A history of Waterford at the White House
Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and John F. Kennedy presented with Waterford glass on St. Patrick's Day
It has become an annual tradition that the President of the United States receive a piece of glass from Waterford on St. Patrick’s Day.
This week that tradition continued, as Taoiseach Michael Martin presented President Donald Trump with a House of Waterford bowl full of fresh shamrock.
This tradition of presenting a bowl of shamrock dates back to 1953, when Ireland’s Ambassador to the US, John Joseph Hearne, presented a bowl to US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The ceremony has continued through successive administrations and the gesture has become an annual tradition conducted by the Taoiseach or Ambassador of the day.
Becoming part and parcel of the tradition has been the presence of Waterford Crystal/House of Waterford, which has always been the preferred glass for presenting the shamrock.
On St. Patrick's Day 1963, Irish Ambassador to the US, Thomas J. Kiernan, presented John F. Kennedy with a Waterford Crystal vase engraved with an image of James Hoban, the Irish architect of the White House.
The following year, a Waterford Crystal bowl was presented to Jackie Kennedy on St. Patrick's Day, four months after her husband’s assassination. The bowl was engraved with the image of John Barry, the Irish-American naval officer who was born in County Wexford.
On St. Patrick's Day in 1967, Lyndon B. Johnson was presented with a vase of Waterford Crystal by Irish Ambassador to the US, William Patrick Fay. The vase featured an etching honouring Waterford native Thomas Francis Meagher.
Richard Nixon was presented with a Waterford Crystal vase in 1969 which had a picture of the White House engraved on it.
On St. Patrick's Week in 1996, President Bill Clinton was awarded Irish American of the Year at a special gala event in New York. On the night, he was awarded with a Waterford Crystal dove on an American flag backdrop.
In 2015, Taoiseach Enda Kenny presented a Waterford bowl to Barack Obama, featuring an inscription of the WB Yeats poem, ‘Aedh Wishes for the Cloth of Heaven’.
Waterford Crystal/House of Waterford bowls and vases have also been gifted to Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reegan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Joe Biden.
The Department of the Taoiseach says that the annual gesture "reflects the deep cultural and diplomatic ties between Ireland and the United States.
"The presentation ceremony provides a special opportunity to celebrate Ireland’s rich heritage, its strong ties with the US and the shared values of friendship, peace and prosperity between the two nations."
This year, the House of Waterford bowl gifted to Donald Trump features a cut pattern that flows and intertwines around the bowl in a continuous rhythm, symbolising the shared friendship between Ireland and America.
A delicately cut shamrock rests within the crystal bowl.
