For the love of Erin
BOARDMAN
They say everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.
Whether or not you’re Irish the other days of the year, The House of Erin has everything you need to celebrate the Emerald Isle’s rich heritage.
The Valley’s only Irish specialty shop, at 5136 Southern Blvd., has provided residents with all things Irish for the past 20 years.
Leading up to today’s festivities, the shop has sold items such as green beaded necklaces, festive shot glasses and T-shirts celebrating Ireland’s beloved beverages.
The party-themed merchandise, however, is more a reflection of America’s influence on the holiday than Ireland’s, shop owner Dick Coughlin said.
“Really, on St. Patrick’s Day, you’re celebrating a bishop. But [for] people around here, it comes to be a party,” he said.
When the holiday began hundreds of years ago, the Irish marked it by attending Mass and eating dinner with family, said Coughlin, whose grandparents came to the United States from County Cork and who’s visited the country three times.
“It was in America that they started to have the big parades and celebrations,” he said. “And that has translated back to Ireland, especially Dublin.”
Coughlin and his wife, Cathy, started the shop out of a kiosk at Southern Park Mall, and then moved it to the Southern Boulevard location in 1995.
The store offers Irish-themed items such as apparel and flasks — “So you never get dry when you’re going somewhere,” Coughlin said.
Shamrock-shaped items are top sellers.
“Hang it over your door, and it’ll bring you good luck. If not, you’re doing something wrong,” Coughlin said of one such product.
What makes the shop unique, however, is its selection of Irish imports such as wool caps, sweaters, jewelry, china and fragrances, most of which isn’t available anywhere else in the area.
The House of Erin’s selection of Claddagh rings — bands that feature a pair of hands clasping a heart topped with a crown — are all from Ireland and come in a number of designs. The hands, heart and crown represent love, loyalty and friendship, Coughlin said.
Another Irish symbol on the store’s jewelry is the Celtic knot. “The meaning is life everlasting,” Coughlin explained.
Coughlin said customers come from as far as 40 miles away to stock up on these items since his is the only Irish store in the area.
“People still say, ‘How can you sell Irish goods in a predominantly Italian town?’” he said. “It’s tough, but we make it work.”
The House of Erin isn’t just for the Valley’s Irish-American population, Coughlin said.
He recalled a man who came in recently to buy a kilt. The man, who was Polish, needed one for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at Kravitz, a Jewish deli.
“Now that’s Youngstown,” Coughlin said.