A Co Wicklow artist is making shamrocks from willow ahead of St Patrick's Day, with one of her creations headed for the White House.
Aoife Patterson is an artist from Laragh, Co Wicklow, and has created an online workshop of videos showing people how to sustainably forage for materials in their 5km area and how to transform them into a large shamrock.
Ms Patterson’s workshop will also include information about St Patrick and a selection of hand-drawn pictures to colour. They are available through a variety of local authorities around the country and she has promised some "fun for the whole family".
"There’s no wrong, there’s no right, it’s an art workshop that brings in different elements and focuses on what we have around us as well," Ms Patterson said.
"The idea is you have your giant shamrock and then put it up outside your house."
She has big plans for one of her shamrocks. Ms Patterson has a history of working with the Ballyboden Tidy Towns group in Dublin to celebrate different times of year with willow installations in the area.
While they were working on their Christmas manger, they had the idea to send a willow shamrock to US President Joe Biden.
Angela O’Donoghue, the chairperson for the Tidy Towns group, said they want to send good tidings all the way from Ballyboden to Bally-Biden.
"I hope he sees it and I hope he smiles; I hope it makes him see that there are people rooting for him to succeed," Ms O’Donoghue said.
"I hope he’s successful in what he seeks to achieve, he wants to bring people together. I hope when he looks at the shamrock, if it was to be in his office or wherever it ends up, I hope he remembers that we’re all interwoven and that he is part of the Irish family."
