• If you're going to an Irish bridal shower, bring an Irish gift.irish flag image by Richard Kane from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>
  
  If you have been invited to a shower for a bride-to-be who is Irish, is having an Irish wedding or is getting married in Ireland, consider giving a gift that will fit her chosen theme. Whether you give the new couple a "lucky charm" or choose something traditional with an Irish flair, a gift that is in keeping with their old-country heritage is something they will treasure throughout their marriage.
  
  

Make-up Bell

• In Irish folklore bells are thought to keep away evil spirits, so to give a newlywed couple a bell is to give them your wishes for a lucky and harmonious marriage. There is a special bell that is traditionally given as a wedding or shower gift called a "make up" or a "wedding" bell. These bells come in many designs, but they are meant to remind the couple of the love they have for one another. If the husband and wife are having an argument and one of them rings the bell, that is a cue for the couple to remember their vows and "make up."
  
  

Symbolic Gifts

• There are many superstitions, symbols and customs in the Irish tradition, and a shower gift reflecting any of these things would be most welcome. Horseshoes (ends up so the luck won't leak out) are good fortune, so give linens or barware patterned with a horseshoe motif---and add a real horseshoe to the bow on the package. Give the bride candlesticks to ensure her home fires stay lit, wine goblets so her cellars will stay full and salt-and-pepper shakers so her pantry always will be stocked.
  
  

Gifts from Ireland

• Many wonderful, traditional wedding gifts can be adapted to this theme if you find items that originated in Ireland. Instead of cotton sheets, give sheets made of pure Irish linen. Belleek pottery is quintessentially Irish, and so is Newbridge silver. Waterford crystal would be prized by any bride, as would a creamy woolen afghan knitted in the Aran style or a hand-woven mohair throw. You also can help the couple build up their bar supplies with a fine bottle of whiskey---Irish, of course---and a case of Guinness stout.