This hand-painted watercolor printable – perfect for St Patrick’s Day – depicts a Celtic knot shamrock in shades of green and aubergine, encircled with the familiar, comforting words of the traditional Irish Blessing.
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POST UPDATE: Originally posted March 17, 2016.
When Mr B and I went to school together back at old Madison High, one of the best parts of our day was our concert choir class. (Mr B is a gifted baritone, and I a passable soprano.)
Our choir director, Fred Hammack, was a talented, warm, demanding, wonderful man who taught us far more than music, and wove his way into our hearts so deeply that even now – decades later – we remember him with abiding admiration, gratitude, and affection.
For a high-resolution, frame-worthy printable PDF of this Irish Blessing painting, please visit our Etsy store,
The Harmony Cat.
NOTE: This Etsy link is NOT AN AFFILIATE LINK: this is a link to my own Etsy store. If you go this route and pay for a hi-rez PDF, thank you in advance. You're awesome!
(If your pennies are thin, no worries. Scroll to the bottom for a free PDF.)
Ultimately, it was because of Mr. Hammack that I painted this Irish Blessing piece. It was his practice to end every concert with a four-part choral arrangement called A Parting Blessing [J. Jerome Williams], the lyrics of which are taken from the traditional Irish Blessing.
It’s not surprising then, that after years of practice and performance, this beautiful, meaningful song found a permanent place entwined in our musical memory.
♫ ♪ May the road rise up to meet you… May the wind be always at your back
May the sun fall warm upon your face ~ The rain fall soft upon your fields
... And may God hold you in the palm of His hand. ♪♫
Whenever those lines roll their way through my mind, I remember our choir and the people with whom we sang with great fondness. Music saved Mr B and I in high school (along with so many others); so to us, this beautiful song symbolizes far more that a simply holiday in March.
UPDATE 2020: Our old high school in NE Portland is being completely razed and remodeled. (Believe me: it needed it!) As part of the ground breaking (May 2019), Mr B and I had the chance to sing A Parting Blessing with an alumni choir formed specifically for the event.
Being a part of the alumni choir was an amazing, heartwarming experience, and it was such a privilege to be able to sing with all those wonderful, talented people once again.
Unfortunately, I don't have a video of the choir performance of the Irish Blessing song, but thanks to a generous classmate, I do have one of Mr B singin' a solo at the Groundbreaking event (That's me backing him up on my autoharp.) He's reprising the song he sang at our Senior Assembly many years ago.
How to Get this Irish Blessing Print for FREE
If you would like a FREE printout of this Irish Blessing print, click the thumbnail on the left to download the PDF.
- This Celtic Knot Shamrock Irish Blessing is available free to you in PDF form for a limited time.
- This print is of slightly lower quality and resolution than the one on Etsy, but it's still great for celebrating your inner Celt!
- You a can get a high-resolution, frame-worthy Irish Blessing printable here.
NOTE: This probably could go without saying, but there's always that one guy, so... © Harmony Cat 2020. You may print it for your own use, but you may not alter it in any way, repurpose it, or sell it in any form. You may use this image online; however, if you do so, you must use proper attribution and link directly back to this post.
If you feel inspired to do some drawing yourself, I used this tutorial from Dragon Art to sketch the Celtic-knot shamrock.
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Monica says
I have always loved this blessing. It's so beautiful. I just found out that I'm part Irish too so now I love it even more.
Lecy | A Simpler Grace says
I've always loved those lines. What a beautiful print!
Renée ♥ says
Thank you, Lecy!
Heather says
This is beautiful! It would make the perfect gift! Just frame it and go 🙂
Renée ♥ says
Thank you, Heather! ☘️
Mimi says
This is such a beautiful print, I love it
Brettni Brumfield says
Beautiful artwork! Happy St. Patrick's Day!
allie @ Through Her Looking Glass says
Dear Renee, this is a beautiful piece of artwork. My husband and I are both musicians all the way back to high school too...he a tenor and I a mezzo. He went on to get a a voice performance degree. We also have fond memories of our high school choir director and are still in touch with him, see him on an occasional basis. We sang this beautiful blessing piece in our choir at boarding school. Great memories attached to music are never forgotten!
Michele says
A lovely piece of art and so very generous of you to share it with the world. Cheers, Michele
Megan Joy says
Such beautiful lyrics and a lovely memory to go with it! I can't draw or paint to save my life so I am really impressed with this design! Great job 🙂
Rachel Lloyd says
Beautiful! I love this poem, it was used at a family members' funeral and it always makes me think of him and smile. Love this! Happy St. Patty's day!