Money for auld sod: US man wants Irish soil under house

A CORK native in the US is planning to buy $148,000 (€111,200) worth of the “auld sod” so that he can retire there with a piece of Ireland under his feet.

The Irish earth is being sent to America by the same company which supplied the flowers in the bowl of shamrock presented to George Bush by the Taoiseach yesterday.

The Auld Sod Export Company, which has its base in Crookstown, Co Cork, has been exporting soil and shamrock seed to the United States for the past four months after its founders Pat Burke, from Tipperary, and Alan Jenkins, from Lisburn, came up with a way to process Irish soil so that it can pass strict US restrictions.