Beleek Irish Porcelain

When my parents got back from Ireland in '86 my dad was going through things he got for some friends. He told me of a lady that wanted three items. She said if she had any leftover money just buy her something nice. He bought her a Beleek Irish Porcelain vase and asked me what I thought. Of course it was beautiful. That's all I heard.

Shortly after losing my dad in '93 I took the boys to the mall for pizza. We walked around the mall and I noticed a little nic nac shop. I went in to look. (Yes, my boys were good enough to take to a shop like that lol)

After walking around for a bit I noticed a locked lighted curio cabinet in a corner. As I was looking the owner came to me and asked if I was interested in anything. I told her my mom had three Beleek vases that were destroyed during the earthquake and would love to buy her another one. I couldn't believe it was Beleek.

She told me of a friend that went to Ireland ... yep you know the story. My eyes started tearing as she repeated the story to me. She pointed to the vase in the middle cabinet on a stand with a sign that said 'not for sale' and before she could finish I said 'that's the vase my dad brought back to you from Ireland'

She gave me a hug and said she loved it so much she contacted Beleek in Ireland and arranged to be a distributor here in the states. After my dad died she brought the vase to display in the store to share the story of how she started selling Beleek.