You are here: home | irish culture | tattoos
Irish Tattoos
As a very popular form of body art Irish tattoos has many different forms such as Celtic designs, leprechauns and shamrocks. .
Celtic artwork has been around since 400BC which can be found in stonework all over Europe but is still common today within Ireland and its no surprise that great Celtic artwork is more common as an Irish Tattoo. If you have an Irish tattoo of Celtic artwork the design, it could date back thousands of years with that design holding special meaning for the Celts.
Unfortunately, the true meaning of Celtic designs is something we don’t really know much about as far as archeological and anthropological findings go but with most Irish people each design holds a special personally meaning.
Celtic Knot Tattoos
Unknown to most there are many different Celtic designs some of which include Hallstatt, La Tene, Knot work Interlace and Spirals which are the more common types found in Irish Tattoos. These designs are extremely complex, date back for thousands of years, with Irish jewelry also using the ancient designs from the Celts. Image of the Celtic Knot tattoo has been provided by Herman Hooyschuur, cheers!
Leprechauns
are known as fighters just like the Irish so he is often drawn as an Irish
tattoo with his fists rose. A tattoo of an Irish leprechaun can be different
depending on the artist of the Irish tattoo and their experience with using
the color green in their artwork. See Irish Leprechaun
Tattoos for some examples.
Irish clover Tattoos
An
Irish clover tattoo can also be found as part of body artwork with
the symbol commonly referring to Ireland and good luck. Again its
advisable that you check the color of green for the Irish Clover tattoo
would be suitable.
Celtic cross Tattoos
From
ancient Ireland come Celtic crosses that can be seen almost everywhere
in Ireland and also across the world. The design of Celtic knots and swirls
make them a unique design for a Celtic cross tattoo which has become a
favorite for anyone seeking to have a tattoo with Celtic meaning. Not
every artist will have the experience of being able to draw a Celtic
Cross tattoo so it’s important you see your artist’s portfolio
of Celtic Crosses before continuing with the tattoo design. People differ
when it comes to the shade or color of the Celtic cross and selecting
your shade should be an important consideration, as you can see from the
Celtic cross tattoo image using the shade black still makes an impressive
impact.
Our first body tattoo artist to be reviewed under the Your Irish Celtic Tattoos is Jacki Randall who is a self-taught artist originally from L.A. and has had successful shows & exhibitions in the West and East coast of America. Jacki's ability to specialize in different artistic topics such as cartooning, fine art painting and illustration (just to name a few) makes Jacki Randall so amazing at body artwork.
Irish Flag Tattoos
If you are seeking to get an Irish Flag tattoo you may want to first consider which Irish flag would you like as a tattoo. As explained on our Irish Flags page there are a number of flags that are in connection with Ireland.
As explained in our Irish Flag section they are a few arguments as why Yellow/Gold or Orange is used, one thing you don’t want is an Irish tattoo that’s politically incorrect. Select your colors carefully and speak with your artist, if they are experienced enough they will know the best shades to use for the Irish flag and what also will look best drawn on your shade of skin.
So what makes Irish tattoos common across the world? Usually Irish artwork is so unique in the methods used to draw the patterns but for others it’s a way of showing their heritage or love for the Irish Culture and style.
If you are thinking of getting an Irish tattoo look for original artwork and show an example to your artist and see if they are experienced to draw that pattern for you. Irish designs can be easily found online with some excellent resources on what meanings they have.
There are very few tattoo artists that are specialists when it comes to Irish tattoos and it usually takes years of practice to become one so when you do decide on an Irish tattoo design such as the Celtic Knot design make sure your artist is fully experienced in completing this type of body work.

