Many people choose to get Irish tattoos to show their heritage or love of the Celtic culture. These tattoos often incorporate a number of different design elements that mean different things to different people. The Emerald Isle has produced a number of interesting designs that can be used by just about everybody and have influenced artists from around the world.

From ancient Ireland the Celtic design is an extremely popular choice for those seeking Irish tattoos. It is so popular due to how unique each piece can be. One of the most popular and unique Irish tattoos of the Celtic decent is the Celtic Knot. The Celtic Knot, or endless knot dates back to 450AD and is the symbol for beginnings and endings.

In a Celtic Knot, you can see no start and no finish, symbolizing birth, rebirth and timelessness. Another Celtic Knot, called the Dara Celtic Knot, has a different meaning. Dara means oak tree and the drawing of the Dara Celtic Knot is similar to the root system of the oak tree. The oak represents power, wisdom, destiny, strength, endurance and leadership.

There are so many different Celtic designs to speak of. A common Irish tattoo is the Celtic spiral. The Celtic spiral is said to represent the travel from the inner life to the outer soul. To ancient Ireland, the Celtic spiral was said to represent the sun. Another Irish tattoo of Celtic descent is the Three Rays. It looks like three vertical lines, side-by-side. The first and third line represents the male and the female, respectively. The middle line represents the balance of energy between them.

The shamrock or 3-leaf clover is an Irish tattoo that is very widely used. It is believed, for centuries, that the shamrock brings luck. Some also view the shamrock as a symbol for Christianity because it was used by Saint Patrick to teach about the Holy Trinity.

Almost as popular as the shamrock is the leprechaun, a very popular Irish tattoo. The leprechaun also symbolizes luck and can be drawn in many different ways. Your leprechaun can be a symbol for whatever it is you feel you’d like to represent. More commonly leprechaun tattoos can be a sign for luck, mischief, or to represent some sort of alcoholic fun.

There are so many Irish tattoos, symbols and meanings in circulation, all that it takes is a bit of research and an idea of what being Irish means to you, to come up with your own unique design.

Irish Tattoo Symbol

Irish Celtic Knots:

Influenced from the celts, traditional irish celtic designs are very intricate and consist of animals, animal heads, tails and limbs e.t.c

Irish Celtic Cross Tattoos:

Typically an all black intricate knot design, however most patriots would choose a cross to be in the irish flag colors namely green.

Clovers and Shamrocks:

Symbolising luck the 4 leaf clover or shamrock is globally popular.  Typically in a green color but some people will prefer to use their favorite colors like, blue or red e.t.c.

Leprichauns:

This mythical creature is a popular choice all over the world, it can be humorous or evil.  Typically leprichaun tattoos are holding a bag of gold coins or sat on a pile of gold coins e.t.c

Irish Flags:

Obviously preferred by the irish patriot but you’ll be surprised by the number of people who have irish flag tattoos who are not even irish, (go figure)  anyhow some will have the flag on its own whilst many will incorporate another part of Irelands heritage like a celtic design or shamrock for instance.