Shamrock Irish Heritage playing cards

The personalities chosen to appear on this pack are certainly diverse, including Ireland’s most famous king, Brian Boru, and the third president, Eamonn De Valera, on the Kings, Molly Malone (the main character in the Irish folk song “Cockles and Mussels”) as one of the Queens, and Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Jonathan Swift and W.B. Yeats (misspelt ‘Yeates’) on the Jacks. Oscar Wilde is depicted on the Jokers. The back design features a harp superimposed on a map of Ireland against either a green or a blue background, with a shamrock in each of the four corners. The overall style is very similar to that of other non-standard bridge sets from Piatnik. Piatnik No. 214745.

Above: Shamrock Irish Heritage playing cards made by Piatnik, Vienna, Austria, 1999. 2 x 52 cards + 3 Jokers in drop-lid box. Size: 58.5 x 89 mm.

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