasting throughout the holiday weekend including Aran sweaters, Irish fisherman sweaters, Celtic jewelry, mystical Claddagh rings, Irish novelty gifts, classic Irish Belleek pottery and the much loved range of Waterford Crystal.

The Holiday Sale is exclusive to all online purchases on blarney.com and is the perfect all-in-one online store to make the Christmas shopping experience a whole lot easier. Browse through the extensive range of hand-knit Aran sweaters and exclusive range of Blarney Originals knitwear collection including stylish snood-style hooded sweaters and the more classic cowl neck Aran sweater. All Blarney Originals are produced with 100% Merino wool and are sure to become a firm favourite in your winter wardrobe.

St. Brigid's legacy in Celtic craftsmanship and design

St Brigid is a revered and fondly thought of figure in Irish history and Christian mythology. Her influence has even crossed into the realms of Celtic jewelry design and appearance such as Celtic pendants and Celtic Cross jewelry.

Also referred to as “Mary of the Gael”, St. Brigid is patroness of Ireland and also founder of the first Irish monastery in Kildare. Born in Dundalk in 450 A.D, St Brigid is closely associated with the creation of a truly unique ornamental cross that has since been named after her. This unique Irish cross is typically constructed from rushes but it is also not uncommon for it to be made from straw.

The mystical power of St Brigid’s Cross, woven rushes, is its power to repel evil, fire and hunger from the homes in which it is displayed. The exact details of the cross' creation are unclear with no definitive explanation of just how it came into being.

The tale as we know it is revolves around an old pagan Irish Chieftain who lay delirious on his deathbed in Kildare; it is rumoured that he was in fact the father of St. Brigid. Brigid was summed to his beside in the hope that the saintly woman could intervene and cure the Chieftain from certain death. 

Brigid is said to have sat at his bedside, consoling and calming him and it is here that she picked up the rushes from the floor and began weaving them into the distinctive cross pattern. Whilst she weaved, she explained the meaning of the cross to the sick Chieftain and it is thought her calming words brought peace to his soul, and that he was so enamoured by her words that the old Chieftain requested he was baptised as a Christian just before his passing.

Ever since that fateful day and for countless generations that followed, it has been customary on the eve of her Feat Day (1st February) for Irish people to fashion a St Brigid Cross of straw or rushes and place it inside the house over the door. Many Irish people used to send the rush cross to their family and friends overseas as traditional Irish gifts to remind them of the Emerald Isle and help keep them safe from danger and misfortune.

This rush cross, which has since been commonly referred to as St Brigid’s emblem, has been used in Irish designs throughout history, with many modern stylists using this now popular Irish symbol within the designs of Celtic jewelry and unique gifts from Ireland.