Royal Tara Fine Bone China has been made in Galway, Ireland since 1953. I really thought it had been in business longer than that. Had I known about the Royal Tara gift center (above) when I was in Ireland in 1994 and went through Galway City, I would have stopped. The gift center is housed in the 18th Century Tara Hall, the family home of the Joyces, one of the fourteen tribes of Galway. I would have loved wandering through the house and grounds as well as seeing all the china for sale.
For my 50th birthday in 1993, my brother Ron and his wife, Ruthie, gave me a Royal Tara teapot in the Trellis Shamrock pattern. Then for Christmas, hubby dearest gave me the two teacups and saucers to go with it. I also have a vase and a trinket box in this pattern.
I'm one of those people who doesn't use the good china - afraid of breaking it, I guess. But after owning it for almost twenty years I decided it was time to finally make a pot of tea and enjoy these treasures.
My daughter Kari and I both love hot tea. So even though the weather was rather warm while she was here from Portland for a week, she helped me finally christen the teapot and cups. Now that I've used them for the first time, I hope I'll be more relaxed about using them again and again. I just wish I had made a pot of tea to have with Ruthie while she was still alive - a good reminder to enjoy what we have while we can.
Today 11/8/14, from the salvation army store in duluth, ga, I bought this royal tara dish from galway, the clover tea cup and plate, clover florals exactly like the one in the photo wish i could post a photo of it here... too neat. Wondering if its the same one
ReplyDeleteLucky you to find such treasure. That's why I like visiting thrift shops - you never know what you might find.
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