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Diamonds of the Emerald Isle

Irish Shop

Ireland might be strongly associated with emeralds, but we have some other gems here – and not only the kind that feature in Irish gifts such as rings, necklaces and earrings. This little island has always punched above its weight in the arts. Our contributions to literature, music and the stage and screen mean we have a lot of stars here. And some of the brightest were born in the month of April, meaning their birthstone is diamond. 

Stars of the Stage & Silver Screen

Some of Ireland’s most widely famous actors were born in April. How perfect is it that these stars have diamonds as their birthstone?!

Award-winning actor Saoirse Ronan was born to Irish parents on 12th April 1994 in the Bronx, New York, and moved to Co Carlow at age three.  Her hits include Atonement, The Lovely Bones, Brooklyn, Little Women, Lady Bird and Grand Budapest Hotel. Ronan holds dual US and Irish citizenship.

Saoirse Ronan

bubbleleh, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Daniel Day-Lewis, son of the Irish-born poet Cecil Day-Lewis, celebrates his birthday on 29th April. He was born in London in 1957. He too is a dual national with British and Irish citizenship. This diamond of the silver screen sparkled brightly in 1980s hits including My Left Foot, My Beautiful Launderette, Room with a View, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Daniel Day Lewis

Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Graham Norton is known as a Cork man, but he was actually born in the Dublin suburb of Clondalkin on 4th April,1963. His father was a Guinness sales rep, and the family moved around Ireland before eventually settling in Bandon, Co Cork. He made his name as a stand-up comedian before landing his famous role as Father Noel Furlong on Father Ted and moving on becoming a stellar talk show host and author.

Graham Norton

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Irish Literary Gems

Irish gifts such as jewelry aren’t the only place to find dazzling gems. These superstars of the printed page shine bright, and they were all born in April.

Samuel Beckett was born in Dublin on 13th April 1906. This brilliant absurdist transformed theatre and literature with works such as Waiting for Godot and Endgame. The Nobel Prize for Literature he won in 1969 wasn’t the only major award he received. Beckett was part of the French resistance in World War II and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1949. He lived much of his adult life in Paris, and he wrote in French and English.

Samuel Beckett

Edmund S. Valtman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Seamus Heaney, another beloved Irish poet, was born 13th April 1939 in a rural area outside Castledawson in Northern Ireland. He won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Heaney studied at Queen’s University Belfast and was a professor at Harvard and later Oxford.

Seamus Heaney

Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Anne McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 1st April 1926 to Irish-American parents. She was an established science fiction writer when she turned to a young adult audience with her award-winning Pern stories. McCaffrey moved to Ireland immediately after her divorce in 1970 and eventually became an Irish citizen.

Anne Mc Caffrey

Roxanne Ready, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Is there a star in your life with an April birthday? Do they love Irish gifts? Celtic jewelry featuring diamonds – or crystals – might be the perfect present.

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