See a selection of eight 'St Patrick's Crosses' or badges, which have been taken out of the storage and put on special display to celebrate St Patrick's Day, which is coming up on Monday, 17 March 2025.

Children made and wore St Patrick’s Day badges in folk tradition. These circular badges incorporated the cross of St Patrick, and there are many colourful examples in the National Folklife Collection.

Boys generally wore badges that used coloured paper to form the cross and decoration. Girls typically used fabric and coloured ribbon, often gathering the ribbon to form small rosette decorations on the terminals of the cross.

Boys originally wore theirs on one side of their caps, but latterly began to wear them like the girls on their right shoulder. By 1908, brightly coloured silk rosettes with glued-on crosses were for sale on the streets of Dublin. The modern green rosettes for sale today originated from this custom.

The badges are on display on Level A of the exhibition galleries until 18 March 2025.