YESTERDAY WAS A big day for Enda Kenny on his St Patrick’s Day visit to the United States, meeting with Trump in the Oval Office and holding the traditional Shamrock ceremony.
This annual ceremony dates back to 1952, and has taken place in some form every year since.
But aside from this main gift, the Taoiseach also has a few other goodies for the White House.
Here’s what he gave this year:
This year’s bowl was made by Criostal na Rinne, based in the Waterford Gaeltacht An Rinn, and inspired by artwork from the Book of Kells.
The shamrock is said to be destroyed by the Secret Service due to safety fears, as perishable goods given to a US president are viewed with suspicion.
As well as the Shamrock Bowl, Kenny gave Trump a set of cufflinks from Dublin-based goldsmith and jeweller Declan Killen.
He was also presented with a Bord Bia hamper containing a range of Irish food, similar to what has been gifted to Obama in recent years. Again, it would be up to the Secret Service as to whether this would be kept or destroyed.
For Melania Trump, the Taoiseach had Irish linen and a Carrickmacross Lace brooch.
Trump’s youngest son received a copy of The Moon Spun Round – an illustrated collection of WB Yeats’ poems and stories for children
Vice President Mike Pence, who already received a framed family tree and the original roll book from the Sligo school where his grandfather was enrolled in 1912, was given another pressie – a framed copy of the census of Ireland 1911, including details of Vice President Pence’s Grandfather Richard Cawley and his Great Grandmother Ellen Cawley.
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