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Experience the charm of an Irish Afternoon Tea. From savory bites to sweet treats, find inspiration for a tea gathering filled with Irish delights.
This Irish Afternoon Tea is part of our Afternoon Tea by Month series, where each month we gather around the table to celebrate seasonal rhythms, traditions, and timeless tea recipes.
As St. Patrick's Day nears, thoughts turn toward the green grassy hills of Ireland. An Irish Afternoon Tea isn't far from your mind if you are a tea lover.
When they can come, my mother, my siblings, and I would love to gather for tea in March. It's a cozy time to share Irish tea and stories of our ancestors and ready ourselves for spring.
Here, you will find beautiful ideas for celebrating all things Irish, gathering your friends around a generous tea table, and serving Irish farecommon to the Emerald Isle.
Elevenses - Served at 11:00 AM with scones and biscuits (cookies), enough to hold you over until lunch. Don't forget to have some clotted cream, custard sauce, marmalades, and jams for the scones.
Afternoon Tea includes light, sweet items between 3:00 and 5:00 PM.
High Tea is served at 6:00 PM and is often called supper or dinner. It is more popular in the North than the South and includes substantial fare like meat, fish, breads, fruit, and that most special Irish cheese.
An afternoon tea table can be as simple as a small occasional table moved into the garden-as we did in our Summer Afternoon Tea-or styled on a tea cart, as I've done here, or set at your breakfast or dining table.
This is the perfect moment to bring out crisp linens, china, and a three-tiered stand if you have one. I also love adding simple shamrock arrangements, which are easy to find at most grocery stores and lend a quiet nod to Irish tradition.
My father brought home Irish linens from a recent trip to Ireland, and we reach for them often. And if you're fortunate enough to have a shamrock tea set, there's truly no better time to use it-we bring out my mother's set each Christmas and keep it in rotation well into the year.
Of course, any teapot and teacups, fresh linens, or even a few scraps of lace-Irish or not-will do beautifully when serving authentic and delicious teatime treats.
A bit of Celtic music playing softly in the background is a lovely finishing touch.
Teaware for an Irish Tea Party
Here are a few ideas and resources to consider while planning your Irish Afternoon Tea.
Teatime in Ireland: From country castles and Kerry kitchens to casual tearooms and Dublin drawing rooms, this colorful collection offers more than seventy recipes that will take you seamlessly from a morning cuppa to an afternoon tea party.
Shamrock Tea Sets: Fine porcelain teaware from teacups and teapots to dessert plates, cake stands, and more.
Lace Table Runner: A beautiful lace table runner that brings to mind the Irish Lace of old.
Teatime Snacks for an Irish Afternoon Tea
Afternoon tea can be as simple or elaborate as you choose.
It can be a gathering of two or many. While tea is, of course, the main event, teatime treats are usually expected. Our article on How to Serve an Easy Afternoon Tea is helpful when planning your tea and even tea courses.
Cream of Parsnip Soup is a rich, velvety soup of pureed vegetables that is creamy and delicious. Perfect for an Irish tea with shamrock colors and root vegetables.
This traditional Irish Scones recipe is a light and delicious scone made with Irish butter and buttermilk. Lightly sweet with a moist, tender texture. Perfect for afternoon tea.
This easy homemade clotted cream recipe takes just 5 minutes and 3 ingredients-a quick, creamy substitute for traditional clotted cream, perfect with scones and afternoon tea.
Easy Mini Irish Soda Bread is a treat not only for St. Patrick's Day, but for an Irish Afternoon Tea as well. They're moist and tender with melted butter, sweetened with raisins, and rich with buttermilk. And to me… perfect in every way."
Irish Soda Bread Muffins with Buttermilk and Raisins
Irish Soda Bread Muffins with Buttermilk and Raisins is a delightful twist on classic Irish Soda Bread. They're sweet, delicious, and festive for St. Patrick's Day or any day you feel like celebrating in March!
These easy Irish custard tarts are made with puff pastry and a gently spiced, creamy custard filling. Inspired by traditional Irish bakery treats and European custard tarts, they bake up golden, flaky, and perfect for serving warm with tea.
This Irish Apple Crumble Cake is a moist and tender, buttery cake that's packed with fresh apples and topped with a delicious crumble. And easy? Oh my, yes. Delicious? Absolutely!
Irish Barmbrack Tea Cake is an utterly delicious, speckled tea bread, much like Irish Freckle Bread, that's moist, tender, and perfect for teatime, snacks, or breakfast.
Serve Irish Cream Panna Cotta, topped with strawberries and pretty edible flowers, as a delightfully creamy dessert to conclude a lovely afternoon tea. Irish Cream Panna Cotta pictured with Brownies with Plum Buttercream.
This easy Lemon Drizzle Cake is a beautiful recipe, perfect for days when you're craving a decadently tender dessert with abundant lemon flavoring. Or when you're looking for a traditional tea cake you know everyone will love.
Mini Lemon Pudding Cakes are a refreshing, melt-in-your-mouth, lemony dream. Simple and quick to make, this dessert magically forms two layers when baked. A light and airy cake on top with a lemon pudding custard on the bottom.
This Victoria Sponge Cake is an afternoon teacake recipe, favored by Queen Elizabeth, with a long British royal heritage. An easy-to-make, simple two-layer cake that's lightly sweet, soft, and perfect!
Irish Breakfast Tea is a robust blend of black tea that is hearty and delicious. Which makes it the perfect cup of tea to wake up to. Take it as the Irish do, with a splash of milk and maybe a scone or two. Here's how to brew that perfect cup of Irish Breakfast Tea.
Ireland's choice of tea is strongly flavored black tea, most often served with milk and sugar. Here are a few ideas for tea to serve. For more tea choices, see our Top Teas for Afternoon Tea.
If you're enjoying this Irish-inspired menu, you'll find more seasonal tea gatherings in our Afternoon Tea by Month collection, where each month brings its own rhythms, flavors, and table traditions.
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Join the Sunday Morning Tradition
If you enjoyed this post, you'll love The Sunday Edit No. 9. It’s my weekly "magazine-style" digest designed to help you reset, refine, and find beauty in the everyday. From intentional kitchen resets to curated seasonal menus, it's the 31 Daily you love, delivered with a bit more soul.
Stephanie Wilson is the founder of 31Daily.com, where she shares seasonal recipes, weekly meal plans, and teatime favorites to help readers gather around the table with joy. A certified private chef, cookbook author, and longtime event planner, she brings over 20 years of experience in catering, food writing, and media production—including network television work as a producer, director, and writer. Her work has been featured by Today.com, The Kitchn, Parade, and more.
Love the tea theme I was born in India and naturally we did tea everyday morning afternoon and supper "High Tea' my mum loved a wee bit of Harvey's Bristol Cream at High Tea thus is a delight uour rscipes bring back many happy childhood memories xoxo
Thank you so much for sharing this, Gillian — what beautiful memories. I love that tea was such a meaningful daily ritual for you, from morning through High Tea, and your mum’s wee splash of Harvey’s Bristol Cream sounds like such a special touch. I’m so glad these recipes brought back happy childhood moments for you. Sending you a warm cup of tea from a fellow tea lover and many thanks.
Love the tea theme I was born in India and naturally we did tea everyday morning afternoon and supper "High Tea' my mum loved a wee bit of Harvey's Bristol Cream at High Tea thus is a delight uour rscipes bring back many happy childhood memories xoxo
Thank you so much for sharing this, Gillian — what beautiful memories. I love that tea was such a meaningful daily ritual for you, from morning through High Tea, and your mum’s wee splash of Harvey’s Bristol Cream sounds like such a special touch. I’m so glad these recipes brought back happy childhood moments for you. Sending you a warm cup of tea from a fellow tea lover and many thanks.
I absolutely love this site! ❤️
You are so sweet! Thank you, Catherine. 💕💕