Find a Four-Leaf Clover to Wish for Good Luck / 🇮🇪 Ireland

Spotting a four-leaf clover is a small surprise that can turn an ordinary walk into a memorable one. As you look, keep one wish in mind. It can be something close at hand, such as a good start to a meeting or the courage to make a phone call. If you find a four-leaf clover, pause and put your wish into words. The useful detail is at the centre of the leaf. Four leaflets should meet there on the same stalk.

1. Look for a patch where the leaves are easy to see from a path or lawn edge. Start with a small area and move your eyes across it slowly.
2. Pick out the familiar groups of three, then look for a fourth leaflet. Trace all four back to the same point so that overlapping leaves do not confuse your count.
3. Take a picture or, where picking is permitted, save a leaf in a small plant press. For a photograph, place a plain piece of paper behind the leaf while you count.
4. Make a wish and date the picture or pressed leaf. Keep it somewhere you can find it when you want to remember the moment.

The Irish National Folklore Collection records the four-leaf find in more than one part of Ireland. In Fothar in County Donegal, a local informant included it among things that bring good luck. Another account, gathered in Windgap in County Kilkenny, connects the same discovery with making a wish. Both put the emphasis on finding the leaf. That is what makes a walk different from looking at a clover pattern printed on a card. If you keep a photograph, the date and place can bring back the particular afternoon when a little change in a familiar plant caught your eye.

If you are walking with someone, tell them what you noticed first. Perhaps one leaflet stuck out from a familiar shape, or the light made the centre easier to see. A quick description will keep the memory specific.