Shamrock Imports

I was looking for a replacement claddagh ring and was having no luck. Then I found Shamrock Imports. What’s great place! They didn’t have the style ring I was looking for. But we went through their catalog and found a really nice one. She ordered it and it was here within a week. Such fantastic service and high quality products. I highly recommend this store for any and all of your Irish needs!

Probably the best & only Celtic import store in the San Fernando Valley. The Irish are one subset of the Celtic ethnic/​cultural group that used to be spread all over Europe if you go back more than 2,000 years. Unfortunately as time went on, the Celts (kelts) were squeezed from the south by the Roman Empire & from the north by Germanic tribes who left Scandinavia possibly because of climatic changes toward a colder mini ice age. Most of the Celts were forced toward the western edges of Europe in such places as Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Breton, Galicia.
The Great Potato Famine/​An Gorta Mor from about 1845 – 1852 devastated Ireland and forced many of the poor to emigrate with many coming to the U.S. Many of the Irish who left Ireland were also native speakers of Celtic so that this is one of the factors that has made Ireland into an English speaking country including the fact that the English controlled Ireland and mostly disenfranchised the Irish living in their own country until official Irish independence in 1922. Like most of us Americans, Irish Americans have assimilated into the «melting pot», but coming to Shamrock Imports may be one way of reconnecting again to one of the roots of Celtic culture.
My mission in going to Shamrock was to replenish my supply of my favorite fermented tea called Irish Breakfast which is a stout, dark, strong, bracing high tannin tea that goes well with dairy & chocolate based cakes, cookies, biscuits as well as savory sandwiches. I always try to use «loose tea» since I believe it has superior taste qualities versus the paper bagged teas which to me taste flatter, less lively & dulled. I discard the used tea leaves onto my roses & camellias since tea leaves impart acid into the soil making it more friendly for those plants that thrive in an acidic soil environment.
Our Southern California soils tend to be alkaline so adding tea leaf, coffee grinds, citrus peel is an ideal soil amendment, and it’s FREE. Unfortunately for me, Shamrock only has the paper tea bag variety of Barry’s Irish Breakfast since Shamrock has to appeal to the American propensity for being lazy and finding it inconvenient to dispose of the loose tea. But as the saying goes, «Half a loaf is better than none at all.» so I bought a box of 80 tea bags. When I got home, I put the box of Barry’s tea in a sealable Ziplock bag to keep it airtight to preserve the aromatics longer.
Something had to accompany the Irish Breakfast so I bought a kilogram (2.2 lb) box of assorted Jacob’s Afternoon Tea Biscuits which are basically shortbread cookies coated in dark milk chocolate made by Valeo Foods, Merrywell Industrial Estate, Ballymount, Dublin 12. Irish biscuits paired with Irish tea… a match made in heaven.
I came at 4:50pm when the shop closes at 5pm so I did not have time to leisurely peruse the entire store. The lady owner had mentioned Irish food frozen, but not on display, and I did notice handsome Celtic handmade woolen caps made by Hanna that would be ideal to wear fashionably on a rainy day along with a Burberry raincoat. Of course there were Celtic accoutrements, knick knacks, key chains and the like for the true Celtophile. Shamrock Imports mostly leans toward products from Ireland although I did see something from Scotland. 4– Unilocal stars for a store that should be de rigueur for any person of Celtic descent living in the San Fernando Valley and beyond.
PS There is small, time limited parking in back of the store if street parking on Magnolia is congested. Just enter through the back alley just south of Magnolia. Right now (April 2015) there are temporary special limited hours so call ahead to make sure they are open.

They have all the usual Irish stuff…
but lets be honest — you just want to know one thing — hows the fry up???
Sausages are pretty good… pudding good for the «oaty» kind… bacon sort of average
wish they had the mushy white pudding though and king crisps
girl who runs the shop is really nice

I just want to say, Shamrock Imports is THE BEST little import shop around!
The remodel, new owner, customer service, friendliness, cleanliness if the shop and variety of Irish Gifts Is superb! I recommend this place to my friends all the time!

I live just down the road from here and it has saved my little Irish butt more than once.
The food selection is probably my deepest darkest secret indulgence!
Finding Irish Turf (peat) to burn in fireplaces and grills/​smokers was a delightful treat to my pocketbook. (So affordable it was almost criminal)
If you haven’t stopped into this store, go out of your way to do so! The staff is friendly, the store is well stocked (and expanding!) and you can even put in orders for fresh homemade Soda Bread!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Are you looking for a shramrock? Soda bread? Irish bacon? Black pudding? Irish dry goods? Irish apparel? Irish curios?
You’re in luck because Shamrock Imports specializes in all things Irish. Not to be confused with Michael Meyers old Saturday Night Live skit where all things are Scottish.
This is an amazing, special place run by a nice Irish family.

Quietly stepped into this little place and browsed around Looking for dancing shoes, Imelda the owner took one look at me in her beautiful Irish accent and said «Your Irish aren’t you?» Apparently she could tell right away. She told me all about the Irish folks that live in Los Angeles, Owners of Irish pubs, and the St. Patricks Day parade that she invited me to join in, which thankfully I can attend this year, last year it was spent in Dublin! Love that there was so much of my heritage conveniently located close to home! Great little shop!

Suffice it to say, I’m with everyone else on this. Shamrock Imports is easily one of the best shopping experiences I’ve ever enjoyed. Imelda (the much ballyhooed owner) is an absolute delight, so easy to talk to and relax with as you browse (with a fresh cup of tea in hand, of course, which she makes sure to offer with joy). The selection is wonderful, the atmosphere perfect… everything about it brings a smile to my face. I look forward to stopping here much more.

Great selection of Irish goods including food, music, collectibles, etc.
The owner, Imelda, is authentically Irish as well as friendly and knowledgable. Parking and access to the store is easy.
There are wonderful gift items available; if I am looking for something special that is Irish, I never leave empty handed. This shop is a real Valley treasure.

I’ve been a fan of Shamrock Imports since the mid-80’s when Imelda started her Irish import business adjacent to her husband’s carpet shop. Imelda’s Shamrock Imports is sandwiched between the Happy Hooker yarn shop and a bar on Magnolia and Whitsett, on the SouthWest corner. Parking in front and around the back or across the street so there is really no reason why one doesn’t stop by and check it out! Imelda has all the goodies that an Irish Import Shop should have and more. It has Imelda and her real Irish spirit of appreciating being Irish yet away from Ireland. Imelda is the fan and hero to many Irish dancers of all ages and expertise as she is the Irish dance feis expert with Irish dance shoes. She is often away on weekend at the Irish dance competitions.

Wow, you can’t beat the selection at this store. The woman who owns this place is one of the nicest shopkeepers I’ve met and always has great comments about all of the items. She related to me her childhood experiences with the Buntus Cainte book series when I expressed an interest in the Irish language. The CD selection is also amazing, carrying many things you won’t find even in places like Amoeba. I picked up my first set of bones here and I still play them often.
It’s little stores like these that make me really appreciate the effort that must go into running a shop. It’s amazing what kind of atmosphere has been created in Shamrock Imports.
The parking’s a little hard to come by, but that’s my only gripe.

Forget the trinkets! (Although they are brilliant!)
If you’re looking for REAL Irish Bacon, Black & White Pudding, salad cream, Heinz beanz, Bovril, and ooooooooh some luvly brown bread… then this is your stop!
I’m a 1^st generation Irish-​American, with both parents coming from Dublin (Dad from the Northside, Mom from the Southside)… and ever since Shamrock set up shop in the mid 70s it has been a regular stop to stock up and bring a bit of Ireland home.
Check out their website:

Top of tha mornin to ya! Or… something.
So here we have a store that sells nothing but Irish goodies. They have figurines, books, trinkets, 4 leaf clover madness and really, just about anything you could possibly ever want to give an Irish obsessed friend, relative or drunken leprechaun!
Now that in and of itself is worth 4 stars, but what I love even more about this ridiculous store are all of the other ridiculous stores that surround it! You’ve got the Jewish emporium of wonderment aka House of David, then you’ve got Happy Hookers (the yarn store) and then the old man, and old lady bar Foxfire Room. What?! This little block rules and I don’t understand any of it, but that is EXACTLY why I love it.
Go Valley!