Curated gifts, handmade cards, and the kind of quiet attention that turns a small errand into a remembered afternoon. Three doors from the cable car.
Shamrock Imports has been a small, deliberate shop on Bluff Street for decades. We don't carry everything — we carry things we'd give to our own people. Every candle on the shelf has been smelled. Every card has been read aloud. If it isn't made with care, it doesn't earn its place.
Four corners of the shop, four kinds of giving. Take your time — most people do.
Birthdays, weddings, new babies, get-well-sooners, hard-to-buy-for aunts. We carry greeting cards by independent makers, jewelry from small studios, books chosen shelf by shelf, and the kind of small, beautiful object that fits in a stocking.
Browse giftsThrow blankets in heavy linen, hand-poured soy candles, stoneware mugs, framed prints from regional artists. The pieces that quietly make a house feel settled — picked because they last, not because they photograph well for a season.
Browse homeEvery quarter we rotate in a new roster of Dubuque and Driftless-area makers — potters, woodworkers, printmakers, soap-makers, candle pourers. Buying here keeps a paycheck inside the county and a story attached to the gift.
Meet the makersKraft paper, linen ribbon, kraft-and-cream stripes, vintage wallpaper sheets, fresh sprigs of rosemary in winter, dried wheat in autumn. Complimentary on every purchase — and a small station fee if you bring your own gifts to us.
Book the wrapping bar
Shamrock Imports opened on Bluff Street in 1972 as an import shop — Irish linens, English soaps, small things from far away. Over the decades the shelves have changed, but the habit hasn't: we read every maker's story, smell every candle, and write the tags by hand. There is no self-checkout here, and no receipt shoved in a bag.
We are a small shop and a working one — there's usually a fresh candle being poured or a box being wrapped somewhere in the back. Stop in, stay a while, and let us help you find exactly the right thing.
Yes — kraft paper, linen ribbon, a handwritten tag, all included. If you'd like something fancier (vintage wallpaper, fresh herbs, a hand-stamped seal), we'll do that too at no charge. If you bring your own unwrapped gifts to us, we charge a small flat fee per piece so we can cover materials.
Within the continental US, yes. We'll wrap it here, write your card by hand, and ship it from the shop so it arrives looking exactly the way you'd want it to. Shipping is added at cost; local Dubuque delivery is free on orders over $40.
We do. Registries are built in person over a cup of coffee — no online login walls — and guests can come in, browse, and have us set purchases aside. We keep a private list for the couple and ship anything that isn't picked up within ten days of the event.
Yes — Dubuque first, the Driftless region second, Iowa third. We name every maker on the shelf and rotate the roster every quarter. If you'd like to see who's currently in, just ask — we keep a typed list by the register.
That's most of our afternoon, and it's our favorite part. Tell us about the person — what they read, what they cook, what they complain about, what they love — and we'll pull a small tray of options. There is zero pressure to buy; the consultation is on us.
Unopened, unwrapped items in original condition can be exchanged within 30 days for store credit. We do not buy back used goods, but we will happily take clean kraft paper, ribbon, or boxes you don't need — lots of customers drop off after the holidays.