Co Kerry "hat-trick" as Dingle Crystal crafts Shamrock Ceremony bowl for third year

Dingle Crystal, a small Irish crystal maker in Co Kerry, has been selected to make the iconic crystal bowl used dur‐ ing the traditional Shamrock Ceremony at The White House for the third year in a row.

Crystal craftsman Seán Daly, who founded the company 25 years ago after leaving Waterford Crystal, said it was a huge "honor" to be selected for the an‐ nual ceremony again in 2024, stating that it has made him "feel 20 years younger" as he approaches his retire‐ ment.

The saga began when the office of then-Taoiseach Micheál Martin approached Daly ahead of the 2022 Shamrock Cer‐ emony, inviting him and several other crystal makers to submit designs. Daly's 2022 design, called the Celtic Flame, was based on the circle rock art found around the Dingle Peninsula.

Dingle Crystal was again invited to sub‐ mit a design for the 2023 ceremony, but Daly didn't think there was any chance that the design would be se‐ lected.

Not only was the design selected, but Daly was also invited to attend the decades-old Shamrock Ceremony at the White House, standing four feet from President Joe Biden as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar presented him with the Dingle Crystal bowl, which was based on the ancient beehive structures found around the Dingle Peninsula.

"To be sitting four feet away and seeing my bowl being presented to the Presi‐ dent of the United States, that was an amazing honor," Daly told IrishCentral. Daly joked is hoping that he will receive a last-minute invitation to this year's Shamrock Ceremony after Dingle Crys‐ tal's design was once again selected by the Irish Government.

This year's design is in the shape of a boat to pay tribute to the millions of Irish immigrants who have crossed the Atlantic Ocean to seek a new life in the US.

Daly said the "Boat Bowl" has already arrived at the Irish Ambassador's Resi‐ dence in Washington, DC ahead of the Shamrock Ceremony which will be held this Sunday, March 17, St. Patrick's Day. "We're really honored and looking for‐ ward to celebrating on St. Patrick's Day and watching the Taoiseach present our bowl," Daly said.

"We're absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to make the bowl for the third time."

Daly described it as a "hat-trick" for Co Kerry and said this year's shamrocks will also be supplied by local farmer Joe Sugrue from nearby Ballinskelligs. Absent of a last-minute invitation to the White House, Daly said he plans to watch this year's ceremony at Dick Mack' s Whiskey Bar in Dingle.

Daly said that being commissioned to design a bowl for the Shamrock Cere‐ mony for the third year in a row was the perfect way to crown 25 years in busi‐ ness as Dingle Crystal, which he says specializes in hand-cut crystal products and is one of the few remaining Irish companies that makes crystal products by hand.

This year, Daly is also celebrating 50 years since he joined Waterford Crystal as a 15-year-old apprentice.

Daly said his company has grown sub‐ stantially over the past 25 years and now employs 12 people and a handful of apprentices, while it caters to tourists from all over the world.