(Image: Garrett FitzGerald Photography)

IT WAS A proud moment for Irishman Sean Egan, watching Taoiseach Enda Kenny present the ‘Gathering Bowl’ to US President Barack Obama in Washington following St Patrick’s Day celebrations over the weekend.

The ex-Waterford Crystal master, with almost 40 years experience, was charged with the task of designing the crystal bowl, which held the shamrock that was presented to Obama this evening.

Egan was made redundant in 2009 following the closure of the Waterford Crystal manufacturing plant and within months he established his own company, Sean Egan Art Glass.

(Image: Garrett FitzGerald Photography)

In his almost four decades of work, Egan has created some notable pieces of glasswork including the 9/11 Twin Towers comemorative sculptures which were presented to former US Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney. He was also commissioned to create a piece honouring the Monty Python star Graham Chapman, who died in 1989.

The bowl is designed to outline the Gathering and features a famine ship, an interweaved Celtic knot and two harps surrounded by engraved shamrock.

Speaking today, Egan said that when he first received the call from the Taoiseach’s office several months back, he was “absolutely delighted”.

“Who could have ever imagined that this time four years ago I was on the dole and today my work is being presented to the President of the United States?” he said.

I wanted the bowl to represent all that is good about Ireland. We have a wonderful and warm tapestry of culture, music, art and language. The tall ship is returning to our shore as part of The Gathering festivities while the harps represent our rich musical tradition. The Celtic knot is representative of the timeless nature of our spirit, with no beginning and no end and the engraved shamrocks are a symbol of the Irish diaspora.

In his speech tonight, Kenny mentioned Egan and his “300-hour labour-of-love” which he said “glistens with the story of what we once brought here on this risky yet life-giving journey to America”.

The first presentation of a bowl of shamrock to a US President took place in 1953 when President Eisenhower accepted the gift from Ambassador Hearne. The first Taoiseach to present shamrock rather than the Ambassador was John A Costello in 1956. The next Taoiseach was Jack Lynch in 1971, and subsequently the gift of shamrock was invariably from the Taoiseach-in-office to the President of the United States.

President Obama and Enda Kenny at the ceremony in the White House this evening (Image: White House).