Located in the grounds of the ancient Dublin castle, this gift shop stocks the most quintessential of Irish mementos and keepsakes. From Brass and Royal Tara, Irish Bog and Pewter there is something to, well supposedly catch the eye of every person but of course this brand of Irish paraphernalia is really an acquired taste amongst older tourists and far less appealing to either the younger generation or native Irish who would be far less disposed to lap up these alleged age-old Irish relics/or replicas of. The shop is wringing wet with all kinds of time-honoured Irish relics you would expect of such a centrally located tourist shop whilst also being covered in celebrated Celtic motifs in addition to other Celtic symbols that several tourists may find striking and poignant but I just found the sheer brazen volume of which to be tacky. The stock is intended for susceptible tourists who think that it would be blasphemous to leave Ireland without investing in a Tara broach or something else that features a well-known, self-styled Celtic design such as the Claddagh ring. I don’t blame these tourists for wanting to invest in what they understandably judge to be respectable relics representing the national heritage and a souvenir to remind them of their visit to the country, but to a local I just find items like these one-dimensional and ironically unconventional(despite them often being perceived as celebrating what is characteristically Irish) because they are so customarily lapped up by those that come from abroad who have an archetypical viewpoint about Ireland. The seemingly unique Belleek Parian china hand crafted in Ireland is sold here in abundance as well as Waterford Crystal and a sizeable collection of jewellery. I would never deny the standard of craftsmanship on display but things allegedly inspired by ‘the Ireland of long ago’ I don’t believe are submerged in legend or national pride at all but instead represent a superficial means of making money out of mythology and claiming it to embody candid national identity. If you like this type of thing then you’re in seventh-heaven otherwise hold off.
