THE SHAMROCK
Despite impressions to the contrary, the shamrock is not actually the official symbol of Ireland - that privilege rests with the Irish harp. But the shamrock and hence the color green are, nonetheless, popularly identified with Ireland. That custom eventually owes its origins to St. Patrick.

What is shamrock?
It is supposed only to grow in Ireland and hence to be unique. Suggestions to the contrary have been known to provoke outrage. In the early days of Irish television, all hell broke loose when a man purporting to be a Rhodesian farmer claimed in an interview that he had acres of it growing on his land and was actually exporting it to Ireland! In their defence, the programme’s producers said that obviously viewers had failed to spot the interviewer’s wink into the camera at the end.

The reality?
The reality is that shamrock is a form of clover - Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense or more likely Trifolium dubium, to give its botanical pedigree - and only looks different from what one might expect because it is picked so early in spring. It is not unique to Ireland. Trofolium dubium is found from Scandinavia to the Caucasus and even in America.

What’s the connection with St. Patrick?
Legend has it that in attempting to explain the three-in-one principle of the Holy Trinity to the pagan King Laoghaire (pronounced Leary), St. Patrick found the three-leafed shamrock a convenient teaching aid. Four-leafed shamrocks obviously are discounted. They cause severe theological problems!