Edinburgh - ideas for 'typical' Scottish gift

Where in Ireland? Northern Ireland or the Republic? I wouldn't suggest scotch when they have the much better Irish whiskey. Shortbread cookies are always good.

Canned haggis? :)

A collection of traditional Scottish reciepies, a Scottish tea towel, clotted cream fudge, whisky fudge or ice cream sundae sauce, a lovely picture book or calendar, a tartan table cloth or set of placemats, heather jewelery, .....

Well, Audrey, that's a bit provocative! Whisky from Scotland is certainly an excellent gift, but before splurging on a bottle of expensive whisky I would find out if the relatives like it. If they do, find out which kind--peaty, highland, Speyside etc--that they like and then get something interesting for them. One of the things that I've taken home to family are tartan blankets. They're perfect for sitting watching TV or just to have around when it's chilly and you can often find some that are reasonably priced. You can never have too many throw blankets when you live in a cool climate like Ireland or Wisconsin. ; ) I brought home some very clever coaster that had fun pictures of sheep. I gave them to my mom and she's enjoyed them. I have to say, though, that I have never gone wrong with bottle of Highland Park Whisky. ; )

Pam

a quaich...traditional scottish drinking cup

Something plaid/tartan. They have nice coin purses or placemats or sim. To me light weight and non blucky is imp while traveling.

Thanks for these ideas. (It's Dublin, BTW.) Since we are flying RA into Dublin I'll skip the liquid whiskey. (In a past life we carried a bottle of lemoncini from Ct in our luggage, which I cannot envision doing these days!). We will be buying some wine, but from the Ireland side. That we can help them consume, if it is the "wrong" kind.

Ah, but the fudge? Yum. whiskey fudge ... I can see us doing a series of quality tests before buying. ;-> I will also check out some throws. Given the weather I might just use one before gifting!! (or just keep it for myself)

Oh, Ed, what a hoot ... except, hmmm, maybe that isn't such a bad notion for a hard-to-please relative. Do you imagine I might find dehydrated haggis, instead? It's the weight, you know. (I am picturing the astronauts adding a dash of water to reconstitute it. LOL)

Have never heard of a quaich ... will have to put that on our list of things to look for.

My in-laws are Scottish and they have brought me back tea towels, a tartan blanket, a tartan scarf from their trips back home. Since the Scots and Irish both love tea, I think tea towels are a great idea. Not sure about bringing Scottish tartan/plaid to the Irish because the tartans are specific to their clans and I'm not sure if the Irish would like getting Scottish tartan since there's a bit of rivalry between these 2 Celtic/gaelic people! By the way, I hope you're bringing them lots of stuff from Hawaii! I'm sure that would be a bigger hit!